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News That Matters

24/11/2022 ---- 30/11/2022

Progress in the domain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to change the world in a few decades. Such continued progress has been recently demonstrated by applying AI programs to games such as Chess and Go, where computers proved to be able to learn and win against the top human champions. Recently another AI program, DALL-E, demonstrated unprecedented power in creating original images. The program is now available online (see link below), and anyone can use it: it asks the user to enter the content of the desired image and, in a matter of seconds, creates images reflecting the user's requests. DALL-E is one of the most discussed, appreciated and criticized artificial intelligence algorithms, especially since the end of the summer when a trial version of it was made available to everyone. The first version of this artificial intelligence was released in January 2021, but with limited capabilities compared to the current ones, which surprised many observers and instilled concern in illustrators, graphic designers and artists. OpenAI carried out the development of DALL-E. This research laboratory is part of the OpenAI LP company, which is, in turn, controlled by Open AI Inc., a non-profit corporation. Billionaire Elon Musk founded the organization in 2015. For some months now, DALL-E has been the best-known system for producing images with algorithms, but there are others. Several other research groups, developers, companies, and organizations have made AI drawings, such as Midjourney, Imagen and DreamStudio. Each of these systems employs different algorithms but with similar operating principles. The original breakthrough came in 2016 when a team of scientists managed for the first time to ask an AI algorithm for the content of an image through a written request. The initially designed algorithms, however, were quite complex to use and specialized only in a small niche of demands. The most recent developments result in systems such as DALL-E that can practically design anything, with ever higher levels of adherence to requests. The latest generation of these AIs is straightforward to use. Just as researchers in Canada had experienced in 2016, but with much larger and more defined images, it is now possible to write a request in natural language and obtain the corresponding drawing in a few moments. Many aspects of DALL-E functioning are unknown, but its programmers have reported adding elements to ensure that the images produced respond to a specific aesthetic taste. As far as possible, the AI ​​produces images that we should like and, consequently, that we believe are more in line with our requests, amplifying that impression of having what we asked for. For example, asking for a specific desired painting style is possible. Those who deal with graphics and illustrations have begun to show a particular concern, sometimes intolerance, towards the AIs that draw and manage to draw better and better. One day, perhaps not too far away, for some types of illustrations, the work of professionals could be replaced by AI. Even if this did not happen in other sectors, such as writing - where there is massive room for improvement - the advances in drawing with AI have been faster and are, above all, more promising.

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China is arguably the developed nation which fought against the COVID-19 pandemic with the most rigid restrictions. While most other countries have now substantially declared the end of the sanitary emergency, in China, the fight is still ongoing. Authorities put entire cities under lockdown, even with just a handful of cases. Those in quarantine report difficulties in having access to food and medicines. The situation also puts stress on many commercial activities and companies. The economic and social costs of such measures have been incredibly high. The lockdowns are the cause of growing socioeconomic pressure. Several civil protests have erupted across the country in the last few days against the draconian anti-pandemic measures. Some of these protests have turned violent with the intervention of the police. At universities and in Shanghai where hundreds chanted, "Step down, Xi Jinping! Step down, Communist Party!". Protests have also broken out in the capital city of Beijing. One student at the prestigious Peking University reported that he arrived at the protest scene at around 1 a.m. Sunday local time, there were approximately 100 students, and security guards were using jackets to cover a protest slogan painted on the wall. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Urumqi on Friday night against the containment measures, which saw many of the city's 4 million residents barred from leaving their homes for as long as 100 days. Chinese media showed footage of people breaking through metal fences and shouting, "End the lockdown!". China is now the only major country in the world still fighting the pandemic through mass testing and lockdowns. Authorities defend President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy as life-saving and necessary to prevent overwhelming the health care system. Officials have vowed to continue with it despite the growing public pushback and its mounting toll on the world's second-biggest economy. The explosion of criticism marks a sharp turn in public opinion. Authorities are now designing more gradual measures, but they still claim a zero-Covid policy as the objective.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) is launching a global scientific study to update the list of priority pathogens - those microbes that can cause outbreaks and pandemics - to guide global investment, research and development (especially in vaccines), and development of tests and treatments. Starting with a meeting on Friday, November 18, WHO is convening over 300 scientists who will consider the evidence on more than 25 families of viruses and bacteria, as well as the so-called "Disease X." Disease X is a placeholder name adopted by WHO to represent a hypothetical, unknown pathogen that could cause a future international epidemic. As an outcome of the process, the experts will recommend a list of priority pathogens that need further research and investment. Both scientific and public health criteria are considered, as well as standards related to socioeconomic impact, access, and equity. The current list includes COVID-19, Crimean-Cong haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and Marburg virus disease, Lassa fever, Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Nipah and henipaviral diseases, Rift Valley fever, Zika and Disease X. Targeting priority pathogens and virus families for research and development of countermeasures is essential for a fast and effective epidemic and pandemic response. "Without significant R&D investments before the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not have been possible to develop safe and effective vaccines in record time," said Dr Michael Ryan, Executive Director of WHO's Health Emergencies Programme. "This list of priority pathogens has become a reference point for the research community on where to focus energies to manage the next threat," said Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist. "It is developed with experts in the field and is the agreed direction for where we - as a global research community - need to invest energy and funds to build tests, treatments and vaccines. The revised list is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2023.

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