The era of artificial intelligence has begun, and it brings with it many new concerns. A lot of effort and money is being devoted to ensuring that AI will only do what humans want it to do. But what we should fear most is artificial intelligence that will do what humans want. The real danger is us.This is not the risk the industry is striving to address. In February, an entire company — called Synth Labs — was founded for the express purpose of “aligning AI,” making it behave exactly as humans intend. Among its investors are Microsoft-owned M12, and…
Author: ricardofrancois
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Lawmakers in US state capitals are seeking to stifle the development of tuna, pork and other “lab-grown” animal proteins, and are taking a stand against new food technology backed by investors such as Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.Republicans in at least seven states have introduced legislation since the beginning of the year to ban the sale or distribution of lab-grown meat, a form of edible protein grown from animal cells.The first product — cultured chicken — received federal approval last year as…
Washington – Donald Trump's campaign and religious conservatives are criticizing President Biden after he called on people a few days ago to join him in celebrating Transgender Visibility Day. The day, March 31, also coincides with Easter this year.On Friday, the Democratic president called on “all Americans to join us in uplifting the lives and voices of transgender people across our nation and working to eliminate violence and discrimination based on gender identity.” Easter is one of the holiest Christian celebrations. The Trump campaign accused Biden, a devout Catholic, of being insensitive to religion, and his fellow Republicans attacked him.“We…
A massive fire broke out Saturday evening at an apartment complex in Lomita.Los Angeles County firefighters responded to a call at 6:50 p.m. in the 2100 block of Palos Verdes Drive North, fire department officials said.Two hours later, firefighters were still battling the massive three-alarm blaze at the Vista Verde complex. Live footage from CBS News showed flames tearing through the roof, which partially collapsed in the first two hours of the fire.At one point, a transformer appeared to explode nearby and fire crews dropped water from the stairs and blew hoses from the floor and part of the ceiling…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the Work & Careers myFT Digest – delivered straight to your inbox.I can't be alone in thinking during my busy and often delayed commute to work in London, that if we each average 4,000 weeks on this blessed earth, as writer Oliver Borkman so profitably points out, that's a bad thing. Way to spend a high percentage of that time.But, of course, if I were alone, the problem would not arise. I'm going home where I can earn my peel without any distractions and no one else's scents — or videos —…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Mohamed Marikar's typical trip to his office in London takes three and a half hours. On a bad day, more than four.The senior manager at RBC Wealth Management is one of a growing breed of “supertravelers,” many of whom moved out of town during the pandemic to increase their living space in more affordable areas, and now travel long distances to their workplaces part of the week.The proportion of passengers globally who take a 90- to 120-minute flight at least once a…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the myFT Digest Renewable Energy – delivered straight to your inbox.Anyone in marketing who looks at how countries deal with renewable energy releases will be horrified.First, companies popped up in beautiful rural areas to build wind farms. Then, people were told that fees would be added to their energy bills to help cover the cost of the farms, which had to be built because of a distant climate problem that some did not believe was real.This is a shortened version of what Greg Jackson, founder of one of the UK's most interesting…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up for the myFT Digest Social Affairs – delivered straight to your inbox.I recently spent a day at the World Happiness Summit in London. As you might expect from this Year's Happiness Event, much of the content was uplifting and rather fun. Also, as you might expect, there was something a little off-putting about some of the procedures (one consulting firm bragged about guiding its clients through “goal journeys”), as well as a few completely implausible statements (“Please turn to the one next to you, and ask each other: Are you constipated?).But the words…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.Online fast fashion giant Shein has doubled its profits as it awaits regulatory approval from Beijing to go ahead with its blockbuster listing in New York or London.Shein posted record profits of more than $2 billion for 2023 and posted nearly $45 billion in gross merchandise value, the total value of goods sold on its website, said four people close to the company, which was founded in China but has moved its headquarters to Singapore. .The group's profits last year exceeded the…
The arc of the moral universe—that arc that is supposedly long and leaning toward justice—seems to be finally approaching its mark.A series of events in recent days — Ronna McDaniel being thrown out of a window, John Eastman threatened to be disbarred, Carey Lake surrendering in a defamation suit — suggest the reckoning is about to come to an end.It took some time. Too long to satisfy those who would rather have justice quick than certain.But the humiliation of McDaniel, the punishment of Eastman and Lake, as well as the imprisonment of Peter Navarro, the Clinton Democrat turned Trump follower,…