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The writer is the former senior editor of Exponential View, a weekly newsletter about technology and its impact on society. He was also the editor-in-chief of emerge85, a lab exploring change in emerging markets and its global impact. Syndication Bureau.
Jewish history is full of cautionary examples of failed emancipation. For millennia, Jews have often been perceived as the “other” in their host societies, a status that continues to this day despite appearances to the contrary in some countries. While the past century has witnessed various efforts to achieve civil and political rights for Jews, including religious initiatives like Reform Judaism and political movements like Zionism, these have not fully addressed the underlying issues.
Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth. We have lost control of artificial intelligence. This shouldn’t be too surprising, considering we likely never had any control over it. The maelstrom at OpenAI over the abrupt dismissal of its chief executive, Sam Altman, raised accountability questions inside one of the world’s most powerful AI companies. Yet even before the boardroom drama, our understanding of how AI is created and used was limited.
In the summer of 2011, I was aboard a ship bound from Athens for the Gaza Strip. I was covering the second Gaza flotilla for The Nation. A year before, Palestinian solidarity activists sent several aid ships to Gaza to highlight Israel’s maritime blockade of the Palestinian territory. The Israeli navy intercepted the ships, commandos boarded the vessels, and several activists were killed by soldiers. Given the international outcry, activists arranged another flotilla in 2011, but the boats never left port.
After the 2008 financial crisis, a new approach to urbanism and service delivery began to take root worldwide. With advancements in technology, city planners devised new ways to monitor the needs of urban residents and use technology to deliver services. By deploying the Internet of Things across myriad tasks of urban management, the “smart city” was born.
While the global debate around using artificial intelligence in warfare heats up, Israel has brazenly deployed AI systems against the Palestinians. Bloomberg reported last month that the Israeli army deployed an advanced AI model called Fire Factory designed to select targets for air strikes and handle other military logistics. This wasn’t the first time Israel had used AI in combat operations.
There is undeniable excitement about challenges to the American dollar’s position as the global reserve currency.
Every year, the Israeli government proudly publishes the number of new immigrants. Under Israel’s law of return, anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent is entitled to automatic Israeli citizenship.
South Africa has struggled to keep the lights on for more than a decade. The country’s aging coal power plants have fallen into disrepair.
We can’t afford to ignore the global mental health crisis much longer. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions worldwide suffer from dangerous levels of depression and anxiety.
Chinese diplomats have been busy this year. The country just announced its desire to serve as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians on the back of a stunningly productive effort to restore ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
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