Future of Professionals

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Thomson Reuters: “First, the productivity benefits we have been promised are now becoming more apparent. As AI adoption has become widespread, professionals can more tangibly tell us about how they will use this transformative technology and the greater efficiency and value it will provide. The most common use cases for AI-powered technology thus far include drafting documents, summarizing information, and performing basic research. Second, there’s a tremendous sense of excitement about the value that new AI-powered technology can bring to the day-to-day lives of the professionals we surveyed. While more than half of professionals said they’re most excited about the benefits that new AI-powered technologies can bring in terms of time-savings, nearly 40% said the new value that will be brought is what excites them the most.

This report highlights how AI could free up that precious commodity of time. As with the adoption of all new technology, change appears moderate and the impact incremental. And yet, within the year, our respondents predicted that for professionals, AI could free up as much as four hours a week. What will they do with 200 extra hours of time a year? They might reinvest that time in strategic work, innovation, and professional development, which could help companies retain or advance their competitive advantage. Imagine the broader impact on the economy and GDP from this increased efficiency. For US lawyers alone, that is a combined 266 million hours of increased productivity. That could translate into $100,000 in new, billable time per lawyer each year, based on current average rates – with similar productivity gains projected across various professions. The time saved can also be reinvested in professional development, nurturing work-life balance, and focusing on wellness and mental health. Moreover, the economic and organizational benefits of these time-savings are substantial. They could lead to reduced operational costs and higher efficiency, while enabling organizations to redirect resources toward strategic initiatives, fostering growth and competitiveness.

Finally, it’s important to acknowledge there’s still a healthy amount of reticence among professionals to fully adopt AI. Respondents are concerned primarily with the accuracy of outputs, and almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that data security is a vital component of responsible use. These concerns aren’t trivial, and they warrant attention as we navigate this new era of technology. While AI can provide tremendous productivity benefits to professionals and generate greater value for businesses, that’s only possible if we build and use this technology responsibly.”…(More)”.

Dada-Disinfo

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Report by Mark Kaigwa et al: “The “Dada Disinfo: Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) Report,” prepared by Nendo and Pollicy, outlines the pervasive issue of TFGBV in Kenya’s vibrant but volatile social media ecosystem. The report draws on extensive research, including social media analytics, surveys, and in-depth interviews with content creators, to shed light on the manifestations, perpetrators, and impacts of TFGBV. The project, supported by USAID and conducted in collaboration with Pollicy, integrates advanced analytics to offer insights and potential solutions to mitigate online gender-based violence in Kenya…(More)”.

How the Rise of the Camera Launched a Fight to Protect Gilded Age Americans’ Privacy

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Sohini Desai: “In 1904, a widow named Elizabeth Peck had her portrait taken at a studio in a small Iowa town. The photographer sold the negatives to Duffy’s Pure Malt Whiskey, a company that avoided liquor taxes for years by falsely advertising its product as medicinal. Duffy’s ads claimed the fantastical: that it cured everything from influenza to consumption, that it was endorsed by clergymen, that it could help you live until the age of 106. The portrait of Peck ended up in one of these dubious ads, published in newspapers across the country alongside what appeared to be her unqualified praise: “After years of constant use of your Pure Malt Whiskey, both by myself and as given to patients in my capacity as nurse, I have no hesitation in recommending it.”

Duffy’s lies were numerous. Peck (misleadingly identified as “Mrs. A. Schuman”) was not a nurse, and she had not spent years constantly slinging back malt beverages. In fact, she fully abstained from alcohol. Peck never consented to the ad.

The camera’s first great age—which began in 1888 when George Eastman debuted the Kodak—is full of stories like this one. Beyond the wonders of a quickly developing art form and technology lay widespread lack of control over one’s own image, perverse incentives to make a quick buck, and generalized fear at the prospect of humiliation and the invasion of privacy…(More)”.

Enhancing human mobility research with open and standardized datasets

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Takahiro Yabe et al: “The proliferation of large-scale, passively collected location data from mobile devices has enabled researchers to gain valuable insights into various societal phenomena. In particular, research into the science of human mobility has become increasingly critical thanks to its interdisciplinary effects in various fields, including urban planning, transportation engineering, public health, disaster management, and economic analysis. Researchers in the computational social science, complex systems, and behavioral science communities have used such granular mobility data to uncover universal laws and theories governing individual and collective human behavior. Moreover, computer science researchers have focused on developing computational and machine learning models capable of predicting complex behavior patterns in urban environments. Prominent papers include pattern-based and deep learning approaches to next-location prediction and physics-inspired approaches to flow prediction and generation.

Regardless of the research problem of interest, human mobility datasets often come with substantial limitations. Existing publicly available datasets are often small, limited to specific transport modes, or geographically restricted, owing to the lack of open-source and large-scale human mobility datasets caused by privacy concerns…(More)”.

The Role of Open Data in Driving Sectoral Innovation and Global Economic Development

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Paper by Olalekan Jamiu Okunleye: “This study assessed the transformative impact of implementing open data principles on fostering innovation across various sectors and enhancing global economic development. Using a comprehensive analysis of secondary data from government portals, industry reports, and global innovation indexes between 2015 to 2019, the research employed panel data regression, correlation analysis, and descriptive statistics to evaluate key relationships. The findings indicate that the availability of open data significantly increases innovation outputs, with robust statistical evidence showing positive correlations between open data sets and sector-specific innovation metrics such as patents filed, R&D expenditure, and the number of startups created. Greater interoperability of open data across international borders contributes to economic growth, particularly through international joint ventures. However, the lack of standardized data formats hampers cross-sector collaboration. Regions with well-established open data policies demonstrate faster technological advancements and economic development compared to regions without such policies. The study highlighted the critical importance of promoting open data initiatives, standardizing data formats, strengthening data governance frameworks, and investing in digital infrastructure and capacity building to optimize open data utilization and drive sustainable development…(More)”.

Designing an Effective Governance Model for Data Collaboratives

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Paper by Federico Bartolomucci & Francesco Leoni: “Data Collaboratives have gained traction as interorganizational partnerships centered on data exchange. They enhance the collective capacity of responding to contemporary societal challenges using data, while also providing participating organizations with innovation capabilities and reputational benefits. Unfortunately, data collaboratives often fail to advance beyond the pilot stage and are therefore limited in their capacity to deliver systemic change. The governance setting adopted by a data collaborative affects how it acts over the short and long term. We present a governance design model to develop context-dependent data collaboratives. Practitioners can use the proposed model and list of key reflective questions to evaluate the critical aspects of designing a governance model for their data collaboratives…(More)”.

AI-Ready FAIR Data: Accelerating Science through Responsible AI and Data Stewardship

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Sean Hill: “Imagine a future where scientific discovery is unbound by the limitations of data accessibility and interoperability. In this future, researchers across all disciplines — from biology and chemistry to astronomy and social sciences — can seamlessly access, integrate, and analyze vast datasets with the assistance of advanced artificial intelligence (AI). This world is one where AI-ready data empowers scientists to unravel complex problems at unprecedented speeds, leading to breakthroughs in medicine, environmental conservation, technology, and more. The vision of a truly FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and AI-ready data ecosystem, underpinned by Responsible AI (RAI) practices and the pivotal role of data stewards, promises to revolutionize the way science is conducted, fostering an era of rapid innovation and global collaboration…(More)”.

The Economy of Algorithms

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Book by Marek Kowalkiewicz: “Welcome to the economy of algorithms. It’s here and it’s growing. In the past few years, we have been flooded with examples of impressive technology. Algorithms have been around for hundreds of years, but they have only recently begun to ‘escape’ our understanding. When algorithms perform certain tasks, they’re not just as good as us, they’re becoming infinitely better, and, at the same time, massively more surprising. We are so impressed by what they can do that we give them a lot of agency. But because they are so hard to comprehend, this leads to all kinds of unintended consequences.

In the 20th century, things were simple: we had the economy of corporations. In the first two decades of the 21st century, we saw the emergence of the economy of people, otherwise known as the digital economy, enabled by the internet. Now we’re seeing a new economy take shape: the economy of algorithms…(More)”.

UN adopts Chinese resolution with US support on closing the gap in access to artificial intelligence

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Edith Lederer: “The U.N. General Assembly adopted a Chinese-sponsored resolution with U.S. support urging wealthy developed nations to close the widening gap with poorer developing countries and ensure that they have equal opportunities to use and benefit from artificial intelligence.

The resolution approved Monday follows the March 21 adoption of the first U.N. resolution on artificial intelligence spearheaded by the United States and co-sponsored by 123 countries including China. It gave global support to the international effort to ensure that AI is “safe, secure and trustworthy” and that all nations can take advantage of it.

Adoption of the two nonbinding resolutions shows that the United States and China, rivals in many areas, are both determined to be key players in shaping the future of the powerful new technology — and have been cooperating on the first important international steps.

The adoption of both resolutions by consensus by the 193-member General Assembly shows widespread global support for their leadership on the issue.

Fu Cong, China’s U.N. ambassador, told reporters Monday that the two resolutions are complementary, with the U.S. measure being “more general” and the just-adopted one focusing on “capacity building.”

He called the Chinese resolution, which had more than 140 sponsors, “great and far-reaching,” and said, “We’re very appreciative of the positive role that the U.S. has played in this whole process.”

Nate Evans, spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the United Nations, said Tuesday that the Chinese-sponsored resolution “was negotiated so it would further the vision and approach the U.S. set out in March.”

“We worked diligently and in good faith with developing and developed countries to strengthen the text, ensuring it reaffirms safe, secure, and trustworthy AI that respects human rights, commits to digital inclusion, and advances sustainable development,” Evans said.

Fu said that AI technology is advancing extremely fast and the issue has been discussed at very senior levels, including by the U.S. and Chinese leaders.

“We do look forward to intensifying our cooperation with the United States and for that matter with all countries in the world on this issue, which … will have far-reaching implications in all dimensions,” he said…(More)”.

A lack of data hampers efforts to fix racial disparities in utility cutoffs

Curated on Posted on by Stefaan Verhulst

Article by Akielly Hu: “Each year, nearly 1.3 million households across the country have their electricity shut off because they cannot pay their bill. Beyond risking the health, or even lives, of those who need that energy to power medical devices and inconveniencing people in myriad ways, losing power poses a grave threat during a heat wave or cold snap.

Such disruptions tend to disproportionately impact Black and Hispanic families, a point underscored by a recent study that found customers of Minnesota’s largest electricity utility who live in communities of color were more than three times as likely to experience a shutoff than those in predominantly white neighborhoods. The finding, by University of Minnesota researchers, held even when accounting for income, poverty level, and homeownership. 

Energy policy researchers say they consistently see similar racial disparities nationwide, but a lack of empirical data to illustrate the problem is hindering efforts to address the problem. Only 30 states require utilities to report disconnections, and of those, only a handful provide data revealing where they happen. As climate change brings hotter temperatures, more frequent cold snaps, and other extremes in weather, energy analysts and advocates for disadvantaged communities say understanding these disparities and providing equitable access to reliable power will become ever more important…(More)”.