Looking inside the black box

May 28, 2024

Looking into the code.

DPA via Reuters

One of the biggest challenges facing artificial intelligence companies is that they don’t know everything about their algorithms. This so-called black box problem is exacerbated by the fact that deep learning models do precisely that — they learn. And when they learn they change. They take in enormous troves of data, detect patterns, and spit something out: How a sentence should read, what an image should look like, how a voice should sound.

But now researchers at Anthropic, the AI startup that makes the chatbot Claude, claim they’ve had a breakthrough in understanding their own model. In a blog post, Anthropic researchers disclosed that they’ve found 10 million “features” of their Claude 3 Sonnet language model, with certain patterns that pop up when a user inputs something it recognizes. They’ve been able to map features that are close to one another: One for the Golden Gate Bridge, for example, is close to another for Alcatraz Island, the Golden State Warrior, California Governor Gavin Newsom, and the Alfred Hitchcock film Vertigo — set in San Francisco. Knowing about these features allows Anthropic to turn them on or off, manipulating the model to break out of its typical mold.

This development offers hope that the companies behind powerful generative AI models will soon have much more control over their creations, as MIT professor Jacob Andreas told theNew York Times. “In the same way that understanding basic things about how people work has helped us cure diseases,” Andreas said, “understanding how these models work will both let us recognize when things are about to go wrong and let us build better tools for controlling them.”

Can we achieve gender equality by 2030?

- YouTube

youtu.be

It has been nearly 30 years since former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared at the UN Conference on Women, hosted in Beijing, that “Women’s rights are human rights.” While progress has been made in some key areas, like education and access to healthcare, the number of women in the global labor force has remained largely stagnant since the 1990s. Women still trail men overall in income, digital inclusion, and even access to banking. This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge that divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches.

Can the IMF change to help more women?

Matthew Kendrick

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

North Korean troops move into Russia’s border area with Ukraine

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a farewell ceremony before Putin's departure at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea June 19, 2024.

Gavriil Grigorov/Reuters

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

Will Japan’s LDP lose its grip on power?

October 23, 2024, Kamagaya, Japan - Japanese Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Shigeru Ishiba reacts to his supporters after he delivered a campaign speech for his party candidate Hisashi Matsumoto for the general election at Kamagaya in Chiba prefecture, suburban Tokyo on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

(photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO)

As Japan heads to the polls this Sunday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to call an early election just weeks after taking office is turning out to be a high-stakes gamble.

Global economy at risk if Middle East conflict expands, says World Bank's Ayhan Kose

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youtu.be

While the global economy shows signs of growth and decreasing inflation, the near future involves risks, including the escalation in the Middle East impacting oil prices, strained China-US relations, and an increasingly challenging tariff and trade environment, said Ayhan Kose, World Bank Deputy Chief Economist. He discussed the geopolitical tensions influencing the global economy with GZERO's Tony Maciulis at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, DC, in a GZERO Global Stage interview.

Looking inside the black box

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There are times when we need more context, and there are times when we do not. How do we tell the difference?

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

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Georgian Dream insists the country is still on track to join the EU, as critics accuse the party of pushing Georgia in an increasingly anti-Western, authoritarian direction.

In 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist coined an acronym for the four largest and most promising “emerging market” economies: Brazil, Russia, India, and China became known as the “BRIC” countries.

With the latest polls still showing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris neck and neck in the swing states, both candidates are heading to Texas, a far less competitive state, with hopes of reaching key voter groups nationwide.

As Japan heads to the polls this Sunday, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to call an early election just weeks after taking office is turning out to be a high-stakes gamble.