No One is Policing Corporate America, and White-Collar Crime is on The Rise. What Comes Next Could be a Full-Scale Financial Meltdown
A fascinating article detailing how loosening corporate governance standards, combined with rising laxity of their regulators, is resulting in a troublesome build-up of incentives for gaming the system. Who will pay the ultimate price for this?
Nigerian Broadcasters Ordered to Stop Using ‘Unpatriotic’ Twitter
Another example of how social media platforms’ content moderation decisions can become weaponised. It’s also interesting to observe how different markets, cultures and political systems react to these decisions.
India and Israel Inflame Facebook’s Fights With Its Own Employees
Yet another social media platform is facing discontent for bowing to strongmen-led governments, this time by its own employees: “The result has played out in a kind of internal culture clash, with a growing movement of dissenting rank-and-file workers versus its global public policy team, which deals directly with governments, said the current and former employees. Many workers have argued that policy team members have been too willing to accede to governments, while policy team members said their colleagues did not appreciate the delicate dance of international relations.”
Jeff Bezos Reportedly Didn’t Pay Any Income Taxes For at Least 2 Years Between 2006 and 2018
With revelations and headlines such as this one, it’s understandable how the general public can become sceptical of the ‘system’ in general, and tech founders, in particular. While the maths indubitably add up, the concept of someone with this much wealth not paying any, or minimal taxes, would only underline how those with power can game the system, while the average worker pays their full dues.
Microsoft’s Kate Crawford: ‘AI is Neither Artificial Nor Intelligent’
This interview provides not only great insights into societal issues potentially arising from AI, but sheds a positive light on Microsoft’s truly diverse approach to product development and admirable research independence:
“Ethics are necessary, but not sufficient. More helpful are questions such as, who benefits and who is harmed by this AI system? And does it put power in the hands of the already powerful? What we see time and again, from facial recognition to tracking and surveillance in workplaces, is these systems are empowering already powerful institutions – corporations, militaries and police.”
Microsoft “has hired social scientists to look critically at how technologies are being built. Being on the inside, we are often able to see downsides early before systems are widely deployed. […] My book did not go through any pre-publication review – Microsoft Research does not require that – and my lab leaders support asking hard questions, even if the answers involve a critical assessment of current technological practices.”