π‘ Warp News #226
π¦οΈ Weather forecasts much more accurate. π₯ Genetically modified cows can produce milk containing insulin. π New study: Poverty has decreased more than we thought, as has inequality β including within countries. π Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time.
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π Pause, dance
0.005 percent. That's how Warp News' budget compares to that of Expressen and Aftonbladet. Two large media houses in Sweden. Yet, we competed against each other in the same category Innovation of the Year, at the Newspaper Publishers' gala.
Is it because I'm a genius? I understand many might think so, but no. It's because I'm a centaur. I have used, tested, experimented, learned, and taught about generative AI.
Creating the AI writer WALL-Y was one such test. It almost became innovation of the year in Swedish media. I didn't win. Aftonbladet did. (But I'm not bitter...)
I write about my thoughts in π The amateur nearly beat the grandmasters.
What especially pleases me about the nomination is that it gives Warp News credibility among other media. This will help us when we try to influence them to write more optimistic news.
Pause
Yesterday marked one year since the publication of an open letter proposing a pause in AI development.
Professor Max Tegmark led the charge. A few months later, in his summer talk on Swedish radio, he said it was too late anyway. AI will annihilate humanity.
In an excerpt, published in Quillette, from the English version of The Centaur's Edge, I counter Tegmark's argument why it's too late.
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
Other articles
π Towards the Energy Society - part 1
Jonas Birgersson made it into the history books as Sweden's foremost champion of the internet revolution. Now, he's using everything he learned then to do it again. This time it's an energy revolution.
π The amateur nearly beat the grandmasters
Did Warp News win? AI writer WALL-Y was nominated for Innovation of the Year at the Newspaper Publishers' gala. The competitors in the same category were Aftonbladet and Expressen, two media with budgets several thousand percent larger. How can we compete in the same category?
π‘ Fact-based optimistic news of the week
π° They make climate investments for companies β raise $50 million
Swedish Rison Capital has entered into a partnership with SEB Nordic Energy, which is investing $50 million in climate-promoting projects. The business model is based on Rison making the investments for the companies, such as switching to LED lighting, and the companies pay a fixed fee to Rison.
π New study: Poverty has decreased more than we thought, as has inequality β including within countries
Extreme poverty is almost 40 percent lower than previously thought, and economic inequality is decreasing both between and within countries.
π¦οΈ Weather forecasts have become much more accurate
Four-day forecasts now have the same accuracy as one-day forecasts did 30 years ago.
π₯ Genetically modified cows can produce milk containing insulin
Genetically modified cows have produced milk containing human insulin. The method can be scaled up to ensure availability and lower the cost of insulin for diabetics.
π Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time
For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person. This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.
π¦Ύ One year since the AI pause: Excerpt from The Centaur's Edge in Quillette
Exactly one year ago, Max Tegmark and several others suggested a pause in AI development. In a talk, Tegmark announced that humanity is toast anyway. AI will obliterate us. Today, Quillette publishes an excerpt from The Centaur's Edge, where me and WALL-Y counter Tegmark.
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