Issue 162: The Year That Was
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about 2023. – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
The Year That Was
This year began and ended with surprises. In the early months of the year, a relatively obscure AI-powered chatbot named ChatGPT burst onto the scene, reshaping discussions about the practical applications of AI in our daily lives. Seemingly out of nowhere, concerns about the impending AI era loomed large. As the year drew to a close, another momentous event occurred: the European Union ratified the first comprehensive government-backed regulations on AI. 2023 will be etched in history as the year when AI undeniably integrated itself into our everyday lives, for better or worse.
The debate continues. The EU’s new regulations on AI will impact other countries and shape how AI is used in our lives. European lawmakers agreed to ban several AI applications, such as untargeted scraping of images to create facial-recognition databases and will create transparency rules for general-purpose AI systems like ChatGPT and the models that power them. Another major event this year was the 28th edition of the United Nations Climate Conference, known as COP, held in the UAE. Unsurprisingly, conversations about the positive effects of AI in combating climate change were paramount at COP28.
Moving towards a new future. At COP28, we learned how AI systems can process and analyze vast amounts of data to make predictions and optimize systems needed to mitigate climate change. This can help communities worldwide improve energy efficiency, accelerate the adoption of renewable energy, and support various sustainable practices and technologies. While these systems exist, broad collaboration is needed from governments, businesses, and researchers to ensure solutions are implemented correctly. COP28 highlighted this spirit of collaboration, and it’s a lesson we should carry into 2024.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The true test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but how to behave when we don’t know what to do.”
– John Holt, Singer
CHART OF THE WEEK
This week, we are thinking about human height. Humans are roughly as tall as we were 12,000 years ago. 4,000 years ago, the average man was 162cm ( or 5’4).
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
The future of digital culture: Writing in The National in 2020, Xische’s director of strategy, Mary Ames, addressed the question of digital culture. We’ve all experienced the power of technology, from Zoom calls to the ability to stream millions of hours of content during the crisis. We’ve also read about the myriad privacy issues surrounding platforms like Zoom. The challenge is striking the right balance between innovative technology and data privacy, and the perfect time is now.
WFH forever? During the Covid pandemic, the technology world warmly embraced remote work. From Google to Facebook, the major tech giants encouraged their staff to stay home permanently. What if countries adopted a similar mindset? In this piece from the Xische archive, we considered how Gulf nations can borrow a page from Silicon Valley’s handbook and shift to more remote work. Thinking outside the box in these subtle ways is key to finding opportunities in the future marketplace.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
It's as easy as riding a bike. Apparently, riding a bike (or at least keeping one in motion while turning) is much more difficult than we think. This fun post covers the counterintuitive physics of turning a bicycle (with videos). Unlike a car requiring no counter-steering to make a turn, a bicycle requires balance and direction. Think again the next time you find yourself saying something is as easy as riding a bike.
What happens when you ban AI? Given all the interest in regulating AI, it’s important to consider what would happen if platforms were actually banned. When Italy banned Chat-GPT, for example, the country's coders' productivity fell by 50% for two days before recovering. A new paper by a team of AI researchers considers the implications of Italy’s decisions with Chat GPT. Their findings show that users could swiftly implement strategies to bypass restrictions on the AI, but this adaptation created short-term disruptions and hampered productivity.
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