small talk 2.0

Speaking at Tel Aviv University last June, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, made two headlines that caught the attention of the Israeli media. Addressing the risks of AI development, he emphasized the need to take the existential threats of AI seriously by creating an international regulatory body to ensure responsible use of it by all countries, similar to nuclear power control organizations. Complimenting the audience, Altman expressed his confidence that Israel's tech ecosystem will play a "huge role" in the artificial intelligence revolution, which will transform the world. "There are two things I have observed that are particular about Israel: the first is talent density, and the second is the relentlessness, drive, and ambition of Israeli entrepreneurs," said Altman at the event.  There are good reasons for Altman's words of appreciation. Israel's Artificial Intelligence sector is growing fast and places it among the leading countries in the field. Accor...

Book review for “Doctor on Call: Chernobyl responder, Jewish refugee, radiation expert”, by Dr. Alla Shapiro. Mandel Vilar Press, 2021.   The cover illustration of the "Doctor on Call: Chernobyl responder, Jewish refugee, radiation expert", includes two distinct images. In the bottom image, we see the 4th reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear station and the abandoned buildings of Pripyat, the closest town to Chernobyl power station that housed its employees before the explosion. The top picture is a peaceful view of the American capital dominated by the iconic Washington Monument. Young pediatrician Alla Shapiro from the Hematology Unit of the Kiev Children Hospital couldn't have imagined on the morning of April 26, 1986, that her life would irreversibly change and the rest of it will revolve around those two places: Washington, D.C. and Chernobyl, Ukraine. Washington will become her second home after she leaves the turbulent Kiev of the 1980s; the Chernobyl chapter of her ...

 Briefing I gave on May 12, 2021. 

                    The outbreak of Covid19 a year ago intensified the debates about regulation of Artificial Intelligence. Given the role of AI technologies in fighting the pandemics, the attention of all stakeholders to its impact, both positive and negative, was all too obvious. As a result, the extensive use of these technologies by some governments to control the propagation of coronavirus brought to light controversial and disturbing aspects of AI. Human rights advocates and experts sounded the alarm about large-scale use of the facial recognition AI technologies for surveillance purposes. Beyond the pandemic situation, concerns were also raised about military use of Artificial Intelligence and other AI applications that could endanger privacy, amplify the polarization of societies and empower the autocrats.         Those concerns are raised periodically by members of the expert community and lead...

What can we learn from international organizations’ resolve to regulate AI Part I I planned to write this article long before the global outbreak of COVID-19. When I started six months ago my new diplomatic position representing Israel at international organizations based in France, I was surprised to discover how much importance all of them - OECD, Council of Europe, UNESCO - relate to Artificial intelligence, and especially to its regulation and ethics. As I embarked on more extensive research, I realized that this issue has become for multilateral diplomacy both an unavoidable item on their agenda and a reputational gold mine. As I contemplated this, I suddenly found myself in a new reality of “confinement” decreed in France and almost elsewhere in Europe. A reality of social distancing, of closed restaurants, cafes and theaters (in Paris - can you imagine that?), of frightening reports of the numbers of infected and dead, of attempts, sometimes contradictory, sometimes de...

It’s hard to avoid a jubilant tone in speaking about Israel and innovation when the first lunar spacecraft, made in Israel, is making its way to Earth’s natural satellite. In the last 20 years Israel has become a world leader in new technologies and science and there is no better proof to this claim that the flight of “Bereesheet” (“In the beginning” in Hebrew, the first words in Genesis) that started on February 22 and made Israel the 4 th nation in the world, after USA, USSR and China, who sent a spacecraft to the Moon. Some experts argue that the turning point for Israel’s innovation was in the beginning of the 1990s, thanks to a successful professional integration of the highly educated immigrants from former Soviet Union and as a result of a new form of collaboration between academia and industry encouraged by government. But the truth is that already in the first years after its establishment Israel embarked on innovative solutions to problems that faced many developin...