Latest news with #Soon-Shiong
The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Will AI doom the last of us? As a writer, I don't feel safe
But I have a more down-to-earth worry: How much longer will I have a job as a writer, which I feel lucky to hold as my vocation? AI seemed to happen gradually, then suddenly (to quote Ernest Hemingway, one of my favorite human authors). In recent months, I've noticed that no matter what I'm doing online - writing a column in Google Docs, an email in Outlook, a note to a friend on Instagram - an AI bot will pop in to ask if I would like "help" crafting my message. As someone who makes my living with words and enjoys using them, I find AI's uninvited intrusions into my day not just annoying, but alarming. I'll admit, as an opinion columnist, I had thought that my skills were safe from robot replacement - at least in my lifetime. Aren't reason and persuasion uniquely human abilities? What does it mean if they aren't? Opinion: Dems are mad about Biden book. Jake Tapper must be a deep undercover MAGA agent. Hot takes from an artificial 'mind'? No thanks. Lest you think I'm overreacting, real-world newspapers in the United States already are turning to AI to craft news and opinion for their readers. For instance, the Los Angeles Times has started offering online readers the option to read AI-generated counterpoints to the opinion columns it runs. The "Insights" feature judges the piece's point of view and then spits out an opposing argument. That was the brainchild of Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who wants the opinion pages to reflect a broader range of views. "If you just have the one side, it's just going to be an echo chamber," Soon-Shiong told Fox News about the project, saying he thinks it's important "that all voices be heard." Now, as a conservative writer in a liberal media world, I respect Soon-Shiong's quest for balance. And I appreciate that my newspaper has crafted an opinion team with many different points of view - something that wasn't always the case. But robots? Is that where we want other perspectives to come from? Opinion: NPR has a right to exist. That doesn't mean it has a right to my tax dollars. The Times, as you might expect, has already run into some awkward AI offerings. It isn't alone, though. This month, several newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, ran a syndicated summer book list that included books ... that don't exist. Only five of the 15 recommended books were real, although I'll acknowledge that some of the made-up titles sounded interesting. The writer who "created" the list has admitted to using AI, and has since been fired. The idea of news and commentary coming from a bot is unsettling, and not just because of my job security. Plenty of Americans feel the same way. New research from the Poynter Institute and the University of Minnesota found nearly half of those surveyed don't want news from generative artificial intelligence. And 20% said the media shouldn't use AI at all. I decided to take AI for a test drive. What do you think of the result? Given my fear of being replaced by a robot, I've stayed away from sites like ChatGPT, although I've received many examples from friends and family of what it can do. But I decided to give it a simple prompt: "Write a column in the style of Ingrid Jacques of USA TODAY." Opinion: Not funny, John Oliver - Standing for religious liberty doesn't equate to 'hate.' In mere seconds, it "wrote" a 675-word column, complete with a headline and byline. I'll share the first few lines of what popped up: The Uncomfortable Truth About Wokeism By Ingrid Jacques The American cultural landscape is being shaped by a force so pervasive, so influential, that it seems to touch every corner of our lives. I'm not talking about the rise of artificial intelligence, nor the latest social media craze. No, I'm referring to the ideology of "wokeism," which, like a slow-moving storm, is now fully entrenched in our schools, workplaces, and public discourse. Not bad, right? And I thought the nod to AI was apropos, given the topic of this column. It's still creepy, though. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. With the current political divisions in our country, I believe that sharing different points of view in a civil way is more important than ever, and I worry about the implications if those "thoughts" are coming from something nonhuman. So, while this may come as a disappointment to some of you, you're stuck with the "real" me. For now. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump wants to police the speech of international students
It's hard to feel much sympathy for Harvard University. It has historically absorbed billions of dollars in federal subsidies and research grants, while discriminating against some applicants based on their race prior to the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard. But now, President Donald Trump is ending all remaining federal grants to Harvard. And beyond cutting off federal money, the administration has gone further by threatening to block Harvard's access to all foreign students in 30 days. Worse, it is pausing all interviews for new foreign students, as well as the so-called exchange visas, while the administration considers whether and how to vet applicants' social media accounts. This goes way too far. There's not a single terrorist attack in the last 50 years that would have been prevented by such a thorough and subjective search, but the administration would likely use it to exclude students with unpopular opinions. (On Thursday, a federal judge extended a temporary order blocking the administration's attempt to bar Harvard from enrolling international students.) Moreover, the administration is completely off-base in its attacks on universities and international students. There are more than 1.1 million foreign students enrolled in American colleges and universities, amounting to just under 6% of the 19.1 million students enrolled in higher education. According to the Open Doors 2024 Report on International Educational Exchange, 56% of foreign students studied STEM, about 25% studied math and computer science, and nearly one-fifth studied engineering. Skilled immigrants often start as foreign students and end up staying. Elon Musk started as a student at the University of Pennsylvania before getting an H-1B visa. Usually, after the H-1B (or another temporary visa called OPT), the migrants are sponsored for a green card, and then they can eventually become American citizens, just as Musk did. Another South African immigrant, Patrick Soon-Shiong, completed his surgical training at UCLA before inventing the drug Abraxane for lung, breast and pancreatic cancer. 'The innovation this country spawns is the only way I think that America continues to be the leader of the world,' Soon-Shiong, now a billionaire and the owner of the Los Angeles Times, said in 2017. 'We still have the best universities, and I think it's crazy that (foreigners) come here and we train them as masters and PhDs and then we kick them out. That's ridiculous.' The data bears out Soon-Shiong's observations in innovation and entrepreneurship. From 1950-2000, a 1 percentage point increase in immigrants results in 15% more patents on a per capita basis. But entrepreneurship is even more important for innovation, and that's where immigrants really shine. According to research by economist Pierre Azoulay and his co-authors, immigrants are 80% more likely to start a business, their businesses created about 50% more jobs, they start more businesses at every size, and they pay about 1% higher wages than firms started by native-born Americans. Abandoning student visas doesn't mean kicking high-skilled immigrants out today, but it does mean that many fewer will be here in the future because they're kicked off the bottom rung of the ladder. Canceling student visas will actually counteract the intent of the administration's trade war. The administration started its trade war on the false notion that countries with trade surpluses have taken advantage of Americans. 'We're just not going to get ripped off anymore,' Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said. But even if the trade surplus were an economically meaningful number, ending student visas is counterproductive because, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, they amount to a $50.2 billion export. The effect of canceling student visas is to increase the trade deficit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently announced that the administration will more aggressively review visas for Chinese students with ties to the Communist Party and who study 'critical fields.' Espionage is a legitimate concern, although an overblown one, but sending a signal to intelligent and hard-working Chinese students that the U.S. doesn't want them will do more harm. If the administration is truly worried about China, it makes little sense to lock their smartest students in a communist dictatorship during a trade war in which one of the main goals is to reduce the trade deficit with China (even though the latter point isn't important). Beyond just the myopic assaults on immigration, policing international students' speech isn't a worthy task for America's border bureaucrats. And even if it were, they should be able to do it without pausing all student visas. The Trump administration should abandon this endeavor before it starts. This article was originally published on
USA Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Is it me or ChatGPT? As AI grows smarter, I have a down-to-earth worry: my job.
Is it me or ChatGPT? As AI grows smarter, I have a down-to-earth worry: my job. | Opinion As someone who makes my living with words and enjoys using them, I find AI's uninvited intrusions into my day not just annoying, but alarming. Show Caption Hide Caption How to use AI rewriting tools Artificial Intelligence can instantly proofread your writing and make suggestions to tweak the tone of a message, paper or presentation. Problem Solved Many have commented lately about the supersonic rise of artificial intelligence and what it means for our future – and our very existence. The questions that AI poses for our society, economy and democracy are valid and challenging. But I have a more down-to-earth worry: How much longer will I have a job as a writer, which I feel lucky to hold as my vocation? AI seemed to happen gradually, then suddenly (to quote Ernest Hemingway, one of my favorite human authors). In recent months, I've noticed that no matter what I'm doing online – writing a column in Google Docs, an email in Outlook, a note to a friend on Instagram − an AI bot will pop in to ask if I would like 'help' crafting my message. As someone who makes my living with words and enjoys using them, I find AI's uninvited intrusions into my day not just annoying, but alarming. I'll admit, as an opinion columnist, I had thought that my skills were safe from robot replacement – at least in my lifetime. Aren't reason and persuasion uniquely human abilities? What does it mean if they aren't? Opinion: Dems are mad about Biden book. Jake Tapper must be a deep undercover MAGA agent. Hot takes from an artificial 'mind'? No thanks. Lest you think I'm overreacting, real-world newspapers in the United States already are turning to AI to craft news and opinion for their readers. For instance, the Los Angeles Times has started offering online readers the option to read AI-generated counterpoints to the opinion columns it runs. The 'Insights' feature judges the piece's point of view and then spits out an opposing argument. That was the brainchild of Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who wants the opinion pages to reflect a broader range of views. 'If you just have the one side, it's just going to be an echo chamber,' Soon-Shiong told Fox News about the project, saying he thinks it's important "that all voices be heard.' Now, as a conservative writer in a liberal media world, I respect Soon-Shiong's quest for balance. And I appreciate that my newspaper has crafted an opinion team with many different points of view – something that wasn't always the case. But robots? Is that where we want other perspectives to come from? Opinion: NPR has a right to exist. That doesn't mean it has a right to my tax dollars. The Times, as you might expect, has already run into some awkward AI offerings. It isn't alone, though. This month, several newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, ran a syndicated summer book list that included books ... that don't exist. Only five of the 15 recommended books were real, although I'll acknowledge that some of the made-up titles sounded interesting. The writer who 'created' the list has admitted to using AI, and has since been fired. The idea of news and commentary coming from a bot is unsettling, and not just because of my job security. Plenty of Americans feel the same way. New research from the Poynter Institute and the University of Minnesota found nearly half of those surveyed don't want news from generative artificial intelligence. And 20% said the media shouldn't use AI at all. I decided to take AI for a test drive. What do you think of the result? Given my fear of being replaced by a robot, I've stayed away from sites like ChatGPT, although I've received many examples from friends and family of what it can do. But I decided to give it a simple prompt: "Write a column in the style of Ingrid Jacques of USA TODAY." Opinion: Not funny, John Oliver – Standing for religious liberty doesn't equate to 'hate.' In mere seconds, it 'wrote' a 675-word column, complete with a headline and byline. I'll share the first few lines of what popped up: The Uncomfortable Truth About Wokeism By Ingrid Jacques The American cultural landscape is being shaped by a force so pervasive, so influential, that it seems to touch every corner of our lives. I'm not talking about the rise of artificial intelligence, nor the latest social media craze. No, I'm referring to the ideology of 'wokeism,' which, like a slow-moving storm, is now fully entrenched in our schools, workplaces, and public discourse. Not bad, right? And I thought the nod to AI was apropos, given the topic of this column. It's still creepy, though. With the current political divisions in our country, I believe that sharing different points of view in a civil way is more important than ever, and I worry about the implications if those 'thoughts' are coming from something nonhuman. So, while this may come as a disappointment to some of you, you're stuck with the 'real' me. For now. Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@ or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LA Times owner meets with Trump in Saudi Arabia
The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times met with President Trump in Saudi Arabia this week, as the president conducts several state visits while he looks to shore up relations with Middle Eastern countries. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a health care executive and entrepreneur who owns the LA Times, was one of several business leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Reid Hoffman, who accompanied Trump on his Middle Eastern trip. Soon-Shiong posted on social platform X he was 'honored to share' time with the president and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on cancer prevention innovation initiatives 'and our common goal to cure cancer.' Soon-Shiong has spoken openly about his desire to see coverage from the LA Times, and mainstream media more generally, take a different tone, and he was one of several leading news bosses to block staff editorials backing former Vice President Kamala Harris from publishing during the 2024 elections. 'I knew I'd get pushback. If you want to lead, you have to lead, so we took that position,' Soon-Shiong told Fox News Digital in January in defense of the decision to not endorse a presidential candidate in last year's presidential election. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Hill
LA Times owner meets with Trump in Saudi Arabia
The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times met with President Trump in Saudi Arabia this week, as the president conducts several state visits as he looks to shore up relations with Middle Eastern countries. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a healthcare executive and entrepreneur who owns the Times, was one of several business leaders, including Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Reid Hoffman, who accompanied Trump on his Middle Eastern trip. Soon-Shiong posted on the social platform X he was 'honored to share' time with the president and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on cancer prevention innovation initiatives 'and our common goal to cure cancer.' Soon-Shiong has spoken openly about his desire to see coverage from the Times, and mainstream media more generally, take a different tone and was one of several leading news bosses to kill staff editorials backing former Vice President Harris. 'I knew I'd get pushback. If you want to lead, you have to lead, so we took that position,' Soon-Shiong told Fox News Digital in January in defense of the decision to not endorse a presidential candidate in last year's presidential election.
