It's the last Sunday before Christmas folks! Let’s take a break from the last-minute panic shopping and review what silly or curious things I found on the internet this week.
The French African Football Champions
With all the talk about Morroco being the first African nation to reach the semifinals of a World cup tournament, some people have pointed out the elephant in the room: most of the players in the French team are of African descent. Doesn’t that count as an African achievement, sort of?
‘Diversity’ in the French national team is not new. Zidane and Benzema are second-generation Algerian immigrants, Thierry Henry's parents are both from the French Antilles, Mbappé’s father is Cameroonian and his mum is Algerian. This article explains how immigration made French football better.
In 2018, Trevor Noah made a joke following France’s crowning as World champions in Russia. He congratulated Africa for this achievement, but some French people did not take that joke nicely, including the French ambassador in the US. Here is Trevor’s response to the ambassador.
Harnessing the Power of the Stars
Sorry, what does this mean?
If all of this sounds like Chinese to you, don’t worry. Hank Green made a great attempt at explaining this so a 10-year-old can understand the importance of this breakthrough:
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ChatGPT Will Crush The Economy
I have been spending the last month or so trying to be optimistic about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a massive global scale. I failed miserably - we are doomed.
Just in case you need context:
I spent a whole night this week testing ChatGPT hoping that a first-hand experience could change my negative views on it, but it didn’t.
Some people, infinitely more knowledgeable than me on this, have written great pieces about ChatGPT and General Artificial Intelligence. Some of their thoughts are calming, but they don’t really address my concerns.
PWC estimated that 44% of workers with low education will be at risk of losing their jobs to automation by 2035. That was before things like ChatGPT were accounted for.
Automation and AI will make some industries incredibly productive while making a great number of people incredibly poor. I fear that this technological progress will throw billions of people into professional obsolescence, and consequently, poverty.
Recommendations
No content recommendations this week. I was too busy watching the final stages of the Qatar World cup so I didn’t get time to watch much else. Sorry, folks.
However, as usual, might I suggest you:
Drink lots of water, especially during the holidays when you are going to be drinking cheap booze and eating pigs in blankets.
Call or message family and friends, especially those you haven’t heard from in a while.
Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.
Do you know what would be cool? If you could write your own recommendations in the comments. Give me something good to watch or listen to these holidays!
Watch out for the next email on Wednesday.
Peace out, kiddos.
Cesar.
Very interesting 👌