AI must reflect human values for successful future job market, industry experts say

Panel discussion titled “Job Disruption: Is it All Lost?” takes place at the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on Wednesday. (@constellationr)
Panel discussion titled “Job Disruption: Is it All Lost?” takes place at the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on Wednesday. (@constellationr)
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Updated 12 September 2024
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AI must reflect human values for successful future job market, industry experts say

Panel discussion titled “Job Disruption: Is it All Lost?” takes place at the Global AI Summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.

RIYADH: Inserting human values into AI to ensure that the job market achieved a balance between the need for automation and the need for human input was vital, experts at the Global AI Summit in Riyadh said on Wednesday. 

During a panel discussion, titled “Job Disruption: Is it All Lost?,” Ray Wang, chairman and CEO of Constellation Research Inc, addressed this concern.

“We have to … make sure that we actually continue to operate at a machine-level scale and at a human scale, bringing those two areas together,” he said.

“When we think about the Internet age, it was open, it was decentralized — things were cheaper, we had a lot of players. This is closed, this is centralized. This is more expensive, and only a few will win … We have to work double as hard to make sure that jobs are going to be there.”

Wang said that jobs would not be “all lost” if the industry ensured a balance between the jobs that were replaced and the jobs that were created.

He said that it was the education system’s responsibility to teach children the right sets of skills t0 prepare them for future positions.

Mohamed Elhoseiny, associate professor of computer science at KAUST, echoed Wang’s view. He added that AI models needed to be developed to complement schooling rather than misusing AI to plagiarize work.

Elhoseiny also spoke about the importance of inserting human goals into AI designs and emphasized that humans were more powerful when working with AI than alone.

“A big problem right now in our schools is kids can use ChatGPT, for example, to solve problems. But this does not contribute to the very goal of developing the skills of the children, so how can we … help children do more and gain the skillsets, and how do we do that in away that aligns with our (human) goals,” he said.

Nancy Giordano, author and founder of Play Big Inc., wants to embrace the new job market that will be created hand-in-hand with AI.

“Are we trying to hold on to jobs so that we can protect an economic system that we may have outgrown?” she said.

But for that future model to succeed, there was a need rethink the approach to AI application, she said.

“How do we prepare economically for that kind of world?” Giordano asked. “We have not built the scaffolding for this new era that we’re heading into.”

Wang said that the PESTLE model, a framework that analyzes external factors within political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental factors, was “perfect for the scaffolding” of AI.

“And now is the time to actually do that,” he said.


UAE launches global media initiative, Bridge Summit

UAE launches global media initiative, Bridge Summit
Updated 11 March 2025
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UAE launches global media initiative, Bridge Summit

UAE launches global media initiative, Bridge Summit
  • 2-day forum to be held in Abu Dhabi ‘will lead transformation in the sector,’ says UAE’s National Media Office
  • UAE also announces launch of Bridge Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at supporting, elevating media sector

DUBAI: The UAE’s National Media Office has announced the launch of the Bridge Summit to “explore the future of media.”

Set to take place from Dec. 8-10 in Abu Dhabi, the summit also seeks to “lead transformation in the sector, and enhance its contribution to the global economy,” according to a press statement.

The forum will feature a media production exhibition and aims to attract CEOs, state leaders, and media professionals and experts from around the world.

The announcement was made by Abdulla bin Mohammed bin Butti Al-Hamed, chairman of UAE’s National Media Office and chairman of the board of directors of the UAE Media Council, during an event in Washington.

He said: “We launched the Bridge Summit to foster meaningful dialogue, develop solutions to current and future media challenges, and support the sustainable growth of this vital sector.”

Al-Hamed also announced the launch of the Bridge Foundation, a nonprofit aimed at empowering media professionals and elevating the media sector through training programs and research grants.

It will also support media startups through opportunities for funding and international partnerships.

The launch of the foundation is in line with the country’s “vision to position media as a powerful driver of development” contributing to “a more impactful media ecosystem that upholds societal values and advances sustainable development,” Al-Hamed said.


Israelis’ nomination of extremist settler leader for Nobel Peace Prize sparks online furor

Israelis’ nomination of extremist settler leader for Nobel Peace Prize sparks online furor
Updated 11 March 2025
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Israelis’ nomination of extremist settler leader for Nobel Peace Prize sparks online furor

Israelis’ nomination of extremist settler leader for Nobel Peace Prize sparks online furor
  • 2 Israeli professors nominated Daniella Weiss for the prize

DUBAI: Daniella Weiss, a radical settler leader, has been nominated by Israelis for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Professors Amos Azaria and Shalom Sadik of Ariel University and Ben-Gurion University submitted nominations for Weiss, according to reports.

In a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee, they reportedly claimed that “the establishment of Jewish communities has prevented violence and enhanced security” and that despite both Jewish and Palestinian deaths in Gaza, casualties were “significantly lower” in the West Bank due to Weiss’ work.

Weiss, director of the Nachala Settlement Movement, is a prominent supporter of Israeli annexation and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories.

Israel’s West Bank settlements have been deemed illegal by the UN and several countries.

In June 2024, Canada imposed sanctions against Weiss and six others “in response to the grave breach of international peace and security posed by their violent and destabilizing actions against Palestinian civilians and their property in the West Bank.”

The nomination has left online users baffled and outraged. One said: “For a moment, I thought this was a joke, but no, it’s not.”

Another said, “No one will want to be honoured with a Noble prize if this ever happens.”

The Nobel Peace Prize winners will be announced on Oct. 10 with the award ceremony scheduled for Dec. 10.


Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows

Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows
Updated 10 March 2025
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Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows

Social media platform X outage appears to ease, Downdetector shows

Social media platform X is down for thousands of users in the US and the UK, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com.
There were more than 16,000 incidents of people reporting issues with the platform as of 6:02 a.m. ET, according to Downdetector, which tracks outages by collating status reports from a number of sources.

X did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Downdetector's numbers are based on user-submitted reports. The actual number of affected users may vary.


Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre

Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre
Updated 10 March 2025
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Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre

Journalist quits broadcaster after comparing French actions in Algeria to Nazi massacre
  • Historians from both sides have over the last years documented numerous violations including arbitrary killings and detention carried out by French forces and the history still burdens French-Algerian relations to this day

PARIS: A prominent French journalist on Sunday announced he was stepping down from his role as an expert analyst for broadcaster RTL after provoking an uproar by comparing French actions during colonial rule in Algeria to a World War II massacre committed by Nazi forces in France.
Jean-Michel Aphatie, a veteran reporter and broadcaster, insisted that while he would not be returning to RTL he wholly stood by his comments made on the radio station in late February equating atrocities committed by France in Algeria with those of Nazi Germany in occupied France.
“I will not return to RTL. It is my decision,” the journalist wrote on the X, after he was suspended from air for a week by the radio station.
On February 25 he said on air: “Every year in France, we commemorate what happened in Oradour-sur-Glane — the massacre of an entire village. But we have committed hundreds of these, in Algeria. Are we aware of this?“
He was referring to the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, where an SS unit returning to the front in Normandy massacred 642 residents on June 10, 1944. Leaving a chilling memorial for future generations, the village was never rebuilt.
Challenged by the anchor over whether “we (the French) behaved like the Nazis,” Aphatie replied: “The Nazis behaved like us.”
On X, he acknowledged his comments had created a “debate” but said it was of great importance to understand the full story over France’s 1830-1962 presence in Algeria, saying he was “horrified” by what he had read in history books.
After being suspended for a week by the channel it means that “if I come back to RTL I validate this and admit to making a mistake. This is a line that cannot be crossed.”
His comments had prompted a flurry of complaints to audio-visual regulator Arcom which has opened an investigation.
France’s conduct in Algeria during the 1954-1962 war that led to independence and previous decades remain the subject of often painful debate in both countries.
Historians from both sides have over the last years documented numerous violations including arbitrary killings and detention carried out by French forces and the history still burdens French-Algerian relations to this day.
The far-right in France has long defended French policies in those years with Algeria War veteran Jean-Marie Le Pen, who co-founded the National Front (FN) party and died earlier this year, drawing much support from French settlers who had to return after independence.

 


Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji

Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji
Updated 08 March 2025
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Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji

Apple adds new Syrian flag emoji
  • New flag is part of latest iOS, macOS updates

DUBAI: Apple has added the new flag of the Syrian Arab Republic to its emoji keyboard in the latest beta update to its operating system, replacing the one used by former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

The new flag emoji is part of Apple’s iOS and macOS 18.4 beta 2 update and is therefore unavailable to those who have not signed up for beta updates.

Apple will roll out the new updates to users in April, according to a company statement.

The old flag featured three stripes: red at the top, black at the bottom and white in the middle with two green stars.

The new flag features green at the top, black at the bottom and white in the middle with three red stars.

For many Syrians the new flag represents freedom and independence from Assad’s dictatorial regime.

The country has a long history with the current flag, which was first adopted when Syria gained independence from France in 1946.

It was replaced in 1958 by the flag of the United Arab Republic to represent the political union between Egypt and Syria.

It was adopted again for a short time when Syria left the United Arab Republic in 1961, only to be replaced in 1963 when the Baath Party took control of the country.