NEMO Kennislink – the Dutch science journalism platform of NEMO, the largest science museum in the Netherlands – has recently published two news pieces, one discussing how African remote employees could help solve the Netherlands’ major shortage of IT professionals, and the other focusing on Africa’s lack of internet access compared to Europe. Both articles (written in Dutch) feature parts of an interview with UNU-MERIT researcher Bernardo Caldarola, an applied economist ...
This week, Scientific American published a news piece on the increasingly common worldwide concerns about rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence, and how this ‘AI anxiety’ can be managed. The article features UNU-MERIT researcher Sanae Okamoto, an expert in psychology, cognitive neuroscience and behavioural science. Okamoto points out that fear of new, unfamiliar technologies has been happening for decades – even centuries, if one considers the strong concerns tha...
A report out today from the United Nations Economist Network features contributions from UNU-WIDER’s Carlos Gradín and UNU-MERIT’s Neil Foster-McGregor – respectively writing on inequalities and the emergence of digital technologies. The report examines five megatrends: climate change; demographic shifts, particularly population ageing; urbanisation; the emergence of digital technologies; and inequalities – that are affecting economic, social and environmental outcomes. Efforts...
‘Digital technology is shaping history. But there is also the sense that it is running away with us. Where will it take us? Will our dignity and rights be enhanced or diminished? Will our societies become more equal or less equal? Will we become more, or less, secure and safe? The answers to these questions depend on our ability to work together across disciplines and actors, across nations and political divides.’ – António Guterres Published in June 2020, the UN Secretary-General’s ...
The invention of an artificial super-intelligence has been a central theme in science fiction since at least the 19th century. From E.M. Forster’s short story The Machine Stops (1909) to the recent HBO television series Westworld, writers have tended to portray this possibility as an unmitigated disaster. But this issue is no longer one of fiction. Prominent contemporary scientists and engineers are now also worried that super-AI could one day surpass human intelligence (an event known as the “s...
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are emerging technologies that many people are afraid of, including so-called ‘experts’ and policymakers. Perceived threats include the loss of millions of jobs, leading to mass unemployment and spiralling social and economic problems. One popular study by Frey and Osborne concludes that “47% of total US employment is in the high-risk category [above 70% risk], meaning that associated occupations are potentially automatable over some unspecified numbe...
Most discussions about artificial intelligence (AI) are characterised by hyperbole and hysteria. Though some of the world’s most prominent and successful thinkers regularly forecast that AI will either solve all our problems or destroy us or our society, and the press frequently report on how AI will threaten jobs and raise inequality, there’s actually very little evidence to support these ideas. What’s more, this could actually end up turning people against AI research, bringing significant pro...
A joint post by Prof. Wim Naudé and Dr. Paula Nagler. — Society has perhaps never been more unequal than at present, in terms of the distribution of income and wealth. Within-country income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) is, according to the UN Development Programme, “more unequal today than at any point since World War II”. These inequalities, and the resulting societal divisions, were one cause of the 2008 global financial crisis — and were, in turn, amplified by it. Th...
Two senior fellows, Prof. Luc Soete and Dr. Alessio Brown, recently featured in articles by the Financial Times and T-Systems magazine. Both wrote about the future world of work amid accelerating technological change — touching on the risks and rewards and the assumptions and disruptions. In a guest post for the FT, Prof. Soete explored the challenges posed to labour markets by growing automation — a notion he roundly dispelled as a red herring. “Historically the evidence of di...
A new book co-edited by Prof. Luc Soete argues that capability building is an active, not a passive, process demanding a clear effort from learners in developing countries. Dedicated to Jorge Katz, a renowned scholar on the economics of innovation and technological change, the book claims that development is a process of creative destruction. In the blog below, co-author Dr. Michiko Iizuka explains these key concepts and the overall thrust of capability building for development. ...