Latest news with #TheGreatGame
Malay Mail
05-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
The great game of artificial intelligence — Jonathan Yen
MAY 5 — As the world remains embroiled in the US-China trade spat, an interesting live broadcast took place in Moscow recently. At the 'Youth Conference of the Valdai Discussion Club's New Generation Project', a peculiar topic caught my attention — a discussion on artificial intelligence and technology. Contrary to popular view, AI is not viewed with the same rose-coloured lenses by Generation Z, like myself. An AI-driven future is not one that provides us with the comfort of job security as well as our privacy. Thus, when a topic like this is being discussed in a country like Russia, it arguably deserves closer attention. The Great Game In order to truly appreciate the emergence of new superpower competition in the 21st century, we need to go back to the 'Great Game', which marked the rivalry between the 19th-century British and Russian empires and their influence over Central Asia then. Today, AI could become a new battleground for influence, raising the collateral consequences of escalating geopolitical tension between the US and China. As each side seeks to improve and commercialise its AI models, it will have to rely on other nations to supply the unique data and resources required to effectively turn them into 'digital colonies'. In other words, we are witnessing a new form of geopolitical influence: an AI-driven 'metropolisation' of our societies and economies. While it is understandable that many countries are keen to jump on the AI bandwagon, it could come at the cost of their national sovereignty. In the past, physical land and resources were prized possessions. Today, by adopting foreign AI models and regulations, as well as selling off land and resources for foreign-built data centres, are they not, in essence, surrendering their sovereignty? According to the symposium mentioned above, this could also be viewed as a 'soft form' of colonisation. There is no doubt that the US and China currently lack mutual trust. Yet, our future and economic well-being are deeply intertwined with these competing superpowers. In their race for dominance, it will be hard for them to resist using AI to tighten their grip on future generations as a form of control. AI could become a new battleground for influence, raising the collateral consequences of escalating geopolitical tension between the US and China. — Reuters pic AI colonisation Colonisation can be defined as a process of establishing occupation of or control over foreign territories or peoples for the purpose of cultivation, exploitation, trade and in some cases, settlement. What is AI colonisation? The panelists noted that AI development has become a fiercely competitive battleground among nations, particularly between the United States and China. Due to AI's data and resource-intensive nature, only major powers could possess the capacity to build AI models domestically. While the commercial entities developing AI is undeniable, control often remains closely tied to their respective governments. What about smaller countries like those in South-east Asia? The simpler and more economical path is to adopt AI models commercially. This approach is not only more efficient, but it can also provide substantial foreign investment, primarily in the form of data centres funded and operated by tech giants. However, AI models have their own ecological uniqueness which carries the cultural blueprint of the country of origin. Take China's Deepseek model as an example. Deepseek is able to illustrate both Oriental and Western folklore. Yet, it struggles when asked to depict characters from say, a Slavic folklore such as Kolobok, due to insufficient data from that cultural domain. This suggests that AI is currently limited by its own enclosed ecosystem, confined only to the inherent features of its parent nation. As time goes by, the more it learns from other cultures, the more the ecosystem expands in its knowledge and capabilities. The more information it absorbs, the more persuasive its influence becomes. We already know that Chinese models like Deepseek follow China's party line, and American models like OpenAI have strong political biases. Is the global race for AI dominance leading us into a modern-day version of the 19th-century 'Great Game'? Is Generation Z at risk of being caught in a digital conflict driven by external powers as part of the great game towards 'AI colonisation'? * This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.
BBC News
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
James Finlayson: The actor who inspired Homer Simpson's 'D'oh!'
James Finlayson failed to make it as a lead man in Holywood but become one of the most memorable comic foils ever to grace the silver Scottish actor performed in more than 100 films but was best known for being the "third man" to Laurel and Hardy. With his distinctive fake moustache, he starred with the iconic duo in 33 of their films and later became the inspiration for Homer Simpson's "D'oh!" Finlayson has been memorialised with a new portrait in the Scottish theatre where he first tread the boards more than a century ago. Dobbie Hall in his hometown of Larbert, Stirling, commissioned the oil painting to celebrate the actor's career and rise to international fame in the early days of cinema. The portrait by young artist Connor Draycott was unveiled by Finlayson's family, some of whom had travelled from the US for the were joined by fans of the black and white movies and "talkies" from the UK chapters of Sons of the Desert, named after the fictional lodge that Laurel and Hardy belonged to in the 1933 film of the same name. Finlayson, known as Fin to his fans and as Jimmy to his good friend Stan Laurel, was born in Larbert in worked for a while as a tinsmith in his father's foundry before moving to Edinburgh to study and then pursue an acting career. At the age of 23 he was performing at the Theatre Royal, but his ambitions were not satisfied. After the death of his parents he moved to New York with his the year he had landed a role on Broadway in The Great Game, for which reviews offered "nothing but praise". In May 1912, the New York Dramatic Mirror said Finlayson had "an excellent opportunity, which he did not miss, for developing two characters in his one role - the simple, naive Scotsman and the artful, determined detective". It added: "The remarkable thing is that he managed to do them both at the same time."He took on another Scottish character in the Broadway production of Bunty Pulls the Strings, but pulled out of the national tour in 1916 when Holywood beckoned. By 1919 he was signed with the "King of Comedy" Mack Sennet, appearing as a Keystone Cop and lauded as a "legitimate and screen player of international celebrity".After a move to Hal Roach at Culver City in 1923, Finlayson was tested in different billings, sometimes in a lead role or as one of a comic trio with up-and-coming comics Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. He eventually found his niche as their established comic support or antagonist. By the time he died aged 66 in 1953, he had more than 100 film credits to his name and his eccentric mannerisms were internationally recognised. The double-take, the squint then a one-eyed stare and raised eyebrow - Finlayson's madcap facial expressions became his trademark, along with the drawn-out "dohhhh".It inspired Dan Castellaneta when he voiced Homer in The Simpsons, which first aired in 1989. It is also said Finlayson's fake walrus moustache allowed him a degree of anonymity even in his heyday in Holywood. The artist who created his new portrait said he toyed with the idea of picturing the actor without his famous facial hair. Draycott, who is studying fine art at Glasgow School of Art, was commissioned to produce the artwork by the Dobbie Hall wanted to commemorate the Larbert man's global success and inspire young performers who appear in shows at the 20, said it was an honour to be asked to create the portrait for the he revealed he spent hours watching Finlayson's films to "recreate his trademark facial expression". Draycott said: "James is such a well-known face among fans of black and white movies and I wanted to capture the distinctive look that made him a real superstar of his day." The award-winning artist said he was fascinated by Finlayson's look and added: "There was initially some debate as to whether I should include his moustache in the portrait, as it was actually a false moustache that he wore specially for filming, but we decided that his moustache was such an integral part of his unique look that it should feature in the painting.""I like the fact that despite his face being so well-known during the 19040s and 50's he could apparently remove the moustache and walk around Hollywood without being recognised by members of the public."But now, thanks to his portrait, new generations in his hometown will recognise the young man from Larbert who followed his dream all the way to Holywood.
