Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
Say hello to the OpenAI’s very human chatbot
Ahead of a highly anticipated launch, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promised that the new product would be “magical”—though not a new search engine to take down Google. Was he right? Well, GPT-4o—where the “o” stands for “omni”—is like a nearly human and super-smart Siri. Gizmodo has the best description of what Omni can do:
GPT-4o responds instantaneously to verbal prompts in a friendly voice that sounds uncannily like Scarlett Johansson, who voiced the AI assistant in the feature film ‘Her’. Based on the demos, this technology essentially makes that movie a reality. GPT-4o’s speech has an emotional intonation, showing excitement at some times and laughing at others. Further, it can identify emotion and tone in users’ speech as well. OpenAI staff showcased conversations with the AI chatbots with almost no lag, and the chatbot was even able to pivot quickly when interrupted.
Quartz predicts the demo voice—of a woman, of course—is so “dynamic, friendly, and arguably flirty” that people are going to fall in love with GPT-4o—just like in ‘Her’. That’s alarming on all sorts of levels.
Of the many demo vids, we were most amused by the one below—of a South Asian dad testing GPT-4o’s ability to tutor his kid in maths. Desi parent to OpenAI: You really, really get me. You can see the others here. FYI: it is free to use. We recommend you read TechCrunch for the best deets on its capabilities.
Venezuela has lost its glaciers
It feels absurd and sad to type this: Venezuela became the first country to lose all its glaciers. It had already lost the other five. The last one—the Humboldt, aka La Corona—has now been downgraded to an “ice field” by scientists. The reason it took them so long to notice: political turmoil, which made it impossible to trek up the Andes. The bad news came in March: the glacier had shrunk from 450 hectares to just two. Btw: It’s even smaller now. Glaciers have to be at least 10 hectares to qualify for that descriptor.
Unhappy point to note: Glacier loss is also “not directly reversible”—once it is gone, the sunlight makes the ground much warmer, which makes it an unlikely condition for ice to build on it. Next up to become glacier-less: Mexico and Slovenia—since they are close to the equator and their ice caps are on low-lying mountains. (BBC News)
In highly related news: A new study looked at the top 60 banks in the world—and found they lent nearly $7 trillion in funding to more than 4,200 fossil fuel companies. That’s since 2016—when the Paris Agreement was signed—committing 196 countries to limit global warming to 2°C. The biggest names in this hall of infamy:
US banks were the biggest financiers of the fossil fuel industry, contributing 30% of the total $705 billion provided in 2023, the report found. JP Morgan Chase gave the most of any bank in the world, providing $40.8 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2023, while Bank of America came in third. The world’s second biggest financier of fossil fuels was the Japanese bank Mizuho, which provided $37.1 billion.
One important caveat: The study did not have data on what was being financed—or the level of a bank’s involvement in a deal. The Guardian has loads more.
G’bye El Niño, Hola La Niña
The context: The world’s weather is most visibly affected by two phenomena: El Niño and La Niña. La Niña is formed when parts of the Pacific Ocean cool down—and its opposite is El Niño—which occurs when the Pacific heats up. This affects the movement of trade winds—and there is a knock-on effect around the world (explained at great length here).
What happened now: Having endured a scorching summer thanks to El Niño, get ready for an extra-rainy monsoon courtesy La Niña. According to the US agency—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration—there is a 49% chance that it will arrive between June and August this year. FYI: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has already predicted a heavier monsoon for the same reason. (Hindustan Times)
The war on Gaza: The latest update
Protests in Israel, again: Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets demanding the release of hostages—and the resignation of PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Of the 240 Israelis kidnapped by Hamas on October 7, around 128 are still in their custody (we think). You can see the size of the protests below.
A highly recommended read: To understand the mood inside Israel, we highly recommend reading this Wall Street Journal report. A quick taste:
On Israeli television, there is virtually no footage of dead Palestinians and only some scenes of the destruction... Nearly two-thirds of Israeli Jews said they had seen a few or no images of the damage, according to an April survey by the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan research centre. Just over a third said they had seen a lot, either through Israeli media or social media.
You can’t feel horror at a killing that you don’t see. Or to phrase it differently, if a child dies in Gaza and no Israeli is around to see it, does it make a sound? (Wall Street Journal, splainer gift link)
Meanwhile, in Russia: President Putin’s latest weapon in the war on Ukraine—a new defence minister, Andrei R Belousov. He is an economist not a general—and reflects Putin’s plan to wage a long war of attrition that will eventually wear Ukraine down. (New York Times, paywall, BBC News)
Of Instagram ads & pedophiles
A New York Times investigation posted two dummy jewellery ads on Instagram and paid to have them boosted. One of them had a little girl (turned away from the camera)—the other only had the product. The reporters made some interesting discoveries.
One: Even though NYT picked topics that were closely targeted at women, the Insta algorithm served the ads to mostly men. So 64% of the users who saw the ad with just the tank top with a necklace were men. For the ad that included a five-year old, that number shot up to 95%.
Two: The ad algorithm seems to function like the recommendation algorithm. If you interact with certain kinds of content, then you are likely to see more of it. So if you’re a pedophile who likes… You can see how that would work.
In sum, it doesn’t matter who you want as an audience—for your posts or your ads—the algorithm will serve it up to whom it pleases. FYI: the Times instantly got messages from sex offenders when it posted the ad with the kid. A reminder: In December, Mexico sued Meta alleging that Facebook and Instagram failed to protect underage users from predators online. We recommend reading the entire investigation at New York Times (splainer gift link).
China is our #1 trade partner
According to a new report, China has overtaken the US for the top spot—after falling from grace for two years. Our trade with China was valued at $118.4 billion in FY 2023-24—compared to $118.3 billion with the US. Yes, it’s a small difference but still notable given the icy-cold relationship.
For example, the government has done its best to disadvantage Chinese smartphones. It excluded them from trade incentives given to others like Apple and Samsung. It has even raided the offices of Xiaomi and others. And yet:
Price conscious Indian consumers have always had a good appetite for cheap Chinese smartphones with state of the art specs. Therefore it is no surprise that the majority of Indian customers continue to buy Chinese brands. However the government’s efforts to make a dent on the prevalence of Chinese brands has been to no avail.
So China’s return to pole position is revealing and likely galling for the government. Hindu Business Line has more on the smartphone advantage. (The Wire)
In unpleasant China news: An Amnesty International report shows that Beijing has been tracking and harassing Chinese students in Europe. Officials have threatened to revoke passports, get them fired, and even harm their families back home—if they criticise government policy abroad:
Rowan had not shared her real name with organisers of the protest, nor posted online about her involvement, and said that she was shocked by how quickly Chinese officials had identified her and found her family. She said that it felt like a message that “you are being watched, and though we are on the other side of the planet, we can still reach you”.
As we keep saying re the Nijjar killing, this is not the company we want to be in. (Times UK)
This is your pregnant brain
Scientists know that a woman’s brain goes through great changes during pregnancy. They had monitored brains before and after gestation—but not through the entire 40 weeks. Well, they did, and here’s what they found:
The gray matter—the cells that form the cerebral cortex and are responsible for emotion, reasoning, language and other processes—shrank. The cortex thinned. Total brain volume decreased. But the strength of the brain’s white matter—the connections that transmit information between brain cells—increased, something that had never before been observed.
Btw, the white matter snaps back to its original level after birth. Scientists don’t know why the brain changes during pregnancy. The popular guess: It helps mom bond with baby. (Wall Street Journal)
Two things to see
One: First, the BJP wanted to ban hijab in colleges. Now, its candidate was caught bullying Muslim women into raising their veil at the polling booth (see the clip below). She was supposedly checking their face against the photo on the voter ID. Yes, a case has been filed against her. Btw, she doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning. Latha is running against AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who won the Hyderabad seat in 2019 by a landslide. Not holding our breath for the Election Commission… (Business Today)
Two: A massive billboard collapsed in Mumbai killing 14—and leaving 70 injured. The 100-foot tall structure was illegal—and fell on top of a petrol station—in the midst of heavy rain. The Hindu has more on the tragedy.
