Morocco will host talks this year on what was described on Friday as the worrying prospect of artificial intelligence being used to develop chemical weapons.
Scientists and diplomats will meet in Rabat in October to address fears that AI could help create new toxic substances.
AI poses a “high risk” at a time of global tensions, Fernando Arias, the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, told experts meeting in Berlin, Germany, on Friday.
The use of chemical weapons is banned under several international treaties dating back to the aftermath of the First World War.
However, they have been used by Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Bashar Al Assad's Syria, and the US has accused Russia of deploying them in Ukraine.
Mr Arias said that due to “global instability, geopolitical adversialism, with open wars declared and in motion, the possibility of use of weapons of mass destruction is not only theoretical”.
He added that “we will not be able to neutralise completely the risks that artificial intelligence poses”.
“We are at the beginning of realising artificial intelligence's potential. Very few things are very clear, but it is clear that artificial intelligence represents a high risk,” he said.
“Science and technology adds complexity and improves weapons' efficiency. In the framework of those new technologies, artificial intelligence is perhaps the most worrying, challenging factor.
“[It] adds more precision to weapons and it adds more lethality to existing weapons, which means that it contributes to eroding the disarmament structure, which is not, as you know, at the best point in history.”
Qatar, China, Germany, Spain and South Korea will finance the Moroccan event on the “changing and evolving risks” in the field.
AI is already used by drugs manufacturers to discover new types of medicine, in one of its potentially positive applications in health care.
But one alarming account two years ago, an AI experiment suggested ideas for 40,000 potentially toxic substances in just six hours.
It is also feared that an AI-powered cyber attack could tamper with chemicals manufacturing, unleashing disastrous consequences.
Gunter Sautter, a German Foreign Ministry official in charge of arms control, said AI-created pathogens “could pose a serious challenge” to the ban on biological weapons.
There is also a “key question” around AI and cybersecurity for countries with nuclear weapons command and control systems, he said.
The world may need to “readjust the line between freedom of science research and scientific responsibility”, he said.
“We must examine what steps we can take within the multilateral arms control framework. We need to look at how arms export control regimes need to be adapted.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BABYLON
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Damien%20Chazelle%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStars%3A%20Brad%20Pitt%2C%20Margot%20Robbie%2C%20Jean%20Smart%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai
16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership
Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.
Zones
A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full
DUBAI WORLD CUP CARNIVAL CARD
6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m
8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m
8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m
The National selections
6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold
7.05pm Final Song
7.40pm Equilateral
8.15pm Dark Of Night
8.50pm Mythical Magic
9.25pm Franz Kafka
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The five stages of early child’s play
From Dubai-based clinical psychologist Daniella Salazar:
1. Solitary Play: This is where Infants and toddlers start to play on their own without seeming to notice the people around them. This is the beginning of play.
2. Onlooker play: This occurs where the toddler enjoys watching other people play. There doesn’t necessarily need to be any effort to begin play. They are learning how to imitate behaviours from others. This type of play may also appear in children who are more shy and introverted.
3. Parallel Play: This generally starts when children begin playing side-by-side without any interaction. Even though they aren’t physically interacting they are paying attention to each other. This is the beginning of the desire to be with other children.
4. Associative Play: At around age four or five, children become more interested in each other than in toys and begin to interact more. In this stage children start asking questions and talking about the different activities they are engaging in. They realise they have similar goals in play such as building a tower or playing with cars.
5. Social Play: In this stage children are starting to socialise more. They begin to share ideas and follow certain rules in a game. They slowly learn the definition of teamwork. They get to engage in basic social skills and interests begin to lead social interactions.
Profile box
Company name: baraka
Started: July 2020
Founders: Feras Jalbout and Kunal Taneja
Based: Dubai and Bahrain
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: $150,000
Current staff: 12
Stage: Pre-seed capital raising of $1 million
Investors: Class 5 Global, FJ Labs, IMO Ventures, The Community Fund, VentureSouq, Fox Ventures, Dr Abdulla Elyas (private investment)
What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
The%20Color%20Purple
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