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☆ AI startups have raised almost $29 billion this year. Researchers say a lot more needs to go to companies working to prevent it from becoming an existential threat.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

While investors have poured billions into AI startups, concern about AI's capabilities has grown. People don't all have the same value systems, so AI alignment can look different depending on where the AI is operated and deployed. Investors poured $29 billion into AI startups in the first six months of 2023. Aligned AI. The drive to fund AI safetyAI researchers are also vigilant about where the funds for AI safety and alignment come from.

Persons: ChatGPT, Stuart Armstrong, Rebecca Gorman, —, Gorman, OpenAI's Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Bill Gates, Connor Leahy, Leahy, it's, Sam Bankman, Ian Hogarth, Hogarth Organizations: Oxford University, Investors, Alameda Research, FTX Locations: London

☆ Should you quit your job because you're paid too much? One worker wrote to an advice columnist to ask.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A nonprofit worker wrote to the New York Times Ethicist column about being paid too much. "I do not go above and beyond," the person wrote to the NYT. "One way to contribute to an organization is to shape your job around your talents," the columnist wrote. Quitting because you think you're paid too much? Do you think you're overpaid?

Persons: They've, underworked —, they're, Kwame Anthony Appiah, there's, Lakshmi Organizations: New York Times, Service Locations: Wall, Silicon, Lakshmi Varanasi, lvaranasi

☆ I Dated a Celebrity. Do I Have to Tell My Wife?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | More About Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

I’ve been married for nearly 40 years, and for no particular reason, neither my wife nor I felt compelled to share much about our prior love lives. There was nothing much noteworthy to share on my part, but that changed about three years into the marriage. Not long ago, my wife remarked that I am a “big fan.” I smiled, nodded and changed the subject. My fear is that sharing this connection with my wife would jeopardize my continued enjoyment of this artist’s body of work. Some couples believe in telling each other every detail about their past; you and your wife have settled into a different habit.

Persons: I’ve, I, ”, nodded, I’m

☆ Can I Use ChatGPT for the Tedious Parts of My Job?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | More About Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

I’m a writer and a college professor at a small college, and I recently became chair of the English department. Is it OK to use ChatGPT to generate drafts of documents like these, which don’t make a claim to creative “genius”? Do I need to cite ChatGPT in these documents if I use it? What you would be doing with ChatGPT isn’t so different. For an annual report, you might prompt it with specifics about job searches, departmental priorities, student concerns, revisions of the curriculum and so forth.

Persons: I’m, aren’t, ChatGPT

☆ Can I Resell My Taylor Swift Concert Tickets for Thousands of Dollars?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

When people, or their army of bots, buy those lower-priced tickets in order to resell them, they’re abusing that restraint, and reducing the availability of seats at more reasonable prices. But your sister didn’t buy these tickets to resell them. Looming in the future were the tickets I’d purchased to the Taylor Swift Eras tour, intended for my family members and the student. I refused, because if I did so, the student would still be sitting next to us at the concert. (The original ticket was $350 but was now worth over $3,000 on the resale market, as it was much closer to the stage.)

Persons: Swift, didn’t, Taylor Organizations: Manhattan

☆ We Have a Taylor Swift Concert Crisis. How Do We Solve It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Because of the challenges with Ticketmaster in the fall, three friends and I were able to buy only two tickets to the Taylor Swift Eras tour during the original sale, and resale tickets are now absurdly expensive. Our dilemma is how to decide which two friends get to go to the concert. Although all four of us would love to go to the concert, one friend and I are arguably the biggest Swifties of the group. That said, I already attended an Eras Tour concert last month with my family. I would still love to go again, but maybe I should recuse myself, given that my three friends haven’t been.

Persons: Taylor, haven’t, It’s Organizations: Ticketmaster, “

☆ My Best Friends Are Taking Ozempic. Can I Share My Disapproval?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Recently, two of my good friends (neither of whom is obese) have joined the masses taking semaglutide for weight loss. I’m conflicted about the safety and popularity of these drugs for weight loss, and so I’ve remained silent whenever this topic comes up. Our annual trip is coming up, and I fear I’ll be forced to offer my opinion about their weight loss, especially since the trip involves time at the pool. You imply there’s a moral problem about taking the drug, but you don’t say what it is. But if what’s really bothering you is the thought that your friends are taking the easy way out, well, I doubt that’s a cogent position.

Persons: I’ve, I’ll, It’s, hasn’t, they’ve Locations: United States

☆ My Wife Lives in a Nursing Home. Can I Take a Lover?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

There has been no love or intimacy for the past 10 years. My wife will never leave the nursing home. Am I wrong to seek love, intimacy and companionship with another woman? (This also relates to whether you can afford a divorce: An uncontested one needn’t be very costly.) You say there has been no love between you for the past decade; is this also her perspective?

Persons: —

☆ Biden to meet with A.I. experts in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

President Joe Biden will meet with with artificial intelligence experts in San Francisco on Tuesday as the U.S. government continues to grapple with how best to regulate the technology, according to a White House official. Biden is expected to meet with eight experts involved in researching AI or advocating on its potential impacts. The issue has generated a lot of discussion in the Biden administration, with White House principals meeting to discuss AI two to three times a week, according to a White House official. In May, Vice President Kamala Harris hosted executives in the AI space, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Biden is also expected to fundraise for his 2024 reelection campaign during his visit out West, according to The Associated Press.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Tristan Harris, Jim Steyer, Joy Buolamwin, Sal Khan, Kamala Harris, Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, Altman, fundraise, Emma Kinery Organizations: League of Conservation, White, Center for Humane Technology, Media, Khan Academy, Google, Associated Press Locations: Washington ,, San Francisco, Washington

☆ Singapore is not looking to regulate A.I. just yet, says the city-state's authority
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"We are currently not looking at regulating AI," Lee Wan Sie, director for trusted AI and data at Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority, told CNBC. It is calling for companies to collaborate in the world's first AI testing toolkit — called AI Verify — that enables users to conduct technical tests on their AI models and record process checks. Google , Microsoft and IBM are among tech giants which have already joined the AI Verify Foundation — a global open-source community set up to discuss AI standards and best practices, as well as collaborate on governing AI. "By creating practical resources like the AI governance testing framework and toolkit, Singapore is helping organizations build robust governance and testing processes," said Smith. Singapore has really sort of positioned itself as almost like the steward in the region of responsible and trustworthy use of AI.

Persons: Nicky Loh, Lee Wan Sie, IMDA, Lee Wan, chatbot ChatGPT, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Lee, Haniyeh, Brad Smith, Smith, Josephine Teo, Teo, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Stella Cramer, APAC, Clifford Chance's, Clifford Chance, Stella Cramer APAC Organizations: Bloomberg, Getty, Media Development Authority, CNBC, Tech, IBM, Singapore Airlines, Tesla, U.S, National AI Advisory, Google, Microsoft, Singapore government's, Asia Tech, Singapore's, Communications, European Union, Artificial Intelligence Locations: Bay, Singapore, DataRobot, U.S, China

☆ My Husband Is in His 70s and Won’t Retire. Can I Make Him?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

If he assured you that he would join you in retirement, you would have written about a broken promise. (Even though your husband has been working remotely, he is presumably spending hours in something like a home office, interacting with colleagues.) What we properly call compromise, though, isn’t a matter of one spouse simply doing what the other spouse wishes. Compromise might be planning a vacation together where he agrees to leave those calls from the boss unanswered. Retirement is likely to seem more attractive to your husband if you can show him that he would enjoy the activities you’re imagining doing together.

Persons: It’s

☆ My Siblings’ Inheritance Depends on Whom They Marry. Is That Wrong?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

It isn’t really a gift if it makes you grit your teeth.” (Reread the full question and answer here.) Women have been subtly (and overtly) coerced into doing this type of supportive, unpaid work for far too long. Should a spouse do unpaid work to support the partner whom they claim to love above all others? If the letter writer needs another reason to stop performing this unpaid work, consider the message that it sends to her husband’s trainees. What the letter writer is doing is very much necessary, yet under appreciated, much like background support has been over the years.

Persons: “, you’ll, you’ve, ”, — Anne ⬥, — James ⬥ Academia, — Beth ⬥, — Maureen ⬥, I’ve, — Greta

☆ I Support My Husband’s Career With Unpaid Work. Can I Stop?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

My husband and I work at the same university; he is a professor in the hard sciences and I’m an adjunct instructor who teaches literature and writing. I frequently edit the scientific articles and grant proposals that he and the postdoctoral researchers working under him write. Should I help him as a loving partner, or only do editing work for paying customers? Even leaving love and devotion out of account, you have an interest in your husband’s getting tenure. Still, as you note, your husband could pay someone else to do the job, and as your boiling blood suggests, mixing up personal and professional relationships can cause complications.

Persons: I’m, you’ll, it’s

☆ A.I. doomers are a ‘cult’ — here’s the real threat, according to Marc Andreessen
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Hayden Field | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Andreessen Horowitz partner Marc Andreessen Justin Sullivan | Getty ImagesVenture capitalist Marc Andreessen is known for saying that "software is eating the world." When it comes to artificial intelligence, he claims people should stop worrying and build, build, build. Andreessen writes that there's a "wall of fear-mongering and doomerism" in the AI world right now. Andreessen writes that people in roles like AI safety expert, AI ethicist and AI risk researcher "are paid to be doomers, and their statements should be processed appropriately," he wrote. In Andreessen's own idealist future, "every child will have an AI tutor that is infinitely patient, infinitely compassionate, infinitely knowledgeable, infinitely helpful."

Persons: Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen Justin Sullivan, Marc Andreessen, Andreessen, It's, it's, Bill Gates, Sam Altman, Demis Hassabis, Ben Horowitz Organizations: Getty Images Venture, Nvidia, Microsoft, Center, AI Safety, Tech Locations: China

☆ Yes, you should have children, even in the face of climate change!
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Henry Blodget | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A would-be parent asks whether it's selfish to have children today because the world's going to hell. "The Ethicist" (Kwame Anthony Appiah) provides a long, thoughtful response to this question that boils down to, "yes." And, therefore, it might be mean or selfish or irresponsible for would-be parents to bring children into the world. But more importantly, despite climate change, et al, the world actually isn't worse than it has ever been. So, yes, worried would-be parents, by all means have children.

Persons: —, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Kwame's, it's, Steven Pinker, we've, That's, maiming Organizations: Service, New York Times, Harvard University Locations: York

☆ Is It Wrong to Bring a Child Into Our Warming World?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

My fiancé was drawn to me because of how much he appreciated my talent with and love for children. We also have always been clear with each other that we would try to have biological children soon after getting married. The first question asks us to assess the specific consequences of an act. The second question asks us (as Kant would say) to “universalize the maxim” — to determine whether the rule guiding your action is one that everyone should follow. Suppose someone pockets a ChapStick from Walgreens and asks: What difference does it make?

Persons: don’t, Kant Organizations: Walgreens Locations: United States

☆ A.I. Technology: 8 Questions About the Future - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( Phoebe Lett | Jeremy Ashkenas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

Rumman Chowdhury Ethicist and researcherAnd then build the technology that will create the world that we want to have for ourselves? Yudhanjaya Wijeratne Writer and data scientistWe certainly are coming towards this idea of the human plus A.I. Sebastian Thrun Entrepreneur and educatorWhat if everything you’ve done in your life, everything you’ve learned, you can do in a day? Sebastian Thrun Entrepreneur and educatorAnd then everything other people have learned, you can be master of in a day. And you can solve really, really hard problems because now you have the world’s experience.

Persons: Hell, Rumman Chowdhury Ethicist, we’re, Stephanie Dinkins, I’m, ” Stephanie Dinkins, Yudhanjaya, Siri, Sebastian Thrun, you’ve, You Organizations: Yampolskiy, Yampolskiy Computer Locations: China, Japan

☆ My Husband Flies First Class and Puts Me in Coach. Is That Fair?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

My husband loves to travel and always either pays for, or gets an upgrade into, the first-class cabin. When we travel together with our children, he buys himself a ticket in first class and puts us in economy or economy plus. I don’t think our kids would mind if they were in economy plus and my husband and I sat together in first class. — Name WithheldFrom the Ethicist:The institution of marriage has always taken on characteristics of the society in which it arises. Your husband isn’t entirely oblivious of this — hence his proposal to enjoy his warmed cashews and lie-flat seat on a separate flight from yours.

☆ I'm an AI ethicist. I make sure the tech is safely deployed to the world, but I am not an oracle.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Giada Pistilli, 31, is the principal ethicist at Hugging Face and helps ensure AI is safely deployed. Here is what Pistilli's job as an AI ethicist entails, as told to Insider's Aaron Mok. I'm a full-time AI ethicist making sure the tech is safely deployed to the world. I first approached Hugging Face to understand how I could help build Bloom, its large language model. For example, a journalist approached Hugging Face after he claimed one of his articles was plagiarized by the company's language model.

☆ What does 'No Animals Were Harmed' mean? The disclaimer is not a guarantee of animal safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Crystal Raypole | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The American Human Association monitors roughly 70% of animal action in Hollywood productions. Since they've trademarked the "No Animals Were Harmed" disclaimer, only they can issue and define it. And despite past accounts of cover-ups, AHA guidelines aim to provide productions and animal trainers with a better understanding of animal safety limitations. Video footage released in 2016 showed Michael Hackenberger, Hollywood animal trainer and owner of the Bowmanville Zoo, whipping a tiger named Uno multiple times. Even so, many people believe the only movies that can truly state "No Animals Were Harmed" are movies that replace animal actors with computer-generated imagery.

☆ A Banana Peel Has Made Me Question My Marriage. Who’s Right?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

What some may view as a minor event has become a real fault line in our marriage. While we were driving recently on the Massachusetts Turnpike and going highway speed in the middle lane, my husband opened the passenger-side window and tossed a banana peel into the road. My husband’s response was that the banana peel would biodegrade, and he said, “I’m an adult, so I’ll do as I want.” I responded that the peel wouldn’t biodegrade on asphalt. — Teresa, New York CityFrom the Ethicist:Tossing that banana peel out of the car window was wrong, for reasons that you expressed at the time, and for others too. The Ethicist agrees with me.”But this isn’t a story about the proper disposal of banana peels; in this matter, your husband is no longer claiming he’s in the right.

☆ My Dead Father Had a Secret. Do I Tell Our Family?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

If you are your father’s legal representative, you can also apply for a “discharge upgrade.” But the terms of your father’s separation don’t tell you much about him. Perhaps he was bisexual; he had a long marriage with your mother — and there’s the child he had while stationed in England. Because you’ll probably never have decisive evidence about his sexuality, the only sure thing you can tell your siblings is what’s written on that paperwork. Not knowing your mother, I won’t second guess your decision to not tell her. My partner texted the woman to ask if she was OK or needed help, but she brushed it off.

☆ The healthcare system is racing to unleash breakthrough AI models despite profound unanswered questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The behemoth health-records company Epic, which touches all corners of the healthcare ecosystem, is embracing generative AI as a necessary priority. For eight months, he and a team at Microsoft have been working with OpenAI to explore how generative AI could work in healthcare. Scientific, ethical, and legal mysteries behind ChatGPTLee's panel drew top leaders from tech and healthcare, and their questions on generative AI were sweeping. OConnor edited the note to fix a mistake and clicked a button to transfer it directly into the patient's health record. Generative AI is far from a slam dunk, HIMSS's Bogdan said, citing adoption and privacy concerns.

☆ My Wife Secretly Told Her Friends I Was a Loser. Now What?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Kwame Anthony Appiah | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

My wife’s texts portray me as a deadbeat loser, and she questions why she’s stayed with me, lamenting what a burden it has been for her. I can’t get past the things she said and the betrayal I feel, and I am considering asking for a separation. But you’ll understand what brought it to mind: Neither you nor your wife are models of how spouses should behave. That your wife assumed her messages were private is established precisely by their brutal content. Yet the fact that you’ve wronged her doesn’t deny you the right to complain about what she’s been up to.

Until now, medical assistance in dying — or MAID, as it’s often called — has been available in North America primarily to patients with terminal physical illnesses. The introduction of psychiatric MAID will present difficult, and different, ethical questions, especially for the doctors responsible for helping patients through this choice. Dr. Sisco van Veen is a psychiatrist working in the Netherlands, where psychiatric MAID has been legal since 2002. As an ethicist and a clinician at Amsterdam Medical University, Dr. van Veen has thought deeply about the thorny ethics of psychiatric MAID. If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

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