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What impact will AI have on gender equality?
What impact will AI have on gender equality? | Global Stage | GZERO Media

What impact will AI have on gender equality?

At the current rate of progress toward gender equality, the World Economic Forum estimates it will take 131 years for women to attain parity in income, status, and leadership.

While technology is a powerful tool to help close the gender gap, it can also be weaponized. GZERO’s special presentation “Gender Equality in the Age of AI” featured candid conversations about the opportunities and threats that exist online, and how artificial intelligence will impact them.

Produced on the sidelines of the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the program featured leading experts from government, technology, and philanthropy. Moderator Penny Abeywardena, former NYC Commissioner for International Affairs, was joined by Jac sm Kee, co-founder of Numun Fund; Vickie Robinson, general manager of the Microsoft Airband Initiative; Michelle Milford Morse, the United Nations Foundation’s vice president for Girls and Women Strategy; and Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová, a member of the European Parliament from Slovakia.

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Yuval Noah Harari on protecting the right to be stupid
Harari on protecting the right to be stupid | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer

Yuval Noah Harari on protecting the right to be stupid

Bestselling author and historian Yuval Noah Harari makes the case for mental self-care in an age where our minds are bombarded with an unprecedented influx of information. In a wide-ranging interview with Ian Bremmer, filmed before a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Harari stresses the importance of a healthy ‘'information diet.'

"Our minds were shaped back in the Stone Age," Harari says. Smartphones and social media, designed by the today’s smartest minds, are engineered to 'hack our brains and manipulate our emotions. Harari warns, "Anybody who thinks they are strong enough to resist it is just fooling themselves."

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This image of NGC 5468, a galaxy located about 130 million light-years from Earth, combines data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.

NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Adam G. Riess via Reuters

Hard Numbers: Understanding the universe, Opening up OpenAI,  Bioweapon warning, Independent review, AI media billions

100 million: AI is helping researchers better map outer space. One recent simulation led by a University College London researcher was able to show 100 million galaxies just across a quarter of the Earth’s southern hemisphere sky. This is part of a wider effort to understand dark energy, the mysterious force causing the expansion of the universe.

30,000: The law firm WilmerHale, which completed its investigation of Sam Altman’s brief December ouster from OpenAI, examined 30,000 documents as part of its review. The contents of the report haven’t been made public, but new board chairman Bret Taylor said that the review found the prior board acted in good faith but didn’t anticipate the reaction to removing Altman, who is now rejoining the board. The SEC, meanwhile, is still investigating whether OpenAI deceived investors, but it’s unclear whether WilmerHale will give their findings to the agency.

90: More than 90 scientists have pledged not to use AI to develop bioweapons as part of an agreement forged somewhat in response to congressional remarks given by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei last year. Amodei said while the current generation of AI technology couldn’t handle such a task, it’s only two or three years away.

100: More than 100 AI researchers have signed an open letter asking the leading companies to allow independent investigators access to their models to ensure that risk assessment is thorough. “Generative AI companies should avoid repeating the mistakes of social media platforms, many of which have effectively banned types of research aimed at holding them accountable,” the letter said.

8 billion: The media company Thomson Reuters says it has an $8 billion “war chest” to spend on AI-related acquisitions. In addition to publishing the Reuters newswire, the company sells access to services like Westlaw, a popular legal research platform. It’s also committed to spending at least $100 million developing in-house AI technology to integrate into its news and data offerings.

Live premiere TODAY at 12 pm ET: Gender Equality in the Age of AI

WATCH OUR LIVE PREMIERE TODAY at 12 pm ET: In the age of generative AI, how can technology become a tool to create more opportunities for women and girls worldwide? What will it take to train more women to use AI to reach their economic potential, and ultimately greater equality? As AI innovation advances at a staggering pace, the widening equality gap threatens to erode progress. There is also a dark side — the alarming number of women who experience online violence.

In our next Global Stage discussion, presented by GZERO in partnership with Microsoft and the United Nations Foundation, our expert panel will discuss inclusive ways to make our digital lives safer and more productive. Today, Monday, March 18 at 12 pm ET, watch the live premiere of "Gender Equality in the Age of AI," taking place on the sidelines of UN Women’s 68th Commission on the Status of Women, a gathering of leaders from UN member states and NGOs focused on progress and equality.

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Yuval Noah Harari: AI is a “social weapon of mass destruction” to humanity
Yuval Noah Harari: AI is a “social weapon of mass destruction” to humanity | GZERO World

Yuval Noah Harari: AI is a “social weapon of mass destruction” to humanity

In a wide-ranging conversation with Ian Bremmer, filmed live at the historic 92nd Street Y in NYC, bestselling author Yuval Noah Harari delves deep into the profound shifts AI is creating in geopolitical power dynamics, narrative control, and the future of humanity.

Highlighting AI's unparalleled capacity to make autonomous decisions and generate original content, Harari underscores the rapid pace at which humans are ceding control over both power and stories to machines. "AI is the first technology in history that can take power away from us,” Harari tells Bremmer.

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AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act
Canada wants to hold AI companies accountable with proposed legislation | GZERO AI

AI and Canada's proposed Online Harms Act

In this episode of GZERO AI, Taylor Owen, professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and director of its Centre for Media, Technology & Democracy, takes at a look at the Canadian government’s Online Harms Act, which seeks to hold social media companies responsible for harmful content – often generated by artificial intelligence.

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Voters beware: Elections and the looming threat of deepfakes
2024 02 17 Global Stage Clip Brad Smith 03 FINAL

Voters beware: Elections and the looming threat of deepfakes

With AI tools already being used to manipulate voters across the globe via deepfakes, more needs to be done to help people comprehend what this technology is capable of, says Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith.

Smith highlighted a recent example of AI being used to deceive voters in New Hampshire.

“The voters in New Hampshire, before the New Hampshire primary, got phone calls. When they answered the phone, there was the voice of Joe Biden — AI-created — telling people not to vote. He did not authorize that; he did not believe in it. That was a deepfake designed to deceive people,” Smith said during a Global Stage panel on AI and elections on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference last month.

“What we fundamentally need to start with is help people understand the state of what technology can do and then start to define what's appropriate, what is inappropriate, and how do we manage that difference?” Smith went on to say.

Watch the full conversation here: How to protect elections in the age of AI

Amrapali Gan, CEO at OnlyFans, addresses the audience during the second day of the Web Summit 2022 in Lisbon.

(Photo by Bruno de Carvalho / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)

Hard Numbers: OnlyAI, Raw deal for media companies, AGI approaches, Less work and more money

10: OnlyFans CEO Amrapali Gan said in an interview that verified creators on the platform need to provide 10 different pieces of personal information in the US — nine everywhere else — including government ID, which she claims will help prevent the site from being overrun by AI porn bots. She admitted that sex workers may use AI tools on the platform but emphasized that their work can't be “wholly AI.”

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