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An Agent-Based Model for Poverty and Discrimination Policy-Making

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

The deceleration of global poverty reduction in the last decades suggests that traditional redistribution policies are losing their effectiveness. Alternative ways to work towards the #1 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (poverty eradication) are required. NGOs have insistingly denounced the criminalization of poverty, and the social science literature suggests that discrimination against the poor (a phenomenon known as aporophobia) could constitute a brake to the fight against poverty. This paper describes a proposal for an agent-based model to examine the impact that aporophobia at the institutional level has on poverty levels. This aporophobia agent-based model (AABM) will first be applied to a case study in the city of Barcelona. The regulatory environment is central to the model, since aporophobia has been identified in the legal framework. The AABM presented in this paper constitutes a cornerstone to obtain empirical evidence, in a non-invasive way, on the causal relationship between aporophobia and poverty levels. The simulations that will be generated based on the AABM have the potential to inform a new generation of poverty reduction policies, which act not only on the redistribution of wealth but also on the discrimination of the poor.


'Team-in-the-loop' organisational oversight of high-stakes AI

arXiv.org Artificial Intelligence

Oversight is rightly recognised as vital within high-stakes public sector AI applications, where decisions can have profound individual and collective impacts. Much current thinking regarding forms of oversight mechanisms for AI within the public sector revolves around the idea of human decision makers being 'in-the-loop' and thus being able to intervene to prevent errors and potential harm. However, in a number of high-stakes public sector contexts, operational oversight of decisions is made by expert teams rather than individuals. The ways in which deployed AI systems can be integrated into these existing operational team oversight processes has yet to attract much attention. We address this gap by exploring the impacts of AI upon pre-existing oversight of clinical decision-making through institutional analysis. We find that existing oversight is nested within professional training requirements and relies heavily upon explanation and questioning to elicit vital information. Professional bodies and liability mechanisms also act as additional levers of oversight. These dimensions of oversight are impacted, and potentially reconfigured, by AI systems. We therefore suggest a broader lens of 'team-in-the-loop' to conceptualise the system-level analysis required for adoption of AI within high-stakes public sector deployment.


Controversy in France over AI-assisted Olympics surveillance

#artificialintelligence

French government plans to trial surveillance cameras upgraded with artificial intelligence at the 2024 Paris Olympics have opponents fuming at what they say is unnecessary and dangerous security overreach. While the government says such systems are needed to manage millions-strong crowds and spot potential dangers, critics see the law--adopted Thursday--as a gift to French industry at the cost of vital civil liberties. Last week, around 40 mostly left-leaning members of the European Parliament warned in an open letter to French lawmakers that the plan "creates a surveillance precedent never before seen in Europe", daily Le Monde reported. Debates kicked off late Monday in the National Assembly, France's lower parliamentary chamber, and the move--an article of a wide-ranging bill on the Olympics--was overwhelmingly approved despite strong opposition from left-wing MPs. Even before the debates, MPs had filed 770 amendments to the Olympics security bill, many aimed at Article Seven.


North Korea claims it tested 'nuclear underwater attack drone' amid joint U.S.-South Korea military drills

FOX News

Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday that deterrence of North Korea "continues to work," hours after the Kim regime launched another intercontinental ballistic missile. North Korea claimed on Friday morning that it tested a "nuclear underwater attack drone" this week amid joint U.S. and South Korean military drills, according to state media outlet Korean Central News Agency. The new underwater weapon is designed to "stealthily infiltrate into operational waters" and target naval striker groups and enemy ports, North Korea claimed. "This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation," KCNA said in a statement. A test warhead exploded in the waters off Hongwon Bay on Thursday afternoon, North Korea claimed.


Thoughtful technology: We can now control robots - with our minds - Study Finds

#artificialintelligence

Scientists from the University of Technology Sydney have developed new biosensor technology that actually makes mind reading possible! No, not like a fortune teller; this new technology allows people to operate devices, such as robots and machines, solely via thought-control. You think, and the robot acts. Researchers add this exciting breakthrough holds positive implications for the fields of healthcare, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing. This advanced brain-computer interface was developed by Distinguished Professor Chin-Teng Lin and Professor Francesca Iacopi, from the UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT, in collaboration with the Australian Army and Defence Innovation Hub.


Killer robot dogs that are controlled by soldiers' MINDS are trialed by Australian army

Daily Mail - Science & tech

Soldiers controlling a robot dog with their mind as they patrol a dusty road and sweep an delipidated building may sound like science fiction, but it is the scene in a real world demonstration. The Australian Army has perfected mind-controlling abilities with eight sensors neatly packed inside a helmet that work in tandem with a Microsoft HoloLens. The innovation features an AI-decoder that translates a soldier's brain signals into explainable instructions that are sent to the robotic quadruped, allowing humans to stay focused on their surroundings. A new video shows military personal conducting a simulated patrol clearance using the robot dog, which was instructed to sweep a facility using what it read from a person's brain waves - and with 94 percent accuracy. The system was developed by the University of Technology Sydney that first unveiled the innovation last year, but recently published a new paper detailing the work. 'The user used our augmented brainโ€“robot interface (aBRI) platform to control the robot systems,' reads the paper published by American Chemical Society on March 16.


Data Analytics Manager at ServiceNow - Hyderabad, India

#artificialintelligence

It's where we spend a third of our lives. And the workplace of the future is going to be a great place. We're dedicated to bringing that to life for people everywhere. That's why we put people at the heart of everything we do. Our people have a passion for learning, building, and innovating.


Nobody Actually Knows What Trump Will Be Charged With

Slate

This week, David Plotz, John Dickerson, and Emily Bazelon discuss Trump's announcement he expects to be arrested; what ChatGPT means for the world; and interview Rachel Donadio, contributing writer for The Atlantic, about the unrest in France. Here are some notes and references from this week's show: Rachel Donadio for The New York Times: "Macron May Keep the Presidency, But Le Pen Has Already Won" Here are this week's chatters: David: Blue Collar Cats; Andrea Sachs for The Washington Post: "'These Are Working Cats': Meet The Feral D.C. Felines Tasked With Hunting Rodents" Listener chatter from Alexandra Phelps: Kavitha Surana for ProPublica: "Doctors Warned Her Pregnancy Could Kill Her. For this week's Slate Plus bonus segment David, John, and Emily discuss how Iowa became so conservative.


Congress and AI - The New Stack

#artificialintelligence

Congress has never been the quickest off the mark when it comes to making laws dealing with technology. Now, even as AI takes over creative writing and art, Congress continues to sit idle. As legislators endeavor to comprehend generative AI programs such as Microsoft Bing, ChatGPT and Google Bard, some of the more technology-oriented lawmakers are apprehensive about a repeat of Congress's unpreparedness in responding to the previous major tech wave -- social media. Worries, however, don't appear to be leading to action. True, there's a backlash now for letting tech companies keep Washington at arm's length with promises of "self-regulation" on critical issues such as privacy protection, child safety, disinformation, cryptocurrency, and data portability.


The Anti-Drone Arms Race: Inside the Fight to Protect the World's Skies

TIME - Tech

On the top floor of a squat Singapore industrial estate, wedged between a railway depot and water reclamation plant, is a young security firm that's shooting for the stars. Well, shooting for anything beneath the stars that shouldn't be there, technically speaking. TRD is one of the world's leading purveyors of anti-drone technology--a burgeoning industry worth some $1.1 billion last year and projected to grow to $7.4 billion by 2032. "Anti-drone is the hot topic right now," says TRD CEO Sam Ong, a former officer in the Singapore Armour Corps, where he specialized in tank technology. "Unmanned warfare is taking center stage, especially in the Ukraine war."