That is at the moment’s version of The Obtain, our weekday e-newsletter that gives a every day dose of what’s occurring on this planet of expertise.
Introducing: the Ethics subject
As expertise is embedded deeper and additional into our lives, it’s changing into more and more vital for us to correctly grapple with moral issues. For instance, how can we nurture the event of AI in a approach that avoids societal hurt? Who ought to get entry to cutting-edge, experimental medicine? If a machine tells troopers when to tug the set off, who’s accountable? These are simply a few of the questions we discover within the newest version of our print journal. If nothing else, this subject is assured to make you assume.
It’s price diving in and studying the entire journal cover-to-cover, however in the event you’re pressed for time, I’d suggest kicking off with these knock-out items:
+ This function seems on the tough, painful questions that encompass who should get entry to which experimental medical remedies (it may be a far more durable determination than you may think.)
+ An article about All Tech Is Human, a nonprofit group dedicated to selling ethics and duty in tech, which kinds a type of non-religious congregation for our trendy instances.
+ This function delves into the complicated and messy ethics of constructing struggle with machines—a urgent subject as cutting-edge tech is being examined in Ukraine, usually with little-to-no oversight.
+ This story examines the sometimes heated debates that go on behind the scenes within the open supply neighborhood, and the place it appears to be heading subsequent. + Our on-line lives are plagued with scams, hacks and fraud. And expertise is rarely going to magically repair that—it’s all the way down to us, as this piece explains.
The fascinating evolution of typing Chinese language characters
Again within the ’80s, there was no approach of processing Chinese language characters on private computer systems. It posed a difficult downside to repair, however one Chinese language engineer named Wang Yongmin had a stab. He developed the primary widespread method to enter Chinese language characters into a pc in 1983, by breaking down a personality into completely different strokes and assigning a number of strokes to every letter on the QWERTY keyboard.
It was helpful, however got here with a giant draw back: customers must memorize which keys correspond to which strokes, so the educational curve is sort of steep. The following step within the evolution of Chinese language IMEs was the invention of typing by phonetic spelling within the ‘90s. However that additionally got here with its personal bother, as lots of of Chinese language characters can share the identical phonetic spelling.
Ultimately, way more environment friendly predictive keyboard software program got here alongside in 2006, and now that kinds the muse for a way Chinese language individuals work together with applied sciences and one another. However once more (you guessed it) there’s an issue: these apps are a privateness nightmare. Learn the total story.
—Zeyi Yang
This story is from China Report, Zeyi’s weekly e-newsletter providing you with the within monitor on what’s occurring in China. Join to obtain it in your inbox each Tuesday.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the web to search out you at the moment’s most enjoyable/vital/scary/fascinating tales about expertise.
1 India is about to attempt to land on the moon 
If it succeeds, it’ll develop into the primary nation to succeed in the lunar south pole. (FT $)
+ Should you’re a fan of high-stakes house livestreams, watch it proper now. (Engadget)
2 Meta launched an AI mannequin that may translate a ton of languages
These kinds of instruments are bettering at a dizzying tempo. (TechCrunch)
+ Meta’s new AI fashions can acknowledge and produce speech for greater than 1,000 languages. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
3 The US is combating excessive climate on many fronts
Floods, wildfires, hurricanes and warmth waves are making for a turbulent time in each nook of the nation. (NBC)
+ Local weather change is redrawing the catastrophe map. (The Verge)
4 What did the €600 million Human Mind Challenge obtain? 
It didn’t handle to simulate the entire human mind (a tall order)—however it nonetheless stacked up some helpful findings. (Nature)
+ How huge science didn’t unlock the mysteries of the human mind. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
5 Elon Musk is ridiculously highly effective
Ignore all of the noise round X, and take a look at his intergovernmental attain by way of tasks like Starlink. (New Yorker $)
6 Contained in the AI porn market the place everyone seems to be on the market
Generative AI instruments make it terrifyingly simple to create non-consensual pictures of anybody. (404 Media)
+ Suggestions for ‘jailbreaking’ AI are already in every single place on-line. (New Scientist $)
+ Scammers used ChatGPT to spam X with dodgy hyperlinks. (Wired $)
+ 3 ways AI chatbots are a safety catastrophe. (MIT Expertise Assessment)
7 LinkedIn is kinda… cool now
If company blandness is as unhealthy because it will get, it nonetheless beats the unappealing options. (Bloomberg $)
8 What we will be taught from Taiwan’s myopia epidemic
Poor eyesight is a rising downside all over the world, however there are methods to cease it changing into even worse. (Wired $)
9 ‘Subliminals’ declare to rework teenagers’ lives
These movies may make you higher and extra engaging. They could additionally do nothing. And even make you’re feeling worse. (The Atlantic $)
10 Your encrypted apps may not be as non-public as you assume
The satan, as at all times, is within the particulars. (WP $)
Quote of the day
“As a result of he’s following his rules, he’s actually now subsisting on bread and water.”
—Spare a thought for Sam Bankman-Fried, alleged to have defrauded individuals out of billions of {dollars} by way of his firm FTX, who his lawyer says isn’t getting the vegan weight loss program he requested, Reuters experiences.
The massive story
The struggle for “Instagram face”
August 2022
Via magnificence filters, platforms like Instagram are serving to customers obtain more and more narrowing magnificence requirements—although solely within the digital world—at a stunningly fast tempo. There may be proof that extreme use of those filters on-line has dangerous results on psychological well being, particularly for younger ladies.
“Instagram face” is a acknowledged aesthetic: ethnically ambiguous with the flawless pores and skin, huge eyes, full lips, small nostril, and completely contoured curves made accessible largely by filters. And whereas Instagram has banned filters that encourage cosmetic surgery, large demand for magnificence augmentation on social media is complicating issues. Learn the total story.
—Tate Ryan-Mosley
We are able to nonetheless have good issues
A spot for consolation, enjoyable and distraction in these bizarre instances. (Received any concepts? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)
+ Do I want extra salt in my weight loss program? Most likely not. Do I nonetheless wish to attempt a salted soda anyway? Uh, sure.
+ The origin of the phrase ‘hangover’ could also be extra literal than I’d imagined.
+ Photographer Ken Hermann’s portraits are superb.
+ Continually surrounded by screens? Don’t neglect to breathe. (NYT $)
