Data points

Published August 7, 2023
A Rizla+ employee tests the quality of the cigarette papers at the Rizla+ factory of cigarette papers in Anvers, Belgium. As Europe steadily stubs out smoking in the name of public health, a storied French brand of cigarette rolling papers owned by a British group has turned its gaze to Asia. Rizla+ — pronounced “Riz-Lacroix” — is relying on Belgium’s busy port of Antwerp to trampoline its Arabic-gummed papers to those markets on the other side of the planet.—AFP
A Rizla+ employee tests the quality of the cigarette papers at the Rizla+ factory of cigarette papers in Anvers, Belgium. As Europe steadily stubs out smoking in the name of public health, a storied French brand of cigarette rolling papers owned by a British group has turned its gaze to Asia. Rizla+ — pronounced “Riz-Lacroix” — is relying on Belgium’s busy port of Antwerp to trampoline its Arabic-gummed papers to those markets on the other side of the planet.—AFP

Be a good team member

Whether you’re just entering the workforce, starting a new job, or transitioning into people management, kindness can be a valuable attribute that speaks volumes about your character, commitment, and long-term value. Here are a few simple routines that can help you create a culture of kindness at your organisation. 1) Practice radical self-care. The best way to be a valuable, thoughtful team member is to be disciplined about your own wellness — your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. 2) Do your job. Start with the basics by showing up on time and doing your job to the best of your ability. This is where your self-care practice comes into play — you can’t do your best work without taking care of yourself first. 3) Reach out to others with intention. Make plans to meet virtually or, even better, in person with your colleagues. Ask about their pets, their recent move, or their family. Most importantly, practice active listening.

(Adapted from “Why Kindness At Work Pays Off,” by Andrew Swinand, published by HBR Ascend)

Smart guns

Guns that use technology to ensure that they can only be fired by their owners, called smart guns, have been developed and debated since the 1990s. Now, a smart gun from Colorado startup Biofire will be the first of its kind to be widely available if it ships in December as planned.⁠ Biofire’s 9mm Smart Gun can only be fired if it recognises an authorised user with a fingerprint reader on the grip or a facial recognition camera on the back.⁠ Proponents tout smart guns as a way to reduce accidental shootings and firearm thefts. Gun rights supporters have been wary, in part over concern that governments could outlaw sales of weapons that don’t have smart-gun technology. Earlier efforts to bring smart guns to market have failed, largely because of pressure from gun-rights activists or because they didn’t work as promised.⁠ Biofire, whose smart gun costs $1,499, was founded in 2014 and has raised $30 million in funding.

(Adapted from “The First Smart Gun Is Finally Coming to Market. Will Anyone Buy It?” by Zusha Elinson, published on July 27, 2023, by The Wall Street Journal)

Cleaning up Chat GPT

In recent years, low-paid workers in East Africa engaged in an often-traumatising effort to prevent chatbot technology from spitting out offensive or grotesque statements.⁠ ChatGPT is built atop a so-called large language model — powerful software trained on swaths of text scraped from across the internet to learn the patterns of human language. The vast data supercharges its capabilities, allowing it to act like an auto-completion engine on steroids. The training also creates a hazard. Given the right prompts, a large language model can generate reams of toxic content inspired by the darkest parts of the internet.⁠ ChatGPT’s parent, AI research company OpenAI, hired workers in Kenya to review and categorise thousands of these graphic text passages. Several of the Kenya workers said they have grappled with mental illness and that their relationships and families have suffered. Some struggle to continue to work because of the depravity of what they read.

(Adapted from “Cleaning Up ChatGPT Takes Heavy Toll On Human Workers,” by Karen Hao and Deepa Seetharaman, published on July 24, by The Wall Street Journal)

War and chips

Taiwan controls most of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity, which has governments around the world feeling vulnerable. Conflict in Taiwan, if it comes, would have a devastating impact on the global economy. More than 90pc of the world’s most advanced semiconductors and 60pc of chips overall are currently manufactured on the island of Taiwan. A war that knocked those factories offline could cost the global economy $2.5tr annually. In that light, huge public investments in chipmaking — $52bn in the US, $22bn in Germany and billions more across the European Union, $14bn in Japan, and $10bn in India — seem a small price to pay as insurance.

(Adapted from “How To Avoid A Subsidy War Over Chips,” published on July 31, 2023, by Bloomberg)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, August 7th, 2023

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