In Plato's Republic, Socrates challenges the idea that justice should boil down to telling the truth and returning things that were taken. He raises an interesting dilemma: what if the goods in question would harm other individuals if returned?
In other words, giving a weapon back to its owner constitutes a moral dilemma as it could lead to people being harmed by the weapon's use. For Socrates, there was no doubt that protecting people was what should always prevail.
Centuries later, Socrates’s view is still very relevant in light of recent developments regarding the use of artificial intelligence in warfare. From autonomous weapons and robot soldiers to terabytes of video captured by drones, many countries including China, Russia and the US are leveraging AI to improve their military strategies and operations.
Despite the tremendous budgets at stake and the need for countries to be able to defend themselves, should researchers and engineers specialising in artificial neural networks and machine and deep learning allow the products of their labour to be used to kill people, even if they could also be used to save lives?
With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and AI, more leaders in the public and private sector are working with philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists to better understand how people deal with such dilemmas and make moral judgments and decisions.
Seventeen years ago, Joshua Greene and his colleagues at Princeton University published a seminal article in Science Magazine, in which neurotechnology was employed to better understand how the brains of individuals function when making decisions while facing moral dilemmas. The team of neuroscientists found that depending on how emotionally engaged people are, their judgment about what to do will vary.
For instance, in one well-known example in which one is forced to choose whether to sacrifice one life to save five, having to press a button to achieve it remotely or having physically push someone significantly changed the reactions in the brains of participants in the study, despite the outcome being the same. These findings are currently being used to help autonomous vehicles make decisions. But the neuroscience of ethical decision-making can resonate far beyond the automotive industry.
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Read more from Olivier Oullier:
Why a long, boring summer might be the best thing for children's creativity
Why testosterone drives you to buy that sports car
Artificial intelligence can help veterans deal with the trauma of war
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Thousands of Google employees expressed concern earlier this year when they found out that their company was involved in Project Maven, the nickname for the US Department of Defence’s algorithmic warfare cross-functional team, established in 2017. This project is part of the DOD’s massive effort to leverage AI to improve the efficacy of US military operations, starting with the analysis of information and footage recorded by drones.
According to The Wall Street Journal, in 2017 alone the DOD spent $7.4 billion on AI-related projects.
Thousands of Google employees signed an open letter to the company’s chief executive Sundar Pichai, stating that: "Building this technology to assist the US government in military surveillance – and potentially lethal outcomes – is not acceptable".
A dozen employees even resigned from their jobs. Soon after, Google announced it would not renew its partnership with the DOD on Project Maven once the current contract comes to an end in March 2019.
But this move will not stop the AI efforts and investments of the department, which in July announced a $885 million, five-year contract with Booz Allen Hamilton to be able to use large-scale AI systems. Many similar partnerships are to be expected in the near future, all over the world.
In light of the tremendous investments in the public and the private sectors and the increasing number of projects globally to leverage AI in warfare, some scientists and business executives have decided to voice their dissent.
More than 2,000 of them signed a pledge launched last month, supported by the Future of Life Institute, demanding that governments introduce strong international norms and laws against lethal autonomous weapons. In the absence of laws, they wrote, "we will neither participate in nor support the development, manufacture, trade, or use of lethal autonomous weapons".
Elon Musk of Space-X and Neuralink and Demis Hassabis of Google DeepMind, as well as several Nobel laureates, are among the signatories of the pledge. In addition, 26 United Nations countries have "explicitly endorsed the call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems".
In a report entitled Values, ethics and innovation: rethinking technological development in the fourth industrial revolution, published earlier this month, the World Economic Forum offers operational solutions to put values and ethics at the heart of technological and societal development.
Very wisely, its authors urge all stakeholders involved, including governments and citizens, to not lose sight of what technological development should be about: social progress and the wellbeing of humanity. It is a message that Socrates himself might have endorsed.
Professor Olivier Oullier is the president of Emotiv, a neuroscientist and a DJ
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
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Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylturbo
Transmission: seven-speed DSG automatic
Power: 242bhp
Torque: 370Nm
Price: Dh136,814
UK%20-%20UAE%20Trade
%3Cp%3ETotal%20trade%20in%20goods%20and%20services%20(exports%20plus%20imports)%20between%20the%20UK%20and%20the%20UAE%20in%202022%20was%20%C2%A321.6%20billion%20(Dh98%20billion).%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThis%20is%20an%20increase%20of%2063.0%20per%20cent%20or%20%C2%A38.3%20billion%20in%20current%20prices%20from%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%202021.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EThe%20UAE%20was%20the%20UK%E2%80%99s%2019th%20largest%20trading%20partner%20in%20the%20four%20quarters%20to%20the%20end%20of%20Q4%202022%20accounting%20for%201.3%20per%20cent%20of%20total%20UK%20trade.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESmartCrowd%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2018%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESiddiq%20Farid%20and%20Musfique%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%20%2F%20PropTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24650%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2035%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeries%20A%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVarious%20institutional%20investors%20and%20notable%20angel%20investors%20(500%20MENA%2C%20Shurooq%2C%20Mada%2C%20Seedstar%2C%20Tricap)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
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Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
Without Remorse
Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Michael B Jordan
4/5
Fight card
1. Featherweight 66kg: Ben Lucas (AUS) v Ibrahim Kendil (EGY)
2. Lightweight 70kg: Mohammed Kareem Aljnan (SYR) v Alphonse Besala (CMR)
3. Welterweight 77kg:Marcos Costa (BRA) v Abdelhakim Wahid (MAR)
4. Lightweight 70kg: Omar Ramadan (EGY) v Abdimitalipov Atabek (KGZ)
5. Featherweight 66kg: Ahmed Al Darmaki (UAE) v Kagimu Kigga (UGA)
6. Catchweight 85kg: Ibrahim El Sawi (EGY) v Iuri Fraga (BRA)
7. Featherweight 66kg: Yousef Al Husani (UAE) v Mohamed Allam (EGY)
8. Catchweight 73kg: Mostafa Radi (PAL) v Ahmed Abdelraouf of Egypt (EGY)
9. Featherweight 66kg: Jaures Dea (CMR) v Andre Pinheiro (BRA)
10. Catchweight 90kg: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Juscelino Ferreira (BRA)
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.