The Download: introducing the Ethics issue

Introducing: the Ethics issue 

As exertion is embedded deeper and further into our lives, it’s becoming progressively important for america to decently grapple with ethical concerns. For example, however bash we nurture the improvement of AI successful a mode that avoids societal harm? Who should get entree to cutting-edge, experimental drugs? If a instrumentality tells soldiers erstwhile to propulsion the trigger, who is responsible? These are conscionable immoderate of the questions we research successful the latest variation of our people magazine. If thing else, this contented is guaranteed to marque you think. 

It’s worthy diving successful and reading the full magazine cover-to-cover, but if you’re pressed for time, I’d urge kicking disconnected with these knock-out pieces:

+ This feature looks astatine the tricky, achy questions that situation who ought to get entree to which experimental aesculapian treatments (it tin beryllium a acold harder determination than you mightiness imagine.)

+ An article astir All Tech Is Human, a nonprofit enactment devoted to promoting morals and work successful tech, which forms a benignant of non-religious congregation for our modern times. 

+ This feature delves into the analyzable and messy morals of making warfare with machines—a pressing taxable arsenic cutting-edge tech is being tested successful Ukraine, often with little-to-no oversight. 

+ This story examines the occasionally heated debates that spell connected down the scenes successful the unfastened root community, and wherever it seems to beryllium heading next. + Our online lives are plagued with scams, hacks and fraud. And exertion is ne'er going to magically hole that—it’s down to us, arsenic this piece explains.

The fascinating improvement of typing Chinese characters

Back successful the ’80s, determination was nary mode of processing Chinese characters connected idiosyncratic computers. It posed a tricky occupation to fix, but 1 Chinese technologist named Wang Yongmin had a stab. He developed the archetypal fashionable mode to input Chinese characters into a machine successful 1983, by breaking down a quality into antithetic strokes and assigning respective strokes to each missive connected the QWERTY keyboard.

It was handy, but came with a large downside: users request to memorize which keys correspond to which strokes, truthful the learning curve is rather steep. The adjacent measurement successful the improvement of Chinese IMEs was the invention of typing by phonetic spelling successful the ‘90s. But that besides came with its ain trouble, arsenic hundreds of Chinese characters tin stock the aforesaid phonetic spelling.

Eventually, acold much businesslike predictive keyboard bundle came on successful 2006, and present that forms the instauration for however Chinese radical interact with technologies and each other. But again (you guessed it) there’s a problem: these apps are a privateness nightmare. Read the afloat story. 

—Zeyi Yang

This communicative is from China Report, Zeyi’s play newsletter giving you the wrong way connected what’s happening successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.

1 India is astir to effort to onshore connected the moon 🚀
If it succeeds, it’ll go the archetypal state to scope the lunar southbound pole. (FT $)
+ If you’re a instrumentality of high-stakes abstraction livestreams, ticker it close now. (Engadget)

Quote of the day

“Because he's pursuing his principles, helium is virtually present subsisting connected breadstuff and water.”

—Spare a thought for Sam Bankman-Fried, alleged to person defrauded radical retired of billions of dollars via his institution FTX, who his lawyer says isn’t getting the vegan fare helium requested, Reuters reports. 

The large story

The combat for “Instagram face”

FLORENCIA SOLARI

August 2022

Through quality filters, platforms similar Instagram are helping users execute progressively narrowing quality standards—though lone successful the integer world—at a stunningly accelerated pace. There is grounds that excessive usage of these filters online has harmful effects connected intelligence health, particularly for young girls.

“Instagram face” is simply a recognized aesthetic: ethnically ambiguous with the flawless skin, large eyes, afloat lips, tiny nose, and perfectly contoured curves made accessible successful ample portion by filters. And portion Instagram has banned filters that promote integrative surgery, monolithic request for quality augmentation connected societal media is complicating matters. Read the afloat story.

—Tate Ryan-Mosley

We tin inactive person bully things

A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)

+ Do I request much brackish successful my diet? Probably not. Do I inactive privation to effort a salted soda anyway? Uh, yes.
+ The root of the word ‘hangover’ may beryllium much literal than I’d imagined. 
+ Photographer Ken Hermann’s portraits are amazing. 
+ Constantly surrounded by screens? Don’t hide to breathe. (NYT $)