OPINION

Don’t Believe the AI Hype

BOSTON – According to tech leaders and many pundits and academics, artificial intelligence is poised to transform the world as we know it through unprecedented productivity gains. While some believe that machines soon will do everything humans can do, ushering in a new age of boundless prosperity, other predictions are at least more grounded. …

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The “Billions to Trillions” Charade

NEW DELHI – The international development sector has become fixated on calculating financing gaps. Hardly a day goes by without new estimates of the funds low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) need to meet their climate targets and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Independent High-Level Expert Group …

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Canceling Palestine

LJUBLJANA – It is only April, but we already have a good candidate for photo of the year. On April 12, German police shut down a Palestine Congress that was set to take place in Berlin, and among those arrested was Udi Raz, a devout Jew with a red yarmulke. In photos and videos of the …

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The Geopolitics of Africa’s Debt Crisis

WASHINGTON, DC – The United States has a population of roughly 330 million, while all NATO countries combined have about 975 million. Adding NATO’s major Asian-Pacific partners – Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand – brings the total to 1.3 billion. By contrast, Russia and China together have a population …

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The Urgency of Palestinian Statehood

MELBOURNE – It is time for Israel to recognize the force of the rapidly growing international movement to recognize Palestinian statehood, not as the final outcome of a political settlement but as a path to achieving it. Were Israel to get serious again about pursuing a two-state solution, it would …

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Can AI Learn to Obey the Law?

CAMBRIDGE – If the British computer scientist Alan Turing’s work on “thinking machines” was the prequel to what we now call artificial intelligence, the late psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s bestselling Thinking, Fast and Slow might be the sequel, given its insights into how we ourselves think. Understanding “us” will be crucial for regulating “them.” That effort …

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The Economic Consequences of Legal Behavior

NEW YORK – The way people navigate traffic can tell us a lot about their respective cultures. Recently, while walking to my office in midtown Manhattan, I stopped at a red light when an elderly woman with a walking stick caught my attention as she cautiously looked both left and …

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The Economic Power of Gender Equality

LUXEMBOURG – It is hard to find a word that is more relevant to the world’s greatest challenges and policy priorities than “inclusion,” the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day. Inclusive, green economic growth that benefits all of society is an essential component of sustainable prosperity, social cohesion, competitiveness, …

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