Hey readers, Happy Friday! And for those of you who celebrate, Happy Lunar New Year on Sunday. This week, the Future Perfect team explained the biggest animal welfare crisis you've (probably) never heard of, the contradictions of fine dining, and how being tired of a pandemic is hurting our ability to prepare for the next. We've also been making strides in audio: Staff writer Kenny Torrella made an appearance on WNYC's The Takeaway, explaining why eggs have gotten so expensive (hint: it's not just inflation).
And as always, we love to hear what you're thinking. Let us know what's resonating with you! Don't be afraid to shoot us an email at futureperfect@vox.com about what you're enjoying and what you'd like to see more of. —Kelsey Piper, senior writer
|
|
|
Q&A: Trust and technology |
Photo by Donato Fasano/Getty Images |
From facial recognition in law enforcement to robotic exoskeletons for manual labor, nearly half of Americans report they are equal parts excited and concerned about the increased presence of artificial intelligence in daily life, according to a 2022 Pew Research Center public opinion survey. While AI is an expert-driven field, we need to "understand these innovations shaping our society," says Cary Funk, the director of science and society research at Pew. "Those kinds of things have broader questions for us as a society in terms of how we want to use them and how we want to see them develop." I spoke with Funk to discuss the Center's research on AI and why the public's opinions on these sciences are so important to understand (even when those opinions are so uncertain). —Rachel DuRose, Future Perfect fellow This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. You focus on this intersection between public trust and opinion around technology. What inspires you and your team to cover particular topics within this field? I think about it in terms of trying to study emerging developments — in particular, things that are on the horizon that aren't fully developed yet from a scientific perspective, or that public understanding and awareness of is not fully developed. Those are things that we want to make sure we have an eye on because they are forces that are going to keep changing society and they have potentially broad implications. There are lots of different developments in the biotech world that have broad implications for society. A classic one is human gene editing, and then the newer techniques to develop those tools. … Those kinds of things have broader questions for us as a society in terms of how we want to use them and how we want to see them develop. Another big class of things might be the proliferation of artificial intelligence. It's changing every single sector of society. |
From this range of topics that you conducted surveys and research on in 2022, are there any that really stand out as impactful or that yielded surprising results? I think about this in terms of our work on artificial intelligence and what we looked at around what's sometimes called "human enhancement techniques" — which is really the convergence of AI, neuroscience, biotech, and all sorts of other things that are potentially being developed that can influence human abilities, human physical and cognitive potential, and other kinds of health issues. What's surprising there is really to see that even though it's kind of taking over experts' thinking, it's still in the nascent stages in terms of public awareness and understanding of how AI is changing what we're doing. One of the core questions we still have in front of us is to better understand how much people really see and understand the role of AI in society. There's a group of people who are raising questions about it, but how much is the general public really even seeing of this? They can't participate in that conversation unless they understand what's going on. What subjects and areas do you think will be important going into this new year and why? Would it be AI? AI is going to remain important at this point for us to keep an eye on partly because of its impact and how these developments are continuing to proliferate, but also because when I think about AI, I think about it in conjunction with these kinds of allied developments — the convergence of AI and neuroscience biotech. Some experts tell us you can't really separate the two, so I would think of it as kind of a broad-base bucket of something to keep an eye on. Part of the reason we talk a lot about public trust is because trust is key to that intersection. There's the question of how much trust is there. Which groups in society are more trusting and less trusting? What can the scientific community or broader communities do to help foster a better relationship between the public and science? These are kind of ongoing questions across the board. |
|
|
Congress's bipartisan deal to spend billions more fighting HIV and malaria abroad |
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images |
Congress recently approved $1.7 trillion in spending, but tucked into the package was a surprisingly large boost in funding for something that doesn't usually generate headlines: global health programs. Global health funding has, in fact, been a major area of bipartisan cooperation for years, so far mostly avoiding Congress's increasing polarization on many other, higher-profile issues. It's managed that in part because it has remained under the radar and received little press attention. Given how progress on killer global diseases has slowed in recent years, putting millions of lives at risk, we should hope that this pattern continues, argues senior reporter Dylan Matthews in his latest piece.
"The best president on record for global health issues was, of all people, George W. Bush," Matthews said. "AIDS and malaria were, for whatever reason, issues that really motivated him and where he dedicated a lot of money. I had sort of assumed that wing of the Republican Party was gone. The surprising thing I learned reporting out this story is that it's still here and still wielding considerable influence." More on this topic from Vox: |
|
|
How China came to regret its one-child policy |
For the first time since the 1960s, China's population is again shrinking. And this time, it's not likely to rebound — not soon, and perhaps not ever. On Tuesday, the Chinese government reported that 9.56 million people were born in China last year, while 10.41 million people died. As much as China's aging and eventual shrinking was a demographic inevitability as it became richer and more modern, the particular speed at which that transition is occurring, and the particular challenges that pace will present, are Beijing's own doing, writes editor Bryan Walsh. "Demographic trends are the human equivalent of climate projections: They set the boundaries on which the future will be drawn," he says. "What's happening in China isn't unexpected and it likely can't be changed. But how China responds to its demographic shift will be incredibly important for its future, and the world's." More on this topic from Vox:
|
|
| Each year at Future Perfect, we make predictions about the world — from domestic and global politics to science and technology, and even sports and movies — and a year later, we analyze how we did. Much of the world runs on short- and long-term predictions, including fashion, where "trend forecasters" try to predict the next big thing. Articles of Interest, a podcast about clothes, dedicated one season — titled "American Ivy" — to the surprising origins of one style that's become the default look for most Americans. —Kenny Torrella As a kidney donor, I'm always on the lookout for folks who might steal that job from me, and it looks like pigs are the leading contenders. MIT Tech Review's Antonio Regalado has an excellent piece on United Therapeutics and its CEO Martine Rothblatt, who are leading the push to use genetically modified pigs to supply organs to humans in need of transplants. Even as someone who cares about animal welfare, it's an exciting development, and as Regalado notes, it's only the start of Rothblatt's plans. —Dylan Matthews Will AI one day look at us the way we generally look at ants — as things that can be stomped on with no remorse? Not necessarily! Maybe AI will trade with us, argues the AI researcher Katja Grace in a recent blog post. After all, there's useful stuff ants could be doing for us, like cleaning places it's hard for humans to reach (I would gladly pay an ant $3 to clean out the gunk from my keyboard!). The reason we don't make these trades is that we can't communicate with them. But AI would be able to communicate with us. —Sigal Samuel This undercover investigation covered in Wired this week is the most important factory farming/animal rights news in a while. The first-ever footage inside a US slaughterhouse gas chamber suggests that carbon dioxide gassing, a method routinely used to stun pigs before slaughter that is thought to be relatively humane within the animal welfare field, isn't humane at all. It has profound implications for animal welfare science and the credibility of institutions — like, in case you missed it, the American Veterinary Medical Association — that make claims about the humane treatment of animals. —Marina Bolotnikova "There is no artist," one character remarks in Gabrielle Zevin's excellent 2022 novel Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, "more empathetic than the game designer." That might be hard to believe as you stick a shiv in a fungal zombie in The Last of Us or line up a headshot in the latest Call of Duty, but Zevin's sensitive tale of a trio of game industry pioneers makes the case that creating a compelling video game is on par with any great creative act. Bonus points for making me feel slightly less guilty about my gaming habit — I'm consuming art here! —Bryan Walsh |
Questions? Comments? Have a recommendation on who we should interview or feature next? Tell us what you think! We recently changed the format of this newsletter and would love to know your thoughts. Email us at futureperfect@vox.com. And if you want to recommend this newsletter to your friends or colleagues, tell them to sign up at vox.com/future-perfect-newsletter. |
|
|
Access the web version of this newsletter here. This email was sent to aymentanaze.news@blogger.com. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe. If you value Vox's unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring contribution. View our Privacy Notice and our Terms of Service. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Floor 12, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. |
|
|
|
Commentaires
Enregistrer un commentaire
Thank you to leave a comment on my site