The 251st Block: "Words shaped the world economy and the human body, both"
Ah, to be a wordsmith...
This week…
Your reading time is about 5 minutes. Let’s start.
I read Martin Riker’s The Guest Lecture and it was so good, I borrowed both the ebook and the audiobook from my library app, and read it twice back to back. I couldn’t really think about anything else. I wanted to write a reflection the way I did for Michelle Hart’s We Do What We Do in the Dark (2022) but right now words escape me. If you have read it, please let me know your thoughts. It’s a little unconventional, though, so it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.
The only other thing I paid attention to is Germany’s election, which the conservatives are projected to win ahead of the far-right AfD, while the somewhat bizzare Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance is close to the 5 per cent electoral threshold.
Your Wikipedia this week: Chinese room
And now, a selection of top stories on my radar, a few personal recommendations, and the chart of the week.
ICYMI: The Previous Block was about Big Tech, AI, and democracy (oh, what else).
CORRECTION NOTICE: None notified. ON DEMOCRACY
A digital war on women
Meghan Davidson Ladly for New Lines Magazine:
The Iranian state has long targeted dissidents abroad, but increasingly — empowered through various digital platforms — it is using gendered attacks to intimidate Iranian women who are critical of the government’s actions. It’s a playbook many authoritarian regimes around the globe are now using, as artificial intelligence and other developing technologies provide them with new tools to perpetrate abuse.
Transnational repression by rogue states that harass and intimidate exiled dissidents has increasingly entered the public discourse. Stories of alleged brazen kidnappings by Rwanda and Iran have made headlines years after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Less scrutinized, however, are the online attacks such states use specifically against female critics. In Iran, where much of the protest movement following the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini has remained women-led, this online harassment is well organized and underpinned by patriarchal ideology.
“When I was in Iran, I received hate in another way,” says Azam. “And when I came to Canada, the strategy was changed.” In 2017, Azam was arrested in Tehran for publicly removing her hijab in an act of protest against the Iranian government’s restrictions on women’s rights. She was sentenced to three years in prison and lost custody of her daughter, prompting her to flee the country. Now settled in Toronto, she is an active critic of the regime on multiple social media platforms and has thousands of followers. “You’re fighting with [patriarchal] culture, you’re fighting with government. You can’t imagine the cyberarmy of the Islamic Republic’s attacks on me. Oh my god, I receive lots of hate,” says Azam. “When you are a woman, it’s different.”
Loosely linked:
Ukraine’s fate hinges on its English-language influence operations by Kyle Hiebert
and Jordan Miller for CIGI.
AI disinformation could threaten Africa’s elections by Tina Gerhäusser and Martina Schwikowski for DW.
German election: From AI influencers to Russian disinformation, the far-right is getting a leg up online by Kaitlin Tosh, Sophia Massam and Tom Cheshire, Data and Forensics team at Sky News.
How AI avatars help inform Venezuelans and resist censorship by Romain Chauvet for The Fix.
ON AI
Turkey’s translators are training the AI tools that will replace them
Kaya Genç for Rest of World:
As a teenager, Pelin Türkmen dreamed of becoming an interpreter, translating English into Turkish, and vice versa, in real time. She imagined jet-setting around the world with diplomats and scholars, and participating in history-making events.
Her tasks one recent January morning didn’t figure in her dreams. The 28-year-old translator’s computer displayed a dashboard for AI training provided by Outlier, a San Francisco-based company that hires contractors to train large language models. Outlier’s clients include OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta, among others.
The dashboard displayed a prompt for training an LLM powering either ChatGPT, Gemini, or Preplexity AI.
Loosely linked:
There are challenges and opportunities for Africa in the AI revolution by Abubakar Usman for LSE Blog.
EU accused of leaving ‘devastating’ copyright loophole in AI Act by Jennifer Rankin for The Guardian.
Historians weigh in on viral AI history videos by Yasmin Rufo for BBC.
AI cracks superbug problem in two days that took scientists years by Tom Gerken for BBC.
Other curious links, including en español et français
LONG READ | The hunt for Malaysia’s elusive wildlife trafficker by Foeke Postma for Bellingcat.
INFOGRAPHIC | What do countries call themselves? The stories behind their original names by Alma Milisic and Mohamed A. Hussein for Al Jazeera.
PHOTO ESSAY | Germany at a crossroads: the reprise of the far right by Fabian Ritter for The Guardian.
Tinder, Satisfyer y algoritmos: ¿el fin del sexo como lo habíamos conocido? por Galo Abrain en Retina.
Un proyecto fantasma y un puñado de criptobros que se llevan millones: las claves del escándalo ‘Libragate’ de Milei por Carlos del Castillo en elDiario.es.
La alternativa al thatcherismo era el turbothatcherismo por Oriol Bartomeus en CTXT.
Détournements idéologiques, règlement de comptes : on vous explique la polémique entre Wikipédia et le magazine Le Point par Franceinfo.
Groupuscules d’extrême droite dans les stades de foot : comment la presse locale enquête par Embarek Foufa dans La revue des médias.
Quelles différences en termes de violence entre les plates-formes de porno classique et les deepfakes? par Andreanne Bergeron (Université de Montréal) dans The Conversation.
What I read, listen, and watch
I’m reading The Guest Lecture (2023) by Martin Riker. Absurd (in a good way).
I’m listening to The Lede Podcast on how AI is transforming geopolitics with Bruno Maçães and Faisal Al Yafai.
I’m watching FT’s investigations into Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.
Chart of the week
What really happens when you click ‘accept all’? And do you carefully consider your cookie settings when visiting websites? According to the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, 28 per cent of the respondents they surveyed said that to a large extent, they do, 15 per cent to a very large extent, 20 per cent neither nor, 21 per cent to a small extent, 15 per cent to a very small extent and 2 per cent don’t know. Kristin Krog Mehammer has more details for Science Norway.