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Showing 1-10 of 33 results

  • OPINION

    Will AI create more fake news than it exposes?

    News, Tyler Cowen, Published on 08/04/2024

    » The best large-language models can already write like humans, especially if prompted properly. Photos and images can be faked at low cost. Yet-to-be-released technology can create convincing voice simulations. There are signs that some academic papers contain traces of GPT-4. If even professors are faking it, then surely the dam has burst.

  • OPINION

    Deepfakes will hijack your brain -- if you let them

    News, Published on 22/02/2024

    » Realistic AI-generated images and voice recordings may be the newest threat to democracy, but they're part of a longstanding family of deceptions. The way to fight so-called deepfakes isn't to develop some rumour-busting form of AI or to train the public to spot fake images. A better tactic would be to encourage a few well-known critical thinking methods -- refocusing our attention, reconsidering our sources, and questioning ourselves.

  • OPINION

    Disney's 'Shogun' has a lot to teach the West

    News, Published on 28/02/2024

    » One of the most famous tales ever set in Japan is back. Walt Disney Co is spending millions on a glossy new adaptation of the James Clavell saga Shogun, the story of the Englishman who arrives in 1600s Japan and goes on to become a samurai.

  • OPINION

    Don't rely on last year's trends for global economy

    Oped, Published on 16/01/2024

    » Behavioural economists have popularised the term "recency bias" to describe our tendency to be disproportionately influenced by the latest events compared to earlier ones. Could this cognitive phenomenon explain why numerous analysts have a rather optimistic tilt for the world economy in 2024? Or are there really positive trends counterbalancing the obvious and mounting challenges to global growth?

  • OPINION

    Chokepoints could cripple trade

    News, Published on 16/01/2024

    » When traffic through the Suez Canal ground to a halt in 2021, the extraordinary cost and disruptions to global commerce seemed overwhelming. But 8,000 kilometres from the canals of Suez and Panama lie even more important shipping lanes, chokepoints that could cripple global trade should any disaster befall them.

  • OPINION

    Ditch Google to avoid fake news

    News, Published on 15/01/2024

    » Searching for information has become instant and effortless -- just go to your nearest device, ask Siri or click a few keys. But are we better informed than we were before Google became a verb?

  • OPINION

    Are scientific breakthroughs on the decline?

    News, Published on 27/12/2023

    » This year had barely begun when scientists got some jolting news. On Jan 4, a paper appeared in Nature claiming that disruptive scientific findings have been waning since 1945. An accompanying graph showed all fields on a steep downhill slide.

  • OPINION

    US-led naval force may not end Houthi ship strikes

    News, Published on 22/12/2023

    » US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has announced a new military effort in the Middle East: Operation Prosperity Guardian. It will bring together a coalition of nations to safeguard the dangerous waters of the Red Sea, North Arabian Sea and western Indian Ocean from surprisingly sophisticated attacks by Iranian-sponsored terrorists from the Houthi rebellion in Yemen.

  • OPINION

    The presidential poll isn't perfect. Vote anyway

    News, Published on 31/08/2023

    » Predictability is the name of the game in Singapore's elections. The ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and its candidates always win handsomely. And while their margin of success is the envy of political parties and politicians the world over, for the PAP every single point counts. It is a sign of just how satisfied Singapore's 3.5 million or so citizens are with the ruling party. And a signal of whether longevity and legitimacy amount to the same thing.

  • OPINION

    Watch Apple TV's Extrapolations for the science, not the story

    Life, Published on 10/04/2023

    » Hollywood has long mined global warming to create terrifying scenarios of apocalyptic futures. Some of these aren't very realistic. Others are all preaching and no teaching. But the new Apple TV series Extrapolations takes a different, more science-steeped approach -- the episodes cascade through the future of this century, using real scientific projections and computer-generated special effects to show how global warming might play out under the most likely scenario.

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