Facts, it seems, aren’t what they used to be.
The 20th century American comedian Groucho Marx famously said: “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others.” It is a sentiment that is said to predate him. But if we jump forward to the 2020s, we might be forgiven for reinterpreting the phrase to be about "facts". It seems that facts are no longer seen as sacrosanct, nor worth preserving as a principle.
Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of tech giant Meta that owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, among others, said his company is doing away with fact checkers for Facebook and moving to the model of "community notes" used by fellow tech owner Elon Musk at X, formerly Twitter.
I don’t need to rehash the discussions from recent years about how social media has been warped by fake news, misinformation and disinformation. Nor the debates about whether we are now in a post-truth era. Even less about how the echo chambers created by algorithms hungry for engagement drive tribalism – not just online but offline too, and society fracturing into seemingly unbridgeable tribes.
It feels unnecessary to pose the question in a newspaper column, but isn’t it foundational that we accept that some things are not conjecture?
The irony of writing an opinion piece about facts is not lost on me, but when there are no shared facts, or newsworthy reliable sources, what do we do? Do we end up living in a real-world equivalent of shouty people who tell us something is true just because they received a WhatsApp message? Are we to assume that any kind of information we receive is a fact?
Every wave of scientific discovery is founded on facts. So I only pick the Renaissance and Enlightenment to contrast with the recent western announcements that facts are no longer the "in" thing.
There are consequences to such developments. Some of these are of a much more long-term nature and that should concern us all.
It is namely this. If digital inputs that are being increasingly used to develop AI are free of facts, what will that do to the knowledge created, and to its proliferation into every part of our knowledge and societal ecosystems?
If we dilute all the knowledge in the world, a lot will be undone, and the price will be paid by coming generations
The real-world impact of AI’s biases are well documented: everything from wrongful jail convictions based on poor AI facial recognition, to rejections from job interviews because the AI recruiter deems you don’t match a pre-existing notion of someone who can do a particular job satisfactorily.
Artificial intelligence is driving a change in the way knowledge is processed, produced and used in the world around us. It is widely acknowledged that it contains biases – after all its inputs originate from an already biased world. And those biases are exacerbated by the biases of the people building the models, rules and applications.
But what happens if the real world is polluted with information that is not fact? Already we’re not able to deal with the biases that exist in the world. But we are entering a time where the guardrails on facts are being taken down at the very moment that the knowledge being fed into these systems is informing young people and defining their views and beliefs. This could very likely hold true for generations. It is one reason why the flippancy with which facts are treated should be seen as deeply dangerous.
There’s an argument for "offline" real world knowledge, such as that found in books. But that can't spread at the same speed as AI, nor have the reach and implications across the systems that run the world.
I may recall checking encyclopaedias to complete my homework, but for younger people, born surrounded by constant internet and content, access to high quality "knowledge" has been replaced by the need to gather as much information as possible, from what can often be dubious websites.
When internet access and in particular social media emerged, the great hope was that it would be a means to democratise access to knowledge, enable being heard, and add to knowledge from new sources. This democratisation was subverted by algorithms and the opinions which caught their attention and turned those opinions into what are often taken to be facts.
If at this moment we dilute all the knowledge in the world, that has taken centuries to accumulate, a lot will be undone, and the price will be paid by coming generations. Facts matter. Otherwise what will the knowledge legacy be that we leave for our children and grandchildren?
The specs: 2019 Lincoln MKC
Price, base / as tested: Dh169,995 / Dh192,045
Engine: Turbocharged, 2.0-litre, in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 253hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 389Nm @ 2,500rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 10.7L / 100km
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
AWARDS
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'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
'Panga'
Directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring Kangana Ranaut, Richa Chadha, Jassie Gill, Yagya Bhasin, Neena Gupta
Rating: 3.5/5
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
