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Category: economics – Page 40

The quarterly reports by these tech behemoths show their efforts to increase AI productivity in the face of growing economic worries.

The US tech giants like Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are increasing their large language model (LLM) investments as a show of their dedication to utilizing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) while cutting costs and jobs.

Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in late 2022, these businesses have put their artificial intelligence AI models on steroids to compete in the market, CNBC reported on Friday.

The IT behemoths Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are increasing their large language model (LLM) investments as a show of their dedication to utilizing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) while cutting costs and jobs.

Continue reading “Google, Microsoft, Amazon, & Meta put AI on steroids while cutting jobs” | >

In Silicon Valley, some of the brightest minds believe a universal basic income (UBI) that guarantees people unrestricted cash payments will help them to survive and thrive as advanced technologies eliminate more careers as we know them, from white collar and creative jobs — lawyers, journalists, artists, software engineers — to labor roles. The idea has gained enough traction that dozens of guaranteed income programs have been started in U.S. cities since 2020.

Yet even Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI and one of the highest-profile proponents of UBI, doesn’t believe that it’s a complete solution. As he said during a sit-down earlier this year, “I think it is a little part of the solution. I think it’s great. I think as [advanced artificial intelligence] participates more and more in the economy, we should distribute wealth and resources much more than we have and that will be important over time. But I don’t think that’s going to solve the problem. I don’t think that’s going to give people meaning, I don’t think it means people are going to entirely stop trying to create and do new things and whatever else. So I would consider it an enabling technology, but not a plan for society.”

The question begged is what a plan for society should then look like, and computer scientist Jaron Lanier, a founder in the field of virtual reality, writes in this week’s New Yorker that “data dignity” could be an even bigger part of the solution.

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Despite the impressive recent progress in AI capabilities, there are reasons why AI may be incapable of possessing a full “general intelligence”. And although AI will continue to transform the workplace, some important jobs will remain outside the reach of AI. In other words, the Economic Singularity may not happen, and AGI may be impossible.

These are views defended by our guest in this episode, Kenneth Cukier, the Deputy Executive Editor of The Economist newspaper.

For the past decade, Kenn was the host of its weekly tech podcast Babbage. He is co-author of the 2013 book “Big Data”, a New York Times best-seller that has been translated into over 20 languages. He is a regular commentator in the media, and a popular keynote speaker, from TED to the World Economic Forum.

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It is an unsettling moment. Critics argue the rush to AI comes too fast — while competitive pressure— among giants like Google and start-ups you’ve never heard of, is propelling humanity into the future ready or not.

Sundar Pichai: But I think if take a 10-year outlook, it is so clear to me, we will have some form of very capable intelligence that can do amazing things. And we need to adapt as a society for it.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told us society must quickly adapt with regulations for AI in the economy, laws to punish abuse, and treaties among nations to make AI safe for the world.

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To build a workforce that can meet the expected future demand in the quantum sector, we need to train many more quantum-literate educators and marshal support for them.

In 2018 the US federal government passed the National Quantum Initiative Act, a program designed to accelerate the country’s quantum research and development activities. In the next decade, quantum information science and quantum technologies are expected to have a significant impact on the US economy, as well as on that of other countries. To fulfill that promise, the US will need a “quantum-capable” workforce that is conversant with the core aspects of quantum technologies and is large enough to meet the expected demand. But even now, as quantum-career opportunities are just starting to appear, supply falls behind demand; according to a 2022 report, there is currently only around one qualified candidate for every three quantum job openings [1]. We call for education institutions and funding agencies to invest significantly in workforce development efforts to prevent the worsening of this dearth.

Most of today’s jobs in quantum information science and technology (QIST) require detailed knowledge and skills that students typically gain in graduate-level programs [2]. As the quantum industry matures from having a research and development focus toward having a deployment focus, this requirement will likely relax. The change is expected to increase the proportion of QIST jobs compatible with undergraduate-level training. However, 86% of QIST-focused courses currently take place at PhD-granting research institutions [3]. Very few other undergraduate institutions offer opportunities to learn about the subject. To meet the future need, we believe that aspect needs to change with QIST education being incorporated into the curricula at predominantly undergraduate institutions and community colleges in the US. However, adding QIST classes to the curricula at these institutions will be no easy task.

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In the last decade, we have witnessed biology bring us some incredible products and technologies: from mushroom-based packaging to animal-free hotdogs and mRNA vaccines that helped curb a global pandemic. The power of synthetic biology to transform our world cannot be overstated: this industry is projected to contribute to as much as a third of the global economic output by 2030, or nearly $30 trillion, and could impact almost every area of our lives, from the food we eat to the medicine we put in our bodies.

The leaders of this unstoppable bio revolution – many of whom you can meet at the SynBioBeta conference in Oakland, CA, on May 23–25 – are bringing the future closer every day through their ambitious vision, long-range strategy, and proactive oversight. These ten powerful women are shaping our world as company leaders, biosecurity experts, policymakers, and philanthropists focused on charting a new course to a more sustainable, equitable, clean, and safe future.

As an early pioneer in the high-throughput synthesis and sequencing of DNA, Emily Leproust has dedicated her life to democratizing gene synthesis to catapult the growth of synthetic biology applications from medicine, food, agriculture, and industrial chemicals to DNA data storage. She was one of the co-founders of Twist Bioscience in 2013 and is still leading the expanding company as CEO. To say that Twist’s silicon platform was a game-changer for the industry is an understatement. And it is no surprise that Leproust was recently honored with the BIO Rosalind Franklin Award for her work in the biobased economy and biotech innovation.

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We have what cures you.

#dystopia #technocracy #AClockworkOrange.

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel of the same name. It employs disturbing, violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian near-future Britain.

Continue reading “Clockwork Orange (1971): Ludovico technique” | >

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had a profound deep impact on the economy, inflating the prices of energy and food, with detrimental consequences for both individuals and companies worldwide. As a result, many governments, particularly in Europe, have been discussing the possibility of reducing their dependence on Russian energy.

Most of these ongoing discussions specifically focus on fossil fuel energy, leading to the gradual introduction of sanctions for purchasing Russian coal, oil, and gas. However, Russia is also a key global provider of nuclear power, particularly via a state-owned corporation called Rosatom.

Researchers at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) have recently carried out a study investigating the activity and global portfolio of Rosatom and its subsidiaries. Their findings, published in Nature Energy, highlight the high degree of European dependency on nuclear energy produced by this company, raising important questions about the need to find alternative energy suppliers.

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The latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence could lead to the automation of a quarter of the work done in the US and eurozone, according to research by Goldman Sachs.

The investment bank said on Monday that “generative” AI systems such as ChatGPT, which can create content that is indistinguishable from human output, could spark a productivity boom that would eventually raise annual global gross domestic product by 7 percent over a 10-year period.

But if the technology lived up to its promise, it would also bring “significant disruption” to the labor market, exposing the equivalent of 300 million full-time workers across big economies to automation, according to Joseph Briggs and Devesh Kodnani, the paper’s authors. Lawyers and administrative staff would be among those at greatest risk of becoming redundant.

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