⤴⤵ Up Wing/Down Wing #16
A curated selection of pro-progress and anti-progress news items from the week that was
In case you missed it .. .
🛑 Degrowth: a shrinking argument (Monday)
✨ AI and business: A Quick Q&A with … Andrew McAfee, author of "The Geek Way" (Tuesday)
🌡👶 When climate anxiety leads to childlessness (Wednesday)
⚛ The return of Three Mile Island (and an Up Wing America?) (Friday)
Up Wing Things
🗽 Mario Draghi wants to take a page out of the American growth playbook. A recent report by the former EU Central Bank president calls for the EU to emulate US-style productivity growth to overcome economic stagnation exacerbated by Chinese exports and the end of cheap Russian energy: “What does moving closer to the U.S. mean, though? Draghi emphasized the importance of the technology sector, saying it is responsible for almost all of the U.S. productivity outperformance over the past 20 years.” He advocates for a shift from “horizontal” policies that promote general growth to a more targeted, "vertical" approach, favoring key sectors like semiconductors, space, and clean energy. Drawing from US policies like the CHIPS and Science Act, Draghi suggests industrial strategies that pick sectors for investment while avoiding excessive protectionism in order to boost European innovation and competitiveness in the global market. (WSJ)
🤖 New OpenAI has reasoning power. OpenAI has launched new AI models, called o1, that claim to exhibit reasoning capabilities, able to solve complex problems in fields like math and science. These models are part of ChatGPT Plus and outperform previous models such as GPT-4o, scoring significantly higher in a qualifying exam for the International Mathematics Olympiad. Unlike earlier versions, the o1 models use reinforcement learning, taking more time and resources but delivering more sophisticated results. OpenAI has also increased safety testing to prevent misuse of the ChatGPT. (FT)
💻 Amazon pioneered its approach in vertical integration. Amazon Web Services acquired chip designer Annapurna Labs in 2015, giving them a competitive edge in its current competition with chipmakers like AMD and Nvidia. AWS's close collaboration between hardware and software teams ensures faster iteration cycles, with software often ready before the silicon arrives. This allows AWS to scale products like AI chips for massive workloads, optimizing performance and reliability. Vertical integration also improves troubleshooting and enables faster fixes for customers. (Spectrum)
👽 Chatbot was proven effective in countering conspiracy theories. Researchers developed a chatbot using GPT-4 Turbo, which engaged over 1,000 participants in conversations about their beliefs in conspiracy theories. The chatbot provided detailed responses and counterarguments, resulting in a 21 percent decrease in participants' confidence in their conspiracy theories, with 25 percent moving from confidence to uncertainty. The effect persisted for months, and the results suggest AI could be a valuable tool in addressing harmful conspiracy theories on a large scale. (Nature)
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Faster, Please! to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.