Navigating the ethical landscape of AI on the road

Navigating the ethical landscape of AI on the road

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In the vibrant city of Techville, a new debate has taken center stage: The ethics of artificial intelligence, particularly in the realm of driverless cars.

Picture this: A bustling intersection, a driverless car, and a family of ducks waddling across the road. It’s a dilemma straight out of Punch and Judy.

Punch, the ever-optimistic puppet, argues: “Driverless cars, my dear Judy, are the future! They’ll make our roads safer, reduce traffic jams and maybe even find a parking spot downtown on a Friday night. What’s not to love?”

Ah, but Judy, ever the skeptic, counters: “But Punch, what happens when the car faces the classic ethical dilemma? Does it swerve to avoid hitting a group of pedestrians, potentially endangering its passenger, or does it stay the course and risk harming the pedestrians?”

But behind the whimsy lies a serious conundrum. Should our autonomous vehicles prioritize the safety of their passengers above all else, even if it means squashing innocent ducklings? Or should they take a more democratic approach, where the needs of the many, or in this case the many webbed feet, outweigh the needs of the few?

In Techville, opinions vary.

“I bought my driverless car to protect me,” argues Mr. Pennyworth, an avid collector of vintage gadgets and frequent patron of the city’s hipster coffee shops. “If it’s not going to prioritize my safety, then what’s the point?”

But not everyone is on Team Pennyworth.

“We can’t just trample over the little guys,” protests Ms. Haversham, a self-proclaimed environmentalist and founder of the Techville Birdwatchers Society. “If our driverless cars start mowing down wildlife left and right, we might as well go back to riding bicycles.”

Meanwhile, the city’s residents continue to grapple with more practical concerns.

Next time you find yourself behind the wheel of a self-driving car, just remember to keep your eyes on the road — and your heart in the right place.

Rafael Hernandez de Santiago

“I don’t care if my driverless car runs on organic kale smoothies or solar power,” declares Ms. Rodriguez, a wellness influencer with a penchant for Instagram-worthy yoga poses. “As long as it gets me to my juice cleanse appointments on time, I’m golden.”

As the debate rages on, one thing becomes abundantly clear: The future of transportation in Techville is anything but predictable.

Will our driverless cars become beacons of ethical virtue, cruising the streets with the grace of a ballerina in a tutu? Or will they succumb to the same moral pitfalls as their human counterparts, engaging in petty road rage and aggressive honking?

Enter the philosophical musings of Immanuel Kant, who once said: “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”

In other words, if you wouldn’t want everyone else doing the same thing in the same situation, maybe it’s not such a great idea. Apply this to driverless cars and suddenly Punch and Judy are in a full-blown moral quandary.

Only time will tell. But one thing is for certain: The ethical implications of artificial intelligence are never far from our minds. So, the next time you find yourself behind the wheel of a self-driving car, just remember to keep your eyes on the road — and your heart in the right place.

But fear not, dear citizens of Techville, for amid the chaos and confusion, there is hope. Engineers and ethicists are working tirelessly to program AI with a moral compass, teaching it to navigate the murky waters of right and wrong.

In conclusion, let us heed the words of that wise old philosopher Plato, who famously said: “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”

Let us not be afraid to shine a light on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence, for only then can we truly navigate the path to a brighter future — one where Punch and Judy can finally set aside their differences.

  • Rafael Hernandez de Santiago, viscount of Espes, is a Spanish national residing in Saudi Arabia and working at the Gulf Research Center.
Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

Celtics, Thunder power toward NBA playoffs, Lakers shoot down Rockets

Celtics, Thunder power toward NBA playoffs, Lakers shoot down Rockets
Updated 36 sec ago
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Celtics, Thunder power toward NBA playoffs, Lakers shoot down Rockets

Celtics, Thunder power toward NBA playoffs, Lakers shoot down Rockets
  • The Lakers beat the second-placed Houston Rockets 104-98 in a tense duel at Crypto.com Arena
  • The Oklahoma City Thunder, already assured of the Western Conference top seed, racked up their 10th straight victory with a 145-117 pounding of the Chicago Bulls

LOS ANGELES: Veteran Al Horford turned back the clock to help the NBA champion Boston Celtics notch a ninth straight victory and nab a franchise first with a 117-103 win over the Grizzlies in Memphis on Monday.

Horford, 38, led the Celtics scoring with 26 points off the bench.

Jayson Tatum added 25 points and 14 rebounds and the Celtics defense stymied the Grizzlies in the second half to complete a perfect 6-0 road trip — the longest unbeaten road swing in the club’s history.

Boston, second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, won all six games by double digits.

Horford scored his season-high, draining six of Boston’s 21 three-pointers.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Horford said. “It’s pretty amazing for me to be in this position and I’m just trying to have fun with it and enjoy with my team.”

Ja Morant scored 26 points for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 11 in the first half and regained the lead early in the third.

Ultimately, however, they couldn’t keep pace and lost ground in their fight with the Los Angeles Lakers for fourth place in the West.

The Lakers beat the second-placed Houston Rockets 104-98 in a tense duel at Crypto.com Arena.

Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent scored 20 points apiece for the Lakers and LeBron James added 16.

James drilled a pair of free throws to push the Lakers lead to 102-98 with 11.1 seconds left then came up with a massive block as Los Angeles held on for the victory.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, already assured of the Western Conference top seed, racked up their 10th straight victory with a 145-117 pounding of the Chicago Bulls.

Isaiah Joe came off the bench to score 31 points — leading seven Thunder players to score in double figures.

“We all have the same goal in mind,” said Joe, who made eight of the Thunder’s 23 three-pointers.

“We know what we want to do at the end of the day and we know how to get there. We’ve just got to keep stacking days, stacking games.”

The Indiana Pacers rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 111-109 and maintain their grip on fourth place in the East.

Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points and handed out 11 assists, drilling a three-pointer with 1:17 remaining that gave Indiana the lead for good.

The Los Angeles Clippers, eighth in the West but locked in a battle with Golden State and Minnesota for sixth place and direct entry to the playoffs, clawed out a gritty 96-87 victory over the Magic in Orlando.

Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell scored 21 points each and Ivica Zubac added 18 points and 20 rebounds — including nine on the offensive end — to help the Clippers finally seize control in a game that featured 15 lead changes in the first three quarters.

Paolo Banchero scored 26 points and Franz Wagner added 21 for the Magic, who remained in eighth place in the East.

The top six teams in each conference advance to the playoffs while teams ranked from seventh to 10th play a mini-tournament to determine the final two playoff slots.

The Miami Heat climbed to ninth — ahead of the Bulls — with a fifth straight victory, beating the Wizards 120-94 in Washington.

Bam Adebayo scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds and Tyler Herro added 27 points for the Heat, whose current winning streak comes on the heels of a 10-game skid.


Pakistani Gavi chief warns slashed US funding threatens millions of children

Pakistani Gavi chief warns slashed US funding threatens millions of children
Updated 25 min 11 sec ago
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Pakistani Gavi chief warns slashed US funding threatens millions of children

Pakistani Gavi chief warns slashed US funding threatens millions of children
  • Donald Trump’s funding halt could affect 14 percent of global vaccine group’s budget
  • Sania Nishtar warns 1.3 million children may die of vaccine-preventable diseases

GENEVA: A halt to US funding for Gavi, an organization that vaccinates children in the world’s poorest countries, will leave a dangerous gap threatening the lives of millions, its chief warned on Monday.
“The first impact would be for the most vulnerable children of the world,” Gavi chief executive Sania Nishtar told AFP.
She spoke via video link from Washington, during a visit to try to convince US authorities that their 25-year collaboration with the Geneva-based organization must continue.
The New York Times broke the news last week that President Donald Trump’s administration, which has been aggressively slashing foreign aid, aims to cut all funding to Gavi.
That step featured in a 281-page spreadsheet related to cuts to USAID that was sent to the US Congress.
The decision would impact about 14 percent of Gavi’s core budget — and came just days after the Congress had approved $300 million in funding for the organization.
“I was very, very surprised,” Nishtar said, adding that her organization still had received no official termination notice from the US government.
The medical doctor and former minister and senator in Pakistan said: “Gavi was supported by the previous Trump administration. We had a very good relationship.”
If the cuts go ahead, Nishtar warned it would have devastating effects.
“Frankly, this is too big a hole to be filled,” Nishtar warned, even as Gavi scrambled to find donors to offset the missing US funding.
“Something will have to be cut.”
Gavi says it helps vaccinate more than half the world’s children against infectious diseases including COVID-19, Ebola, malaria, rabies, polio, cholera, tuberculosis (TB), typhoid and yellow fever.
Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has provided vaccines to more than 1.1 billion children in 78 lower-income countries, “preventing more than 18.8 million future deaths,” it says.
Before the US decision, the organization has a goal of vaccinating 500 million more children between 2026 to 2030.
The US contribution is directly responsible for funding 75 million of those vaccinations, Nishtar said.
Without them, “around 1.3 million children will die from vaccine-preventable diseases.”
Beyond Gavi’s core immunization programs, the funding cut would jeopardize the stockpiling and roll-out of vaccines against outbreaks and in health emergencies, including for Ebola, cholera and mpox.
“The world’s ability to protect itself against outbreaks and health emergencies will be compromised,” Nishtar said.
During her Washington visit, the Gavi chief said she aimed to show how effective funding has been so far for her organization.
For every $1 spent on vaccinations in developing countries where Gavi operates, $21 will be saved this decade in “health care costs, lost wages and lost productivity from illness and death,” the vaccine group estimates.
Unlike other organizations facing cuts, Gavi has not received an outsized contribution from Washington toward its budget, Nishtar noted, insisting that the US contribution was proportionate to its share of the global economy.
Other donors were paying their “fair share,” while recipient countries also pitch in and are provided with a path to transition away from receiving aid, she said.
Some former recipients, like Indonesia, had even become donors to the program, she pointed out, voicing hope that such arguments would help sway Washington to decide to stay the course.
Without the US backing, “we will have to make difficult trade-offs,” Nishtar warned.
That “will leave us all more exposed.”


Putin ‘playing for time’, says German FM in Kyiv

Putin ‘playing for time’, says German FM in Kyiv
Updated 40 min 1 sec ago
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Putin ‘playing for time’, says German FM in Kyiv

Putin ‘playing for time’, says German FM in Kyiv
  • ‘Ukraine is ready for an immediate ceasefire. It is Putin who is playing for time …’
  • ‘He is feigning a willingness to negotiate, but not deviating an inch from his goals’

KYIV: German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “playing for time” in negotiations over the war in Ukraine as she arrived on a visit to Kyiv on Tuesday.
“Ukraine is ready for an immediate ceasefire. It is Putin who is playing for time, does not want peace and is continuing his war of aggression, which is a violation of international law,” Baerbock said in a statement shared by her ministry.
“He is feigning a willingness to negotiate, but not deviating an inch from his goals,” she said on her ninth visit to Ukraine since the start of the war.
On March 11, Ukraine, whose army is struggling on the frontline, and the United States agreed a plan for a 30-day ceasefire with Russia.
But Putin has rejected the US proposal and has upped his rhetoric on Moscow wanting to install new leadership in Ukraine.
Baerbock was visiting Kyiv for the first time since the re-election of US President Donald Trump, who has upended US-Europe relations by reaching out to Russia over European heads to seek an end to the conflict.
The shift in policy has sparked concern over the future of the NATO alliance and prompted Europe to focus on boosting its own defense capabilities and upping its support for Ukraine.
Germany in March approved three billion euros ($3.25 billion) in new military aid for Ukraine after adopting a major new spending package that eased its traditionally strict debt rules.
“In view of the deadlock between the United States and Russia, it is absolutely vital that we Europeans show that we stand by Ukraine’s side... and support it now more than ever,” Baerbock said.
Commemorations were held in Ukraine on Monday in the city of Bucha, where Russia’s army is accused of murdering hundreds of civilians three years ago.


Israeli defense firm Elbit gets $130 million European rocket supply deal

Israeli defense firm Elbit gets $130 million European rocket supply deal
Updated 55 min 31 sec ago
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Israeli defense firm Elbit gets $130 million European rocket supply deal

Israeli defense firm Elbit gets $130 million European rocket supply deal
  • Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly targeted Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the UK
  • They accuse the company of supplying weapons used in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank

JERUSALEM: Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense firm, said on Tuesday it received a $130 million contract to supply advanced rocket munitions to an unnamed European country.
The contract for the Precize and Universal Launching System (PULS), an advanced and versatile artillery rocket system capable of launching a wide range of ammunition types from a single platform, will be performed over three years.
The system, Elbit said, offers precision strike capabilities with a range of up to 300 kilometers.
“As European nations continue to enhance their defense capabilities, the selection of PULS reaffirms its strategic value in modern battlefield scenarios,” said Yehuda Vered, general manager of Elbit Systems Land.
Under the deal, Elbit will supply a variety of advanced rocket systems that are designed to significantly enhance the operational capabilities of the customer’s defense forces.

Pro-Palestine activists have repeatedly targeted Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in the UK, accusing it of supplying weapons used in Israel’s military actions in Gaza and the West Bank.

The activist group Palestine Action has led these protests, often involving vandalism and direct action against Elbit’s sites. They argue that Elbit profits from war crimes and demand its closure.


Malaysia gas pipeline inferno injures 100: fire officials

Malaysia gas pipeline inferno injures 100: fire officials
Updated 01 April 2025
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Malaysia gas pipeline inferno injures 100: fire officials

Malaysia gas pipeline inferno injures 100: fire officials
  • The inferno, which was visible kilometers away, was caused by ‘a gas pipeline leak stretching approximately 500 meters’
  • The valve to the affected pipeline belonging to Malaysia’s state-run oil firm Petronas has been shut off

KUALA LUMPUR: A massive fire caused by a gas pipeline leak forced people from their homes and injured more than 100 during Eid celebrations near Malaysia’s capital on Tuesday, fire officials said.

The inferno, which was visible kilometers away, was caused by “a gas pipeline leak stretching approximately 500 meters (1,600 feet),” said fire officials in Selangor state near Kuala Lumpur.

The valve to the affected pipeline belonging to Malaysia’s state-run oil firm Petronas has been shut off, the fire officials said in a statement.

While the early morning blaze was coming under control in the afternoon, more than 100 people were injured, the fire department said.

About 60 of the injured were hospitalized, Selangor deputy police chief Mohamad Zaini Abu Hassan was quoted as saying by local broadcaster Astro Awani.

No deaths were reported but about 50 houses were affected by the blaze, the fire department said.

Residents were enjoying a public holiday for Eid celebrations in Muslim-majority Malaysia when they were forced to flee the suburban area.

Nizam Mohamad Asnizam, 49, who lives 100 meters from the site of the fire, fled from his house with his family in his car.

“When I woke up, I saw the fire raging, with an extraordinary sound. I have never experienced a fire with this kind of sound. The sound was terrifying. It felt like a jet engine was next to me,” he said.

“Stepping on the floor was like stepping on a hot wok. The heat was like putting your head in an oven, it felt like I was burning.”

Dashcam footage shared online showed a column of fire from what appears to be an explosion, creating a massive fireball that shot into the sky.

Another video shared online showed a residential area covered in smoke while a huge fire blazed in the background. Singed trees and melted cars are also seen in the video.

Selangor Chief Minister Amirudin Shari said in a Facebook post that a temporary relief center had been set up at a nearby mosque.

He warned the public to stay away from the area affected by the fire while investigations and rescue work were being carried out.