Author: The Conversation

by Konstantinos Lagos, Sheffield Hallam University With four banks down in the US and Europe and at least several more wobbling, we’re currently in the throes of the worst banking strife since 2007-08. Aggressive interest rate hikes have meant that banks are sitting on hefty losses on their portfolios of government bonds – some US$2 trillion (£1.6 trillion) or 15% losses on US banks alone. This makes many banks vulnerable to the same kind of funding problems that brought down Silicon Valley Bank – one in ten banks are sitting on even greater losses and tighter funding, putting the lie…

by Michael G. Madden, University of Galway The AI chatbot known as ChatGPT, developed by the company OpenAI, has caught the public’s attention and imagination. Some applications of the technology are truly impressive, such as its ability to summarise complex topics or to engage in long conversations. It’s no surprise that other AI companies have been rushing to release their own large language models (LLMs) – the name for the technology underlying chatbots like ChatGPT. Some of these LLMs will be incorporated into other products, such as search engines. With its impressive capabilities in mind, I decided to test the…

The fact that many businesses last Monday chose to close or keep staff at home showed widespread concern that the planned shutdown could lead to violence and disruption. It was natural to be worried – the memories of looting and destruction of property in July 2021 remain fresh. The irresponsible political rhetoric around the shutdown had inflamed fears. The state reacted appropriately to those concerns. While some have decried the extent of the mobilisation of police, backed by the army, the response was proportionate to the fears ordinary citizens and businesses had. The police promised to maintain law and order,…

by Motshedisi Mathibe, University of Pretoria South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently reiterated plans to accelerate the commercialisation of hemp as well as cannabis plants. His speech setting out government’s priorities for 2023 was a reminder of a pledge in 2022 – also in his state of the nation address – that the government would mobilise investment in the hemp and cannabis sectors. In his speech, the president indicated that government is in the process of addressing the conditions for the growth of the cannabis sector, particularly for rural farmers. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and…

By Doug Jacobson, Iowa State University TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023, amid a chorus of calls from members of Congress for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is pushing for the company’s sale. The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, has banned TikTok on work-provided phones. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work. But a full ban of the app is another matter, which…

by Matthew Wright, Rochester Institute of Technology and Christopher Schwartz, Rochester Institute of Technology You have just returned home after a long day at work and are about to sit down for dinner when suddenly your phone starts buzzing. On the other end is a loved one, perhaps a parent, a child or a childhood friend, begging you to send them money immediately. You ask them questions, attempting to understand. There is something off about their answers, which are either vague or out of character, and sometimes there is a peculiar delay, almost as though they were thinking a little…

In 2016, evidence began to mount that then-South African president Jacob Zuma and a family of Indian-born businessmen, the Guptas, were responsible for widespread “state capture”. It was alleged that the Gupta family influenced Zuma’s political appointments and benefited unfairly from lucrative tenders. The Guptas began to look for a way to divert attention away from them. They enlisted the help of British public relations firm Bell Pottinger, which drew on the country’s existing racial and economic tensions to develop a social media campaign centred on the role of “white monopoly capital” in continuing “economic apartheid”. The campaign was driven…

By Rehana Cassim, University of South Africa Corporate misconduct is difficult to detect and prove. This is because it is often hidden by a complicated web of transactions, misleading corporate records and convoluted company group structures. This is why corporate whistleblowers whose positions give them an inside track on misconduct are so important in exposing corporate crime and corruption. But whistleblowers risk personal and financial risk by coming out. Whistleblower protection in South Africa lags behind international standards and inadequately protects whistleblowers in some respects. Given South Africa’s high levels of corporate corruption, whistleblowers deserve high levels of protection. Despite…

The strikes by hundreds of Amazon workers at the company’s Coventry warehouse in the English Midlands have brought into relief some of the problems of work in today’s high-tech society. While primarily focused on pay, the workers are pushing back against long hours and an automated surveillance system that times how long they take to do each task, as well as going to the toilet. It all contributes to a high pressure and intensive work environment – plus more accidents. We have much to learn from this painful situation about the future of work and technology. On the one hand,…

by Anjana Susarla, Michigan State University Social media services have generally been free of charge for users, but now, with ad revenues slowing down, social media companies are looking for new revenue streams beyond targeted ads. Now, Twitter is charging for its blue check verification, and Meta and Twitter both charge for identity protection. Users benefit from “free” services such as social media platforms. According to one study, in the U.S., Facebook users say they would have to be paid in the range of $40 to $50 to leave the social networking service for one month. If you value Facebook…