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To understand the risks posed by AI, follow the money

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Shortly thereafter, the consensus switched to fears of an imminent nuclear holocaust.

Key Points:

Shortly thereafter, the consensus switched to fears of an imminent nuclear holocaust.
Similarly, today’s experts warn that an artificial general intelligence (AGI) doomsday is imminent.
It’s difficult to argue with David Collingridge’s influential thesis that attempting to predict the risks posed by new technologies is a fool’s errand.

Focusing on the economic risks from AI is not simply about preventing “monopoly,” “self-preferencing,” or “Big Tech dominance”.
It’s about ensuring that the economic environment facilitating innovation is not incentivising hard-to-predict technological risks as companies “move fast and break things” in a race for profit or market dominance.
OpenAI is already becoming a dominant player with US$2 billion (£1.6 billion) in annual sales and millions of users.

Degrading quality for higher profit

The problems fostered by social media, search, and recommendation algorithms was never an engineering issue, but one of financial incentives (of profit growth) not aligning with algorithms’ safe, effective, and equitable deployment.
For digital platforms, extracting digital rents usually entails degrading the quality of information shown to the user, on the basis of them “owning” access to a mass of customers.
But over time, a misalignment between the initial promise of them providing user value and the need to expand profit margins as growth slows has driven bad platform behaviour.

Amazon’s advertising

In our research on Amazon, we found that users still tend to click on the product results at the top of the page, even when they are no longer the best results but instead paid advertising placements.
For social media platforms, this was addictive content to increase time spent on platform at any cost to user health.
In the process, profits and profit margins have become concentrated in a few platforms’ hands, making innovation by outside companies harder.
Amazon’s most recent quarterly disclosures (Q4, 2023), shows year-on-year growth in online sales of 9%, but growth in fees of 20% (third-party seller services) and 27% (advertising sales).
Algorithms have become market gatekeepers and value allocators, and are now becoming producers and arbiters of knowledge.

Risks posed by the next generation of AI

But how much greater are the risks for the next generation of AI systems?
Thankfully, society is not helpless in shaping the economic risks that invariably arise after each new innovation.
Risks brought about from the economic environment in which innovation occurs are not immutable.
Market structure is shaped by regulators and a platform’s algorithmic institutions (especially its algorithms which make market-like allocations).
What role might interoperability and open source play in keeping the AI industry a more competitive and inclusive market?
Instead, we should try to recalibrate the economic incentives underpinning today’s innovations, away from risky uses of AI technology and towards open, accountable, AI algorithms that support and disperse value equitably.

Ilan Strauss receives funding from The Omidyar Network through the UCL IIPP research project on algorithmic rents Mariana Mazzucato received funding for this project from the Omidyar Foundation.
Rufus Rock received funding from the Omidyar Network whilst pursuing the research referenced in this piece.

Is this the dawn of a new era in women’s sports?

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Wednesday, April 10, 2024

The women’s Final Four garnered higher television ratings than the men’s Final Four.

Key Points:

The women’s Final Four garnered higher television ratings than the men’s Final Four.
And more than 90,000 fans attended the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup final in Pasadena, California.
Many fans, journalists and scholars are wondering if this is the dawn of a new era of women’s sports, with more coverage, increased viewership, heightened interest and bigger investments continuing in the future.

The long eclipse of women’s sports

We’re in the middle of collecting data for the eighth time, the results of which will be published in 2025.
Hundreds of studies on the routine coverage of sports have similarly found that media coverage of women’s sports rarely exceeds 10% of total sports coverage.
This is a recurring pattern across media platforms – print, TV, radio, social – in English-speaking countries.

Leapfrogging the gatekeepers

Podcasts like “Hear Her Sports,” “The Gist of It,” “Tea with A & Phee” and “Attacking Third” directly appeal to women’s sports fans.
They can simply directly engage with them on social media, producing and pushing content that bypasses traditional media gatekeepers.

Leveraging feminism

But my colleague Dunja Antunovic and I observed an important shift in sports media starting in the mid-2010s: the mobilization of feminism and principles of equality to promote and sell women’s sports.
In one chapter of our latest book, “Serving Equality: Feminism, Media, and Women’s Sports,” we focus on how women’s sports leagues and teams, as well as their corporate sponsors, have used the imagery, language and slogans of feminism and social justice movements to sell merchandise and tickets.
The video accompanying the campaign interspersed scenes of WNBA games with scenes from the 2017 Women’s March on Washington.

Being the change they want to see

While corporations and leagues deserve credit for highlighting the value of women’s sports, it’s also important to acknowledge how female athletes themselves have been driving change.
The activism of women athletes through the years has also created visibility for women’s sports.
In March 2019, the U.S. women’s national team players sued the U.S. Soccer Federation for gender discrimination.
Last year was the first year since the 1980s that the women’s tournament was broadcast on network television.

Cheryl Cooky has received funding and support from the Women's Sports Foundation. She consults on gender equality issues in sports and has partnered with Gatorade, Nike and Buick.

New York City greenlights congestion pricing – here’s how this toll plan is expected to improve traffic, air quality and public transit

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

New York City is poised to launch the first congestion pricing plan to reduce traffic in a major U.S. metropolitan area.

Key Points:

New York City is poised to launch the first congestion pricing plan to reduce traffic in a major U.S. metropolitan area.
Like many journeys in the Big Apple, this one has been punctuated by delays.
Once the system starts up, however, it’s expected to significantly reduce gridlock in Manhattan and generate billions of dollars to improve public transit citywide.
As an urban policy scholar, I’m looking forward to seeing New York’s plan go into effect.
But given the heavy costs that traffic imposes on public health and productivity, I’m encouraged to see a major U.S. city finally test this approach.

Nudging drivers

Congestion pricing is a response to externalities – costs or benefits that are generated by one party but incurred by another.
Clogged city streets and air pollution are externalities created by urban car users, many of whom live outside the city.
This approach is behind behavioral economics, the policy strategy of using “nudges” that preserve choice but encourage certain actions.

Public transit receives priority

The New York plan was presented to the board of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in November 2023 after years of study and a detailed environmental impact assessment, required by federal law.
It also would generate US$15 billion for capital improvements to the city’s public transit system, including making stations accessible for passengers with disabilities and buying new electric buses and commuter rail and subway cars.
More than 75% of all trips into the central business district are made by public transit.

Over several months of public hearings, the MTA heard both broad support for congestion pricing and thousands of requests for credits, discounts and exemptions, most of which were denied.
The limited number of exemptions includes private commuter buses, school buses and city-owned vehicles, including emergency vehicles.
New Jersey is suing the MTA, arguing among other things that the plan is unconstitutional because it burdens interstate commerce.

Starting the journey

And how will commuters respond when they find that trains and subways initially are more crowded, before capital upgrades improve the system?
But freedom for car users has imposed health and economic costs on millions of New Yorkers for many years.
But if New York’s experiment succeeds, it could provide a model and valuable insights for other traffic-clogged U.S. cities.

John Rennie Short does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

South Africa is short of academic statisticians: why and what can be done

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Psychometrics, Data science, Biostatistics, Collaboration, Research, Policy, Doctor of Philosophy, Mentorship, Student, Statistics, Mathematics, Social, Commerce, Lecture, Engineering, Management

463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally – that’s the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs per day.

Key Points:

463 exabytes of data will be created each day globally – that’s the equivalent of 212,765,957 DVDs per day.
We are a group of academic statisticians from South African universities who have compiled a discussion paper to address these issues.
We have identified the factors contributing to the capacity crisis in academic statistics, including a lack of collaboration between academics in different academic statistical fields.
We’ve also proposed a way to improve both the quality and quantity of, primarily, doctoral candidates in the various statistical fields.

What’s in a name?

Over the years, a divide has emerged between those who research and lecture in applied statistics and their counterparts in mathematical or theoretical statistics.
Statistics departments are positioned within different faculties across various
South African universities, for example within commerce, natural science, or engineering.
A doctoral candidate focused on econometrics may not realise that a biostatistician is well equipped to support and mentor them.

Assessment

There may be concerns that standardising assessment for what is essentially creative output (novel, innovative ideas) may be too prescriptive.
However, we believe that a semi-flexible assessment rubric is vital.
An assessment rubric is an important tool for formative assessment.

Supervisor-student relationship

The relationship a PhD candidate has with their supervisor is enormously important, as research from across disciplines has shown.
Without sufficient mentoring, early-career supervisors may not know how to nurture a healthy supervisor-student relationship.
They may not be aware of all of the intricacies inherent in this relationship, let alone the skills that they should be imparting to their students.

Next steps

To our knowledge, it is the first of its kind in the field of academic statistics.
Some new supervisors may use the entire guiding rubric to assist in each important area.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

China has finally removed crushing tariffs on Australian wine. But re-establishing ourselves in the market won’t be easy

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Pressure, Risk, Appellate Body, World Trade Organization, Hope, Wind, Diplomacy, Commerce, Wine, Treasury Wine Estates, Humour, Renewable energy

China’s Ministry of Commerce has finally ended its tariffs on Australian wine, which had been imposed for more than three years at rates as high as 218.4%.

Key Points:

China’s Ministry of Commerce has finally ended its tariffs on Australian wine, which had been imposed for more than three years at rates as high as 218.4%.
In 2019, Australia sold A$1.24 billion worth of wine to China, surpassing France to capture a market share close to 40%.
Last year, US imports of Australian wine actually fell by about 20%, the UK held flat, and sales to India remain trivial.

Since we’ve been gone

The departure of Australian wine from the Chinese market created a gap that was quickly filled by other suppliers.
But the size of China’s imported wine market has also more than halved over this period, falling from A$3.3 billion in 2019 to A$1.5 billion last year.
On re-entry, Australian wine producers are set to face stiff competition in a significantly smaller market.
Major Australian producers like Treasury Wine Estates have maintained sizeable staff headcounts in China, expecting the Chinese market to return to prominence in their business.

Lessons for Australia – could it happen again?

Conversely, Australia used the WTO to challenge Chinese tariffs on barley and wine.
To maintain the WTO’s effectiveness, Australia and China have a shared interest in restoring its appellate mechanism, the Appellate Body.
It also offers broader lessons for Australia and is another data point confirming a positive trajectory in the overall bilateral relationship.
Read more:
Positive outlook, with a dash of humour: Wang Yi's visit sets the tone for a real diplomatic reboot

EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility

Retrieved on:

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA

Key Points:

EQS-News: SCHOTT Pharma AG & Co. KGaA
SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
SCHOTT Pharma to Expand in the U.S. with New Prefillable Syringe Manufacturing Facility in Wilson, North Carolina
First U.S. manufacturing facility to fill demand for domestic supply of glass and polymer prefillable syringes that deliver mRNA, GLP-1, and other therapies
SCHOTT Pharma plans to make Wilson, North Carolina home to its newest site.
SCHOTT Pharma a pioneer in pharmaceutical drug containment solutions and delivery systems, will build the first U.S. facility to manufacture prefillable polymer syringes required to meet the need for deep-cold storage and transportation of mRNA medications.
On average, more than 25,000 injections per minute are provided to patients worldwide through a product produced by SCHOTT Pharma.

2024 China-ASEAN Youth Culture Week and the 7th China-ASEAN Youth Symposium Successfully Held

Retrieved on:

Monday, April 1, 2024

Beijing, China--(Newsfile Corp. - March 31, 2024) - On March 31st, the 2024 China-ASEAN Youth Culture Week and the 7th China-ASEAN Youth Symposium, themed "Youth Practice in Mutual Learning and Exchange among Civilizations," were successfully concluded in Beijing.

Key Points:

Beijing, China--(Newsfile Corp. - March 31, 2024) - On March 31st, the 2024 China-ASEAN Youth Culture Week and the 7th China-ASEAN Youth Symposium, themed "Youth Practice in Mutual Learning and Exchange among Civilizations," were successfully concluded in Beijing.
Two roundtable forums focused on "How can China-ASEAN youth promote inter-cultural exchange in the region?"
and "How has emerging technology reshaped the social lives and experiences of youth in the ASEAN-China region?"
During the Citywalk, youth delegates embarked on a vibrant journey through Beijing, experiencing the unique charm of Chinese culture.

Kenorland Announces Manitoba Mineral Development Grant at the South Thompson Nickel Project

Retrieved on:

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Economic development, Commerce, MMDF, Thompson Belt, Mining

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) (OTCQX: KLDCF) (FSE: 3WQ0) ("Kenorland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company was approved for a $300,000 grant from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund ("MMDF") to support Kenorland's exploration program at the South Thompson Project ("Project"), located in the Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.

Key Points:

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Kenorland Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: KLD) (OTCQX: KLDCF) (FSE: 3WQ0) ("Kenorland" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company was approved for a $300,000 grant from the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund ("MMDF") to support Kenorland's exploration program at the South Thompson Project ("Project"), located in the Thompson Nickel Belt in Manitoba, Canada.
Funded by the Government of Manitoba and administered by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, the purpose of the MMDF is to increase mineral and economic development in northern Manitoba.
Zach Flood, CEO and President, states "Kenorland extends its sincere appreciation to the Manitoba Mineral Development Fund for its support in our exploration efforts at the South Thompson Nickel Project.
The funds provided by MMDF will aid Kenorland in conducting a large-scale aerial electromagnetic (VTEM) survey to identify potential drill targets beneath the extensive cover rocks."

Magnum Estate Celebrates Indonesian Culture and Bali's Elegance at Cannes 2024

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Monday, March 25, 2024

Real estate investing, Consul, Consulate, Congress, Ambassador, Republic, Nusantara Capital City Authority, Conference, Youth empowerment, Partnership, Commerce, Foreign direct investment, Heart, Music, JW Marriott Cannes, MIPIM, Typesetting

Cannes, France--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - Magnum Estate is thrilled to announce an exclusive showcase of its Indonesia Investment Vision, which took place during the Magnum Estate & Congress AWARDS Press Conference at the JW Marriott Cannes.

Key Points:

Cannes, France--(Newsfile Corp. - March 25, 2024) - Magnum Estate is thrilled to announce an exclusive showcase of its Indonesia Investment Vision, which took place during the Magnum Estate & Congress AWARDS Press Conference at the JW Marriott Cannes.
This prestigious event, was held on March 14, 2024, presenting an immersive journey into the heart of Indonesian culture and the enchanting beauty of Bali.
Natalia Kamyshan, PR Global at Magnum Estate, emerges as a strategic market analyst, bringing a wealth of experience to the partnership.
Natalia Kamyshan, PR Global at Magnum Estate, highlighted the company's dedication to respecting Indonesian culture and Bali's unique heritage.

PNK Group USA Announces PNK Park Valley View Will Be Built in Pennsylvania

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Wednesday, March 20, 2024

KOEZ, Wyoming Valley, Growth, Health, Commerce, McLane Company, Industrialisation, Cardinal, Engineering, Tunnel

PNK Group's new project will bring unused land back into the economy.

Key Points:

Valley View, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - March 20, 2024) - PNK Group USA intends to create a large industrial park in northeastern Pennsylvania.
PNK Group USA is currently preparing the territory, including working on the remediation of 19th-and 20th-century mines located on these sites.
PNK Group is contributing to the continued success of the local economy through industrial development," said PNK Group USA representative Mark B. Stiles.
The immediate neighbors of the future PNK Park Valley View will be warehouses and offices of Amazon, MTF Biologics, McLane Pennsylvania, Northeast Laminated Glass Corporation, and several other major companies.