From the lens of a parent, nothing beats the human touch. Ditto for any human-to-human relationship; it's in the word.
For nearly two decades, I've been apart from my only child because that made the most practical sense for my family. Save for my vacations and their visits, I've missed some of my son's formative years and milestones, but never in his 19 years have I deviated from my responsibility to him, even from 7,000km away.
Technology has been and will always be an enabler. The ways of communication played a huge part throughout those years. Beyond the digital keypads and screens that served as our pens and windows to each other, though, we were there.
So when I heard Sam Altman say parenting is now “impossible” without artificial intelligence, I winced. Selfish, I thought.
The OpenAI boss is, in Larry Ellison's words, one of the “smartest engineers”. And while Altman is not formally an engineer, I agree with that sentiment, in the context of how he has engineered the generative artificial intelligence mania.
To myself, AI is today what fire was when it began burning in the Old Stone Age; a hot new thing that can be controlled, but good luck trying to contain it when it goes out of hand.
I have no idea if Altman's answer to Jimmy Fallon was bravado for being on late-night TV for the first time, or a calculated, rehearsed response to prop up his $500 billion business. Or, it could be an exaggeration, which is always a good way to generate buzz. Any PR is still PR.
There are certain tasks we can automate altogether, to varying degrees of agreement. Cleaning bots at home instead of sweeping? Sure. Flippy the fry cook flipping burgers? Why not. Elon Musk's planned army of Optimus robots? TBD.
I just don't get the point of how AI can, as Altman implies, replace or in its absence cripple one of the most critical and formative responsibilities a person can ever take on.
This isn't the first time Altman has touted ChatGPT for parenting, but his appearance on Fallon's The Tonight Show was the first time he used the word “impossible”, which begs the question that, should his ChatGPT access somehow conk out, would he just stop being a parent?
That's a stretch. I am confident the proud father will still perform his duties towards his surrogate son, even sans his own creation helping him out with highly detailed, carefully curated content from the web.
That's why his “impossible” messaging leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
As a no doubt very occupied person, Altman must have hired some help – human, hopefully – in tending to his son while he and his partner are away. Is he also mandating that these nannies use ChatGPT, when one would assume they are professionals who know their craft, tech-assisted or not?
When he asked ChatGPT for parenting advice, Altman of course said the chatbot did a terrific job. Makes me wonder: what if it had gone rogue? Maybe it has sometimes, but, of course, he won't let the world know that.
Would Altman allow his son to go through the stages of his early life surrounded by machines instead of humans? I'm sure he doesn't lack the basic common sense to go down that rabbit hole, but his “impossible” claim makes it sound like anything is possible – so long as his AI works fine.
It is not impossible; we just tend to use conveniences as an excuse to not do what's possible.
OpenAI bestowed upon the world ChatGPT and the subsequent AI rush; you cannot go looking at something on the internet without thinking twice if said content is genuine or some carefully curated AI slop that has been flooding cyberspace and is being forced on us.
And let's not forget the litany of the now-ubiquitous dangers of AI, and its potential psychological impact, especially on young and vulnerable users.
Where are the guardrails these AI companies so proudly tout? Surely, one of those hundreds of billions, maybe even trillions, of tokens ChatGPT is trained on should've realised something very dangerous and, literally, life-threatening.
As the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy put it aptly in August, persons who are vulnerable and in need of mental health support turning to AI chatbots instead of actual human therapists could be “sliding into a dangerous abyss”.
One of the ironies in all this is that, despite working the technology beat, the only time I have used GenAI is when comparing certain recipes. I'm sorry, but I find it lazy. I'm old-school like that. I do acknowledge the impossibly immense benefits and potential AI has, but I'd rather sweat it out and stay sharp rather than potentially lose my edge and sense of reality.
And should I make a mistake, then that's on me. After all, it's hard to point a finger at something that is still training and learning. Relying on it for parenting tips and truisms? Not for this techie father, thank you.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The years Ramadan fell in May
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Types of bank fraud
1) Phishing
Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
2) Smishing
The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
3) Vishing
The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
4) SIM swap
Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
5) Identity theft
Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
6) Prize scams
Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
