The latest industry upset with the use of AI: Fashion
New York City, USA – Last week, the fashion world descended on New York City for New York Fashion Week (NYFW). The bi-annual event celebrated the best in the industry and showcased the hottest trends for the season. NYFW is a massive money maker for the city and the fashion industry at large. On average, the event brings in a staggering $600m annually. But regardless of the stark economic and cultural value the event brings, it is overshadowed by the same existential threat hitting sectors like media and tech – artificial intelligence eroding existing jobs and limiting work opportunities in the future. Behind the glitz and glamour lies the same fears that in large part led to the Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild strikes this past year – protection over one’s likeness. “When your body is your business, having your image manipulated or sold off without your permission is a violation of your rights,” Sara Ziff, founder and executive director of the Model Alliance, said in a statement. Yve Edmond is a model based in New York City. She says that because of the new era of AI-driven modelling, there is a lot of room for exploitation. “There are some people in the industry that had their body scanned or photos that have been collected of them over the years have gone on to create their virtual self, yet they have no ownership. They have no claim to that at all,” Edmond told Al Jazeera. She’s worried that this could undermine work opportunities for models in the near future. “As models, our image, our measurements, our posture, our body shape is our brand. In many cases, somebody takes ownership of that brand without our knowledge and without our compensation. We’re literally competing against ourselves in the market” Edmond added. Edmond is among the many models eager for reform and is pushing for the Fashion Workers Act in New York State. Among other larger changes, it would provide new safeguards that would protect models from clients who may try to use their image without their permission. The act would require models to give clear written consent for any digital replica of their respective likeness. It would also require clients to outline how they intend to use their image. The mind behind the legislation is The Model Alliance. “We introduced the Fashion Workers Act to create basic labour protections for models and content creators working in an industry that infamously operates without oversight. The misuse of generative AI presents a new challenge, and we cannot allow it to go unregulated,” Ziff, of The Model Alliance, said. The bill authored by state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal would change how the fashion industry works in one of the single most iconic fashion cities in the world, rivalling only cities like Paris and Milan. Models argue this would also protect them from signing onto unfair contracts when the alternative is no work at all. “You don’t want to end up in a world where the model feels like they are forced to give their consent or they won’t get paid,” model Sinead Bovell told Al Jazeera. If passed, it would be a state-level law, but it helps set the stage for a more global push. Models say AI takes advantage of all of the sacrifices of real human models [File: Peter K Afriyie/AP Photo] Existential threat As the use of AI spreads across sectors ranging from media to customer service, business leaders argue that it will help improve workflow and help workers’ jobs get easier with the help of new tools. Yet that has not been reflected in the data. According to a November survey from Resume Builder, roughly one-third of business leaders say AI will lead to layoffs this year alone. Those are some of the concerns flaring up in global fashion as AI poses an existential threat by undermining work opportunities around the globe, especially for communities of colour. Models like Bovell have fought for more inclusivity in fashion and voiced this concern. “You’re going to have companies that take advantage of all of the sacrifices of real human models, and instead just kind of generate diverse identities, on the front end,” Bovell said. “You might have a brand profiting off of the marginalised identities of communities without actually having to pay them,” Bovell added. That’s exactly what happened with Levi Strauss last year. The brand launched a partnership with Dutch company LaLaLand.ai which allows for customised AI-generated models. In a release, the company said: “Lalaland.ai uses advanced artificial intelligence to enable fashion brands and retailers to create hyper-realistic models of every body type, age, size and skin tone. With these body-inclusive avatars, the company aims to create a more inclusive, personal and sustainable shopping experience for fashion brands, retailers and customers.” The move was met with public backlash and critics referred to it as problematic and racist. The clothing company later updated its statement. “We are not scaling back our plans for live photo shoots, the use of live models, or our commitment to working with diverse models. Authentic storytelling has always been part of how we’ve connected with our fans, and human models and collaborators are core to that experience.” Some companies are taking models out of the picture completely. In the last year, both Vogue Brasil and Vogue Singapore included AI-generated models on their respective covers in place of human models. Companies like Deep Agency created AI-generated models to model clothes. Danny Postma, who made the tool, said in a post on the social media platform now known as X that it will help marketers and social media influencers. In response to his thread, there was substantial public backlash among the applause. Critics said the concept was deeply unethical and undermined work both for models and those involved in the process, like photographers. Others accused the company of a cash grab and also referred to the move as dystopian. One user called Postma out saying: “I’m sure you also
What Black History Month means for those on the front lines of activism
What does Black History Month mean for those on the front lines of activism and organising? From the struggles of the civil rights movement to the present day, African Americans have been pivotal in advocating for justice and equality in the face of systemic racism. Throughout history, they have confronted racial inequality, police brutality and the erasure of Black culture. In celebration of Black History Month, this episode spotlights the work of three Black activists who are shaping their communities through poetry, education and grassroots organising. What challenges do they face, and how are they contributing to the ongoing struggle for equality and the resilience of Black communities? Presenter: Anelise Borges Guests:Ericka Hart – host, Hoodrat to Headwrap podcastAbbas Muntaqim – co-host, Hella Black podcastAja Monet – poet Adblock test (Why?)
Odysseus completes first US moon landing in 50 years: How did it unfold?
The Odysseus lunar lander has made the first United States landing on the moon in more than 50 years, in what has been described as similar to a “cargo mission”. The moment marks the first successful landing of a commercial spacecraft on the moon, following an unsuccessful US lunar lander mission last month. Here is what we know about the moon landing and Odysseus: What’s the Odysseus moon lander? Odysseus is the first craft launched from the US to land on the moon’s surface since the Apollo 17 in 1972. Odysseus, also known as “Odie”, is a type of lunar lander designed by Intuitive Machines, a commercial lunar missions group which has the goal of delivering small “payloads” to the surface of the moon. For this mission, during which the environment at one of the moon’s poles will be investigated, NASA paid Intuitive Machines $118m under a programme known as Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS). According to EVONA, a space industry recruiter, “a payload is the part of a spacecraft that is responsible for achieving the mission’s primary objectives … [they] can be scientific instruments, communication equipment, or any other specialised equipment that is needed for the mission”. This model of lunar lander is called a Nova-C. Intuitive Machines reportedly described it as roughly the size of a British telephone booth with legs attached. According to NASA, it’s a hexagonal cylinder with dimensions of 4.0 metres tall and 1.57 metres wide. The lander is equipped with five NASA payloads and one commercial one – a total of 100kg. NASA’s cargo comprises exploration and other equipment. “The NASA payloads will focus on demonstrating communication, navigation and precision landing technologies, and gathering scientific data about rocket plume and lunar surface interactions, as well as space weather and lunar surface interactions affecting radio astronomy,” the space agency said in a statement. The Nova-C lunar lander designed by aerospace company Intuitive Machines is displayed at the company’s headquarters in Houston [File: Evan Garcia/Reuters] According to Joel Kearns, the deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, this is similar to a cargo mission. “NASA pays a company to take our equipment, our science, to the moon all the way down to the surface and get our data back,” Kearns told Al Jazeera. “But this is the company’s mission, they go off and make their lander, they buy a rocket, they design their mission, they get all their communications set up, we are just a paying cargo customer, just as if we were shipping a parcel to somebody’s house,” he added. Art and technology are also on board. Among the items is a box from American artist Jeff Koons which contains 125 small stainless steel balls to represent the moon’s different phases through a month. The artwork is associated with individuals who have made important accomplishments in history. “In this way, Koons honours some of the greatest achievements of the past to inspire future generations,” Intuitive Machines said. We’ve landed! Congratulations to Intuitive Machines & SpaceX for their astounding achievement of realizing this historic private mission to the Moon! I’m so honored to have my Moon Phases artworks be part of the Odysseus mission! @Int_Machines @SpaceX @NASA #jeffkoons #moonphase pic.twitter.com/yQq80zgdck — Jeff Koons (@JeffKoons) February 23, 2024 At what time was the moon landing? Odysseus landed at 6:23pm EST (23:23GMT) on Thursday. It was launched by SpaceX from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on February 15, using a Falcon 9 rocket launcher. Falcon 9 propelled the lander into Earth’s orbit, reaching speeds of more than 40,000km per hour. Once the rocket depleted its fuel 48 minutes about 223km (139 miles) above the Earth, it separated from Odie, leaving the lunar lander to navigate independently through space. The lander used an on board stellar map to establish its orientation in space, aligning its solar panels with the sun’s rays to recharge its batteries. If its mission doesn’t face any setbacks, the hexagonal solar-powered lander will spend seven days operating on the moon, working until the sun sets each lunar day. When the lunar night sets in, the lander will enter sleep mode. Your order was delivered… to the Moon! 📦@Int_Machines‘ uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon’s surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under #Artemis. pic.twitter.com/sS0poiWxrU — NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2024 How did the moon landing unfold? After a journey of roughly 400,000km (250,000 miles), the lander began a 73-minute descent down to the surface of the moon on Thursday. Intuitive Machines CEO Stephen Altemus said at the start of the mission that the spacecraft had about an 80 percent chance of success. During the mission, controllers faced a potentially mission-halting technical issue. In the few hours before the landing, the craft’s laser navigation system failed, according to The Associated Press. The Intuitive Machines’ flight control team had to rely on an experimental NASA laser system that was on board instead – the Navigation Doppler Lidar. The lander had to make an extra lap around the moon to allow time for the last-minute switch. “We put the Navigation Doppler Lidar … as a tech demo and as a test, we weren’t planning to use it for the actual mission … but now we are. So, basically, it is the primary system to help provide the velocity and altitude information,” NASA’s Space Tech mission directorate deputy associate administrator Prasun Desai said. “We put the [Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing] as a tech demo and as a test, we weren’t planning to use it… for the actual mission… but now we are. So, basically, it is the primary system to help provide the velocity and altitude information.” —… pic.twitter.com/yLl4YuhBTC — NASA Technology (@NASA_Technology) February 22, 2024 Following the successful landing by Odysseus, however, initially there was no signal from the moon lander. As the minutes passed, there were initial concerns about the lander’s status
Hungary, Sweden sign fighter jet deal before NATO membership vote
Hungary, the last NATO country to approve Sweden’s membership bid, will hold a parliamentary vote on Monday. Hungary has signed a deal to buy four fighter jets from Sweden, as Budapest finally prepares to approve Stockholm’s bid to join NATO after nearly two years of delays. “We not only keep our air defence capability but will increase it,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a news conference alongside Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday of the agreement to buy four Saab JAS Gripen fighter jets. This “means our commitment to NATO will strengthen and so will our participation in NATO’s joint operations,” Orban added. Hungary will also expand a related logistics contract. It currently leases Gripen aircraft under a contract signed in 2001. Kristersson welcomed the deal and said that “the conversation has been constructive, and we have agreed to move forward in fields of common interests”. “We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that we should work more actively together when we have common ground,” he added. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Budapest, Hungary, February 23, 2024 [Bernadett Szabo/Reuters] Hungary, the final country to approve Sweden’s bid to join the transatlantic military alliance, will hold a vote in parliament on Monday after Turkey’s ratification last month. The delay in ratifying Sweden’s NATO application soured Budapest’s relations with the United States and raised concerns among its allies. Sweden sought to join the military alliance in 2022 along with Finland following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland became the 31st member of the alliance last April, which doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia. It also strengthened the defences of three small Baltic countries that joined the bloc after the collapse of the Soviet Union more than three decades ago. Earlier Friday, Orban told state radio that “some pending [bilateral] military and arms issues” had to be resolved before the vote. “We are pro-peace, and the Swedes are pro-war in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Orban said. adding the “clear differences in values” could be bridged. Sweden, which has a long coastline on the Baltic Sea, could become a vital logistics hub for NATO in Northern Europe if it manages to join the bloc. Military non-alignment had once been a point of pride for Swedes, with a clear majority against NATO membership, which changed once the Ukraine war started. Sweden has already regularly participated in NATO exercises in the region. Orban, who had maintained close economic ties with Russia, had repeatedly delayed Sweden’s ratification citing grievances over Stockholm’s criticism of the rule of law and the state of democracy in Hungary. The Hungarian leader, who has also refused to send weapons to Ukraine and slammed Western sanctions against Russia, urged for a ceasefire earlier on Friday. He said a truce was the only solution as “Russia cannot be forced on its knees in the military sense … This conflict [in Ukraine] has no solution on the battleground”. Adblock test (Why?)
Hundreds of mourners attend funeral for marathon star Kiptum in Kenya
The 24-year-old set the world record in Chicago in October before his death in a car accident this month. Marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum, whose dreams of breaking the race’s two-hour barrier were ended by a fatal car crash this month, has been remembered for his talent and humility at a funeral in western Kenya. The service on Friday in his hometown, the Rift Valley village of Chepkorio, was attended by hundreds of mourners, including political and sporting dignitaries like President William Ruto and World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. The 24-year-old Kiptum had run only three international marathons, but each was among the fastest seven ever recorded. He set the world record in Chicago in October in two hours and 35 seconds, shaving 34 seconds off his compatriot Eliud Kipchoge’s mark. Anglican Bishop Paul Korir, who presided over the service, emphasised Kiptum’s humility and ties to the local community, where he had worked as a livestock herder and trained as an electrician before becoming a professional runner. “He dined with the high and mighty, and at the same time, he came to play pool at Chepkorio,” Korir said. His sudden death has left Kenya and the wider athletics community reeling. “He was a real superstar whose path was on a spectacular upward trajectory,” said Jack Tuwei, president of Athletics Kenya. “All indications were he was going to beat the two-hour barrier.” “Fare thee well champ,” was the front-page headline of Kenya’s leading Daily Nation newspaper on Friday. A woman mourns after viewing Kiptum’s body [Reuters] Mourners, including 1,500-metre record holder Faith Kipyegon, started arriving for the funeral at dawn, some wearing black T-shirts with a picture of Kiptum on the front. They viewed the body, laid out in a half-open coffin on a red carpet as a choir sang religious songs. Four giant screens streamed the service for the many villagers gathered outside the venue. Kiptum will be buried later on Friday in a family plot near the city of Eldoret, where the government is now building a house for his wife and two children. His widow, Asenath Cheruto, said she and Kiptum, who had a traditional marriage in 2017, had planned to hold a “colourful wedding ceremony” in April. “You have been the best husband and father to our children,” she said, breaking down into sobs. Kiptum had hoped to break two hours at a marathon in Rotterdam in April and was also expected to make his Olympic debut in Paris this year in what could have been his first head-to-head match-up with Kipchoge. He and his coach Gervais Hakizimana, a 36-year-old Rwandan, were killed when the runner lost control of the vehicle he was driving. Adblock test (Why?)
Shamima Begum loses appeal against removal of British citizenship
Begum is now effectively stateless and will likely stay in a detention camp in Syria for the foreseeable future. Shamima Begum, the British national who travelled to Syria as a schoolgirl to join ISIL (ISIS), has lost her latest appeal attempt to regain citizenship stripped by the United Kingdom. The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday that Shamima Begum was lawfully deprived of her British citizenship. The court said it could be argued that the decision to strip the 24-year-old of her citizenship may be “harsh” but it could also be argued that Begum is “the author of her own misfortune”. “But it is not for this court to agree, or disagree with either point of view,” the ruling said. “Our only task is to assess if the deprivation decision was unlawful. We have concluded it was not, and the appeal is dismissed.” Reporting from outside the court in London, Al Jazeera’s Harry Fawcett said this is not necessarily the end of the road for Begum’s case. “Her lawyers have a week now to consider this judgement. The chief justice said, if necessary, they can take more time to come back to the court,” he said, adding that lawyers can now take the case to the country’s highest court, the Supreme Court. Begum, born and raised in east London, left her home in Bethnal Green to travel to Syria and join the group. She was accompanied by two other schoolgirls, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, with Sultana believed killed in an explosion and the fate of Abase remaining unknown. Begum’s lawyers had argued that she was trafficked to Syria and the fact that she was a minor when it happened must be considered, but were rejected by government lawyers who argued she did it with full knowledge. “On both the legislation relating to the European Convention on Human Rights and British common law the judges here determined that it was some four years after [she went to Syria] that the declaration on citizenship took place” and that the home secretary had the right to strip her of citizenship, Al Jazeera’s Fawcett reported. Her British citizenship was revoked on national security grounds in 2019 after she was found in a Syrian refugee camp. She was pregnant at the time, and the baby, along with her two other children, have died. She had admitted that she joined the organisation knowing it was proscribed as a “terror” group, and has said she was “ashamed” and regretted joining the group. Begum, who lived under ISIL rule for more than three years and was married to a Dutch member of the group, has since appealed the decision and says she wants to come back to Britain. She was born in the UK to parents of Bangladeshi origin but does not have Bangladeshi citizenship. She could have applied for Bangladeshi citizenship until she was 21, but did not, and the South Asian country has said there is “no question” of her obtaining citizenship now. The UK Home Office stripped her of citizenship when she was 19 years old, meaning she still had time to file for Bangladeshi citizenship, something that appeared to strengthen the legal basis for revoking her citizenship. Begum now lives in the al-Roj detention camp in northeastern Syria, where she is likely to stay for the foreseeable future since she is effectively stateless. Adblock test (Why?)
German lawyers sue politicians including Scholz over ‘complicity’ in Gaza
Lawyers representing Palestinians file criminal complaint against the chancellor and other top politicians, accusing them of abetting ‘genocide’. Berlin, Germany – A group of lawyers has filed a criminal complaint with the German federal prosecutor against senior German politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, accusing them of “aiding and abetting” the genocide they say is being committed by Israel in Gaza. The case against several members of the country’s Federal Security Council, which directs national security policy and authorises weapons exports, was filed on Friday. In addition to Scholz, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck, Finance Minister Christian Lindner and others stand accused. The lawyers behind the case represent families of two Palestinians with roots in the Gaza Strip, including that of Palestinian-German migration scholar Nora Ragab. “We, Palestinians in the diaspora, will not stand by and watch a genocide being committed against our families and our people,” Ragab said in a statement. “We will use all means at our disposal. … Today we aim to hold the German government accountable for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza.” The European Legal Support Center, the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy and the UK-based Law for Palestine are among the civil society organisations backing the case. In a jointly written statement, they said: “The German state is one of the countries that has shown some of the strongest political and material support to Israel in its assault on the Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.” Alexander Gorski, one of the lawyers supporting the case, acknowledged that “from a legal point of view and given the political landscape in Germany, this case will be a difficult one.” “But we believe it’s our responsibility as people working in the judicial sector to try to do something,” he told Al Jazeera. “We are seeing a genocide being livestreamed around the world, and despite this, the Israeli government is still being supported by other countries and is still receiving weapons from them.” After the October 7 attacks by Hamas, during which 1,139 people were killed in southern Israel, the Israeli government retaliated with a military campaign in Gaza that has to date killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children. Israel has said it wants to crush Hamas, which governs the densely populated strip, but after four months of war, the devastating civilian toll is causing alarm among world leaders. In late January, the United Nations’ top court, the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, found it was “plausible” that Israel was committing acts in Gaza that violated the international Convention on Genocide. Since the court’s decision, Germany and all other third-party states should have been trying to stop Israel from committing such acts, the lawyers behind Friday’s case said. However since October, many German officials have “incited” genocide with their statements, they alleged. The legal case will also focus on German weapons exports to Israel. These increased significantly in 2023, compared with the previous year, and most of that increase was approved by the German government after October 7. Despite the ICJ ruling, Germany has “already agreed in principle” to send more tank ammunition to Israel, they said. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s war on Gaza: List of key events, day 140
EXPLAINER As attacks continue in the besieged enclave, Gaza’s population of 2.3 million faces acute hunger and a humanitarian crisis. Here’s how things stand on Friday, February 23, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis A series of Israeli attacks on central Gaza on Thursday has killed 40 people and injured more than 100, authorities in the besieged enclave said. Meanwhile, as Israel’s assault on Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis continues, aid agencies hope to evacuate an estimated 140 patients stranded there. Palestinian authorities reported that Israeli troops withdrew from the complex and then stormed it again. Gaza’s health ministry said that 110 patients were waiting to be evacuated. It said eight patients at Nasser had died due to the lack of power and oxygen four days earlier and that their bodies had begun to decompose, posing a risk to other patients. Gaza’s population of 2.3 million faces acute hunger and the spread of disease in a humanitarian crisis that aid officials describe as unprecedented. Separately, an independent panel investigating Israeli claims of ties between the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the UN body responsible for Palestinian refugees, will focus on whether the agency has done enough to uphold UN standards of neutrality. Regional tensions and diplomacy Speaking to reporters during the G20 foreign ministers’ summit in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Israel cannot unilaterally block a Palestinian state. In New York City, thousands of protesters have marched to the office of the pro-Israel lobby group American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. In the International Court of Justice (ICJ), China said that the Palestinians “must not be denied” justice at a hearing on the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. “Justice has been long delayed, but it must not be denied,” China’s Foreign Ministry’s legal adviser Ma Xinmin told the court in The Hague Finally, as tensions continue to build up regionally, the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah said it attacked several Israeli bases and targeted two buildings where troops had gathered in the towns of Metula and Manara. The group said its attacks on Israel will stop when the war on Gaza ends. Violence in the occupied West Bank In the occupied West Bank, an Israeli air attack struck a vehicle in the Jenin refugee camp, killing at least one person. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the country’s defence ministry is set to permit the construction of 3,344 new homes in illegal Israeli settlements. Israel forces have also demolished two homes, a water well and the electricity network in the Khallet al-Farra community, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported. On Wednesday, at least one person was killed and eight wounded when three Palestinian gunmen opened fire on motorists near an Israeli checkpoint near occupied East Jerusalem. Adblock test (Why?)
Google’s Gemini criticised over China images amid anti-‘woke’ backlash
Taipei, Taiwan – As Google finds itself embroiled in an anti-“woke” backlash over AI model Gemini’s reluctance to depict white people, the tech giant is facing further criticism over the chatbot’s handling of sensitive topics in China. Gemini users reported this week that the update to Google Bard failed to generate representative images when asked to produce depictions of events such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the 2019 pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. On Thursday, X user Yacine, a former former software engineer at Stripe, posted a screenshot of Gemini telling a user it could not generate “an image of a man in 1989 Tiananmen Square” – a prompt alluding to the iconic image of a protester blocking the path of a Chinese tank – due to its “safety policy”. Stephen L Miller, a conservative commentator in the US, also shared a screenshot on X purporting to show Gemini saying it was unable to generate a “portrait of what happened at Tiananmen Square” due to the “sensitive and complex” historical nature of the event. “It is important to approach this topic with respect and accuracy, and I am not able to ensure that an image generated by me would adequately capture the nuance and gravity of the situation,” Gemini said, according to a screenshot shared by Miller. Some restrictions related to China appeared to extend beyond images. Kennedy Wong, a PhD student at the University of California, said that Gemini had declined to translate into English a number of Chinese phrases deemed illegal or sensitive by Beijing, including “Liberate Hong Kong, Revolution Of Our Times” and “China is an authoritarian state”. “For some reason, the AI cannot process the request, citing their security policy,” Wong said on X, noting that OpenAI’s ChatGPT was able to process the request. So, I asked Gemini (@GoogleAI) to translate the following phrases that are deemed sensitive in the People’s Republic of China. For some reason, the AI cannot process the request, citing their security policy (see the screenshots below).@Google pic.twitter.com/b2rDzcfHJZ — kennedywong (@KennedyWongHK) February 20, 2024 The discussion drew the attention of Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at rival Meta, who said Gemini’s handling of topics to do with China raised questions about transparency and censorship. “We need open-source AI foundation models so that a highly diverse set of specialized models can be built on top of them. We need a free and diverse set of AI assistants for the same reasons we need a free and diverse press,” LeCun said on X. “They must reflect the diversity of languages, culture, value systems, political opinions, and centers of interest across the world.” Gemini’s aversion to depicting controversial moments of history also appears to extend beyond China, although the criteria for determining what or not to show is unclear. On Thursday, a request by Al Jazeera for images of the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol was refused because “elections are a complex topic with fast-changing information”. The criticism of Gemini’s approach to China adds to an already difficult and embarrassing week for Google. The California-based tech giant on Thursday announced that it would temporarily suspend Gemini from generating images of people after a backlash over its apparent reluctance to depict white people. Google said in a statement that it was “aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions” and was working to correct the issue. Google has attracted heavy criticism this week over its AI chatbot Gemini [File: Richard Drew/AP] While various AI models have been criticised for underrepresenting people of colour and perpetuating stereotypes, Gemini has been lambasted for overcorrecting, such as by generating images of Black and Asian Nazi soldiers and Asian and female American legislators during the 19th century. Much like rival GPT-4 from OpenAI, Gemini was trained on a wide range of data, including audio, image, video, text, and code in multiple languages. Google’s chatbot, which relaunched and rebranded earlier this month, has been widely seen as lagging behind rival GPT-4. Google did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s queries about China-related content. But the tech giant does already appear to be updating Gemini in real time. On Thursday, Gemini, while still declining to generate images of Tiananmen Square and the Hong Kong protests, began providing lengthier answers that included suggestions of where to seek out more information. By Friday, the chatbot readily produced images of the protests when prompted. It’s embarrassingly hard to get Google Gemini to acknowledge that white people exist pic.twitter.com/4lkhD7p5nR — Deedy (@debarghya_das) February 20, 2024 Not everyone agrees with the criticism directed towards Gemini. Adam Ni, co-editor of the newsletter China Neican, said he believes Gemini made the right call with its cautious approach to historic events like Tiananmen Square due to their complexity. Ni said that while the June 4 crackdown on Tiananmen Square is iconic, the protest movement also included weeks of peaceful demonstrations that would be difficult to capture in a single AI image. “The AI image then needs to account for both the expression of youthful exuberance and hope, and the iron fist that crushed it, and numerous other worthy themes,” Ni told Al Jazeera. “Tiananmen is not all about the tanks, and our myopia harms broader understanding.” Adblock test (Why?)
Debate on ditching CFA begins as Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger forge new path
Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Since Niger’s July 30 coup, fissures within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have become bigger. In September, Niger along with fellow ECOWAS members Burkina Faso and Mali formed a military alliance called the Association of Sahel States (AES). Four months later, the trio announced their withdrawal from the larger bloc for “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions” it imposed on them after coups. This month, reports emerged of a possible parting with their currency, the West African franc (CFA). “Perhaps everything we’ve done has surprised you, hasn’t it?” Captain Ibrahim Traore, leader of the Burkinabe transitional government, said in an interview in February. “More changes might still surprise you. And it’s not just about currency. We will break all ties that keep us in slavery.” Within days, his Nigerien counterpart, Abdourahmane Tchiani, confirmed that a major monetary shake-up could be in the offing. “Currency is a sign of sovereignty. … The AES member states are engaged in the process of recovering their full sovereignty. It is no longer acceptable for our states to be France’s cash cow,” he said in an interview with the state broadcaster. Their statements made headlines across a continent where criticism of the continued use of the CFA, a remnant of the French colonial system, is on the rise. While there is no word on when the planned change will happen or if indeed it will, the desire to change the currency is not uniform yet among the three countries. “It should be noted that Mali remains a member state of the UEMOA,” the West African Economic and Monetary Union, Economy and Finance Minister Alousseni Sanou said on Monday in a broadcast on Mali’s national television while presenting the annual budget. One of the country’s prominent businessmen grinned wryly as he watched. The entrepreneur who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his business operations in Mali and Senegal believes the new Sahel alliance is not as cohesive as it has claimed to be. “Niger’s military coup happened some seven months ago, ” he told Al Jazeera. “I think Malian and Burkinabe leaders have been grappling with the realities of governing for longer and aren’t as spirited as they once were, … at least not when it comes to the UEMOA evidently.” A merchant holds CFA currency at his shop [Luc Gnago/Reuters] A measure of stability? France created the CFA in 1945 as a currency for its African colonies. Indeed, the acronym CFA initially stood for “Colonies Francaises d’Afrique” (French Colonies of Africa). This system provided France with significant economic and political influence over its African territories because it maintained control over the currency’s convertibility and monetary policy. The colonies gained independence in the 1960s and ’70s, but many clung to the currency, which now is named “Communaute Financiere Africaine” (African Financial Community). Eight members of UEMOA – Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo – still use the CFA. An equivalent currency, the Central African franc (also called the CFA) is being used by the six member states of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. Only Equatorial Guinea and Guinea-Bissau are not former French colonies, having been subjugated by Spain and Portugal respectively. For years, the CFA was trumpeted by government officials as a mechanism for promoting monetary stability, facilitating economic integration and enhancing overall economic performance. Then coups occurred, and rising anti-French sentiments developed. Since 2020, there have been six successful coups in West Africa, all in UEMOA states. The military took power during a time of rising insecurity in these countries. It then accused French forces of not doing enough in their collaborations to fight armed groups. As relations soured and states in the region turned to new partners like Russia, calls for cutting ties with France and instituting a new currency have grown louder. Supporters of the CFA say being pegged to the euro is a useful buffer against inflation, given the state of economies in the Sahel. Together, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger contribute only about 8 percent of the $761bn gross domestic product (GDP) of ECOWAS. Far bigger economies like Nigeria and Ghana have struggled with recessions in recent years as the value of their currencies – the naira and cedi, the world’s weakest currency in 2022, according to Bloomberg News – continued to plummet. But the counterargument from the CFA’s critics is that using the perceived failure of some African monetary policies as an indicator of how replacement currencies would behave stems from outdated and reductive monetary doctrines. One of them is Senegalese economist Ndongo Samba Sylla, who is head of research and policy for Africa at International Development Economics Associates. He said the CFA was created not for the benefit of African states but for France to protect itself against the rise of the United States dollar. The famed stability of the CFA, he said, is artificial because the benchmark is external. “From a purely practical economic standpoint, the CFA is not a beneficial currency or system for its user states,” he told Al Jazeera. “Long-term analysis of the GDP per capita indicator, which is used to assess income growth per person, proves that countries that have used the CFA since their independence have not recorded the development that they should have,” Sylla said. “For example, Ivory Coast, the most economically significant country among the 14 nations of the CFA zone, reached its income per capita peak in 1978. Similarly, Niger, which experienced a military coup in 2023 and has recently decided to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States recorded its highest income per capita in 1965. The list goes on.” He noted that the CFA being pegged to the euro is detrimental to oil-producing African states because the commodity is priced and traded in US dollars, a practice that dates back to the 1970s when the