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Algorethics meets theology: Father Paolo Benanti's path for an AI we can live with
Francesco Profumo, a former Italian education minister and the current rector of the Open Institute of Technology, explains why artificial intelligence needs a voice like Father Paolo Benanti, the only theologian on the UN Committee on Artificial Intelligence.
When ChatGPT was launched, on Nov. 30, 2022, the world as we knew it no longer seemed the same. It was not until that date, in fact, that we all realized that artificial intelligence had entered our lives. Yet AI was already alongside us in many jobs and situations helping to change, one piece of code at a time, our society and the very way we think about life, professions and everything around us.
It is with this new awareness that the Franciscan Father Paolo Benanti, a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the only Italian member of the UN Committee on Artificial Intelligence, was recently appointed as the new president of Italy's AI Commission on Information.
In recent years, there has been no shortage of debates about the end of work due to this new discovery, or alarms toward an impending technological singularity. There are also, more simply, fears about the misuse of AI, for example, in the production of fake news. That is a very real concern given that many countries around the world will vote in 2024.
As Rector of the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT), I also hear a lot of questioning about the role AI can play within our higher education system. But I think this questioning is happening without understanding the real scope of the transformation taking place.
Father Benanti uses the plural to speak about artificial intelligences and AI systems, reminding us that their impact depends on their design, subsequent implementations and various uses. Therein lies the crux of the issue. AI's impact is bound to be widespread and to fundamentally change our society, revolutionizing it in ways we do not always yet grasp. Hence certain fears arise. But in reality we are facing the fourth General Purpose Technology (GPT), that is, a profound and irreversible transformation of our society, our lives and of course our jobs — all jobs — is underway. [...]
— Read the full article by Francesco Profumo for La Stampa, translated into English by Worldcrunch.
🎲 OUR WEEKLY NEWS QUIZ
1. In what kind of facility did Israeli commandos kill three accused Palestinian militants in the West Bank city of Jenin?
2. The former prime minister of which country has been sentenced twice in two days?
3. Ordered to liquidate over mass debts, China’s massive firm Evergrande operates in what sector?
4. What did Riposte Alimentaire activists throw at the Mona Lisa? Oil / Paint / Pig blood / Soup
[Answers at the bottom of this newsletter]
#️⃣ TRENDING
Prominent Cameroon businessman Hervé Bopda was arrested late Tuesday night after a wave of high-profile activists, writers and artists denounced him on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook. The #StopBopda movement gained unprecedented attraction on social media with the hashtag being used over 100,000 times. Though Africa has been slower than other parts of the world in confronting violence against women, the public outcry in Cameroon comes as Kenyan women have also taken to the streets and launched the hashtag #EndFemicideKE.
🎭 5 CULTURE THINGS TO KNOW
• Venice carnival in full swing before launch of entry fee scheme: This year’s Venice carnival is hosting hundreds of thousands of visitors, featuring more than 50 shows and cultural events until Feb. 13. The festivities could be the last with free access to one of Italy's most visited cities, as Venice will implement a trial scheme for its 5-euro one-day ticket, beginning April 25.
• A focus on Korean-born artists in Seoul’s global galleries: Three international galleries with outposts in Seoul are starting 2024 with special exhibitions dedicated to Korean-born artists. Lehmann Maupin and its “Wonderland” exhibition display the artworks of four Korean-born painters and sculptors from different generations while “Forme d’esprit” at Perrotin showcases “landscape paintings” by 70-year-old artist Lee Sang-nam. Thaddaeus Ropac’s “Nostalgics on realities” focuses on the works of six artists of Korean descent.
• Russia’s Mosfilm studio turns 100: State-owned giant of Soviet and Russian cinema Mosfilm, which produced classic films such as Battleship Potemkin and Solaris, marked its 100th anniversary on Jan. 30. Despite the standoff between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine, the studio’s director general said its future looks prosperous, with domestic movies filling the empty slots left by the drop in the number of Western films featuring in Russian cinemas.
• Universal vs. TikTok: Universal Music has begun pulling millions of songs from TikTok after a breakdown in talks over payments. The move means users of the social media platform will no longer have access to songs by dozens of prominent artists including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Adele and Justin Bieber. The music company accused TikTok of “trying to build a music-based business, without paying fair value for the music.”
• Broadway icon Chita Rivera dies at 91: Broadway legend Chita Rivera, who played the role of Anita in the original Broadway production of West Side Story, has died at 91 after a brief illness. The iconic performer won two Tony Awards for The Rink and Kiss of the Spider Woman.
🇺🇦 Why Ukraine is in dire need of a new strategy
In a conflict where a smaller force like Ukraine faces a larger adversary like Russia, Kyiv's chances of victory appear more limited, especially as Moscow, aware of its resource advantage, seeks to prolong the war through diplomatic maneuvers. For defense strategy expert Viktor Kevlyuk, Ukraine’s war strategy should thus follow this maxim: "It is not the big that eats the small, but the fast that eat the slow." The strategy should no longer be focused on the return of occupied territories. It's not about land, but about the destruction of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, he writes in Ukrainian news website Livy Bereg.
Read the full story: "Not About Land Now" — How Ukraine Must Radically Change Its War Strategy
⚠️ The cautionary tale of Turkey’s descent into dictatorship
As nearly half of the world prepares to vote in elections this year, Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkuran warns that many countries are following Turkey's path from democracy to dictatorship. For Istanbul-based weekly Oksijen, she lists seven steps, from “create a movement” to “corrupt the language” and “dismantle the judicial and political systems” for which Turkey can provide “infinite examples” but that Western democracies should be wary of.
Read the full story: How Democracy Slips Into Dictatorship — A Warning From The Turkish Playbook
💰 U.S. & Mexico: it’s (still) complicated
U.S. President Joe Biden has quietly turned his Republican predecessor's anti-foreign posturing into economic policies that strongly favor domestic manufacturing. These changes affect Mexico and its future, as the U.S. is the country’s premier export market and thus, a crucial engine of its economic growth. “Yet Biden's policies may obstruct this trading logic, as he moves to protect formal U.S. workers threatened to exclude a range of Mexican products,” writes Luis Rubio in Latin American business magazine America Economia. So does the country have anything to look forward to in the upcoming presidential elections?
Read the full story: Why Biden May Be Just As Bad For U.S.-Mexico Trade As Trump
🔨 BRIGHT IDEA
An engineer in New Zealand has come up with a new invention to revolutionize picnics: a park bench that doubles as a picnic table and can sit four people when unfolded. It took two weeks for Louwrens Burger, who got the idea during a slow day at work at his construction business, to build the first prototype. But the engineer now makes one unit a day, which he sells for $750 — even though he hasn’t found a name for his invention yet.
🏅 FACEPALM OF THE WEEK
Nazi-like salutes, people in flames, missing faces and extra limbs … A poster by the Bordeaux tourism office, meant to announce the day the Olympic flame will stop by the city in western France, featured everything that can go wrong with AI-generated visuals. Not only do close-ups of the background crowd reveal some deeply disturbing details — but the Olympic torch itself has nothing to do with the official one. Many also expressed their disappointment over Bordeaux choosing generative AI instead of a local (human) artist.
📹 THIS HAPPENED VIDEO — TODAY IN HISTORY, IN ONE ICONIC PHOTO
➡️ Watch the video: THIS HAPPENED
⏩ LOOKING AHEAD
• El Salvador is set to hold elections on Sunday. Despite having suspended civil liberties, led a mass incarceration effort and provoked international criticism for human rights violations, President Nayib Bukele (self-labeled “the world’s coolest dictator”) has also cracked down on crime to achieve one of the lowest homicide rates in the Americas, securing him a solid base of support for his second term.
• The verdict in former U.S. President Donald Trump's fraud case is expected to be announced on Monday. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleged that Trump falsified property valuations to obtain overly beneficial tax and loan interest rates.
• Legendary Canadian-American singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell will be performing on stage at the Grammy Awards for the first time on Sunday. Mitchell, 80, won the first of her 10 Grammys back in 1970.
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News quiz answers:
1. Israeli forces conducted a 15-minute covert operation in a West Bank hospital, assassinating three Palestinian militants, including a notable Hamas operative. Disguised as Arab medics and hijab-covered women, Israeli special forces executed the raid, showcasing Mossad's mastery in covert operations.
2. Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, received two jail sentences within a span of two days. He and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have been sentenced to 14 years in prison. This follows a previous sentencing a week before the upcoming election, in which Khan is disqualified from standing. Having been ousted by his opponents in 2022, Khan is currently serving a three-year jail term for corruption.
3. A Hong Kong court ordered the liquidation of China’s real estate giant Evergrande property giant — the world's most indebted developer, with more than $300 billion of total liabilities. The debt-laden firm defaulted two years ago and has failed to come up with a plan to restructure since then.
4. Members of the Riposte Alimentaire group hurled soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa at the Louvre, demanding action toward climate change and sustainable agriculture. The legendary masterpiece, meanwhile, remains unscathed and impassible as ever, protected as it is behind bullet (and soup) proof glass.
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