Welcome to a brief overview of articles that appeared last week on our website. Please don't stop here - be sure to browse the full list of articles that appeared this week.
Our Traveler of the Week - Gautam Banerji
Malta - A Whirlwind Tour
Gautam's narrative and lovely photos take us to the blue lagoons, ancient churches and catacombs in Malta. He also takes us to the lesser known cities of Mosta, Mdina, Rabat, and the relics of Hagar Qim, as well as the famous seafront of Valleta. Click here.
Our Columnists This Week
Ken Gibbs AI - The elephant in the room
Fouad Kronfol On Artificial Intelligence
Detlef Palm Intelligence, Artificial or Otherwise
Ramesh Shrestha Branding and Marketing of Hypocrisy
Richard Morgan A Poem - About the War
Memoir
Chance Encounters: Sree Gururaja
Verse
On Artificial Intelligence - Fouad Kronfol
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Artificial Intelligence: This week we chose the theme Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provoke some discussion among our readers and motivate you to share your views on AI in the coming weeks through through your emails to us at unicef.news.views@gmail.com
In the past we have already posted quite a few articles debating the ethics of AI. To see our full collection of articles on AI click here.
Tony Bloomberg shares a video and brief from UNICEF’s Global Insight and Policy team on AI for Children. In his short article "Primer on AI", Tony does not go into techie details, but draws "a picture of the AI ecosphere, as I understand it, in the hope that it will be useful”.
AI was much discussed during the General Assembly and several suggestions were made for global minimum standards and regulatory mechanisms. These should help lead into the UN Advisory Group on AI this fall.
For those of us who are not familiar with using ChatGPT and similar 'generative AI' systems , we offer here a sample of the task we gave it to write a 150 word note on the implications of AI on the work of UNICEF for this editorial. Read its response, “The Transformative Power of AI “ which interestingly cautions that ‘UNICEF must prioritize responsible AI deployment , ensuring that its use aligns with its core values of equity, inclusivity and child rights”.
The vast scope of AI and the tasks for which it can outdo human skills and efficiency have been much talked about in recent years. Pallavi Iyer, a journalist, who lives in Japan, speculates on the impact of AI on children's future, their education, dependence on technology and questions what it means to preserving human value, empathy, kindness and so on.
Our columnists and editors give glimpses of their experiences and views. Ken Gibbs’ frustration after trying to open a new bank account leads him to conclude that AI stands for "Absolute" "Idiots".
On the other hand, Detlef concludes that AI has the potential to accomplish more for equality, humankind, peace and the planet than what “humans with their limited brain capacity, their forgetfulness, their bias, their tardiness and their egoism are able to accomplish”.
Our word-guru, Fouad, takes us on the evolutionary path to AI through his Verse and Tom offers a tongue in cheek commentary in his book review of "The Age of AI, And Our Global Future" and "A Robot Wrote this Review".
What we offer here is only the tip of the iceberg and we look forward to your thoughts on AI and its uses for the well being of children and all of humankind.
Nagorno-Karabakh: With nearly 100,000 refugees already reaching Armenia from the area recently conquered by Azerbaijan, Tom McDermott writes this week about other enclaves lost. Click here for Déja vu, Nagorno-Karabakh and here for all our coverage of the disaster.
Libya: Adele Khodr, MENA RD, has returned from two cities in eastern Libya and reports on the situation now and what UNICEF is doing to help. Click here.
Yemen: WHO, UNICEF and the Ministry of Public Health and Population in Aden have launched vaccination campaign for measles and rubella, following a serious epidemic of both diseases in July. The campaign targets nearly 1.3 million. Can we hope that this will augur regular immunization and health services for children and women?
AIFCS important update: To ensure retirees have up-to-date information, the AFICS/NY Governing Board Health Insurance Committee has now updated and expanded the former FAQ document resulting in two guidance documents:
1) End of Life Guidance for Retirees and
2) End of Life Guidance for Beneficiaries.
These documents are useful and provide information on UNJSPF pension benefits, as well as ASHI and ASLI benefits.
The UN - The 2023 General Assembly session resulted in several interesting questions: Were all those lovely words about fulfilling the SDAs just hypocrisy? Is the GA going nowhere slowly? Can the UN change?, After 78 years of men, might the next SG be a woman? Click here for all our articles on the UN.
Single vs.Two-parent families: Tom McDermott takes issue with comments Kul added recently in his introduction to several articles on the well being of children in single parent families.
Richard's Poem / Sree's Memoir: Look out for Richard Morgan’s reflective poem "About the War" and Sree’s memoir on her chance meeting with Ethel Grant.
Sree Gururaja - Editor for this week
We are saddened to report the passing of our UNICEF colleague Yvon Roy, RIP.
Click here for more information.
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The family of Maryam Farzanegan request her friends to send video messages honoring her life.
Memorial service set for 28 October. Click here.
Artwork of the Week by Gautam Banerji
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"This is a fresh piece of work created from bits and pieces of drip painting done at random and shredded and glued to together with a fresh splash of paint in patches, and where needed, finer details worked out with water colour pencils and felt markers. I wish we could do the same with global politics ! It's a new creative experience for me. It has not been exhibited yet and I have not yet given it any title. Take it as you wish!" Gautam
Photos of the Week
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Books
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