- Belgian pathologist and literary star gives 'voice to the dead'
- East Timor fights new battles 25 years after independence vote
- Oil prices drop on easing fears over Middle East, most markets rise
- Reoxygenating oceans: startups lead the way in Baltic Sea
- King Charles III heads to Australia and Commonwealth meeting
- Wall Street stocks hit fresh records as oil prices slide
- Strike-hit Boeing leaves experts puzzled by strategy
- NASA launches probe to study if life possible on icy Jupiter moon
- EVs seek to regain sales momentum at Paris Motor Show
- NASA probe Europa Clipper lifts off for Jupiter's icy moon
- 'Unsustainable' housing crisis bedevils Spain's socialist govt
- Stocks shrug off China disappointment but oil slides
- Stocks diverge, oil retreats as China disappoints markets
- Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality
- Ex-Stasi officer jailed over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as markets rally
- Shanghai stocks gain after stimulus briefing as Asian markets rally
- Nearly 90, but opera legend Kabaivanska is still calling tune
- With inflation down, ECB eyes faster tempo of rate cuts
- Is life possible on a Jupiter moon? NASA goes to investigate
- Ex-Stasi officer faces verdict over 1974 Berlin border killing
- Role of government, poverty research tipped for economics Nobel
- In milestone, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
Rise of the robots: UN tries to tackle 'mind-blowing' growth of AI
The mind-blowing growth of artificial intelligence poses many questions that have no answers yet, the United Nations admitted Thursday at its AI summit, attended by some exceptionally life-like humanoid robots.
The UN is aware that AI technology is racing ahead of the capacity to set its boundaries and directions, and so it brought together some of the best minds on the topic -- whether human or man-made.
The "AI for Good Global Summit", in Geneva on Thursday and Friday is being convened by the UN's ITU tech agency -- and many unaware attendees were startled by the humanoid robots suddenly turning to look at them as they passed by.
"When generative AI shocked the world just a few months ago, we had never seen anything like it. Nothing even close to it. Even the biggest names in tech found the experience mind-blowing," ITU chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin told the summit.
"And just like that, the possibility that this form of intelligence could get smarter than us got so much closer than we ever thought -- including those behind the technology."
- No answers -
The summit is bringing together around 3,000 experts from companies like Microsoft and Amazon as well as from universities and international organisations to try to sculpt frameworks for ensuring AI is used for positive purposes.
Bogdan-Martin painted an alternative nightmare scenario in which AI puts millions of jobs at risk, disinformation spreads widely, and unchecked AI advances lead to "social unrest, geopolitical instability and economic disparity on a scale we've never seen before".
"Many of our questions that we have on AI have no answers yet. Should we hit pause on giant AI experiments? Will we control AI more than it controls us? And will AI help humanity, or destroy it?" she asked.
The robots gathered in Geneva came in many forms: dogs, farm machinery, but also exceptionally realistic avatars, singers, artists and nursing home workers.
With cameras inside their eyes, many were actively following what was going on around them: tracking movement, answering questions, smiling, frowning and even eye-rolling.
The Jam Galaxy Band features humanoid robot Desdemona -- Desi to her friends -- on lead vocals.
Created by roboticist David Hanson, she throws out jazzy lyrics on all sorts of subjects -- love, credit cards, meetings in gardens -- and the band interacts and goes with it.
"It's pretty amazing. You would think it's weird but it's really cool because her AI-generated lyrics are really out there," said soprano saxophone player Dianne Krouse.
"I'm just improvising around that and doing interpretive saxophoning to what she's singing."
S.F.Lacroix--CPN