Issue 144: How Do We Fix the Cloud?
Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re talking about cloud computing. – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy
THE BIG TAKE
How Do We Fix the Cloud?
Where do you store your most treasured memories? Where do you jot down your valuable ideas? The chances are that many of these memories and thoughts are somewhere on the cloud in the form of photos and notes. Since most of us depend on the cloud to back up our lives, we must think carefully about who controls the cloud. Who is the middle man standing between your data and you? That middleman is often either Google, Meta, or Apple (or all three).
The local first movement. There is a growing movement among hackers and privacy experts for a move away from the cloud. The motive stems from a popular Silicon Valley slogan: “There is no cloud; there is just someone else’s computer.” Google and other internet giants have created the infrastructure of the web in a manner that diverts data to their servers. Consumers can benefit from cheap data storage, and these companies can analyze it for their algorithms.
A new approach to collaboration. The authors of a popular white paper about the local first movement note that the cloud allows for collaboration between people worldwide. This is fantastic, but what if it could be done without a cloud? We don’t have enough room to discuss how they propose to solve this problem, but Wired has published a fascinating article about the movement that unpacks the details. Needless to say, the move away from the cloud reveals how the internet as we know it will need to change and adapt to solve new problems. Nothing is fixed in stone when it comes to technology. We all too often lose sight of that reality.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“You’re not a perfectionist. You’re insecure about how your best effort will be received.”
– Unknown
CHART OF THE WEEK
This week we are looking at commodities. While rare earth minerals are increasingly vital to technology, they still don’t hold a candle to fossil fuels.
OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK
The digital Dirham: Cryptocurrencies are still depressed. But that shouldn’t sour talk of government-backed digital coins. In this piece from our archive, we focused on government-backed digital currencies. Creating a state-backed digital currency is no easy task, but the potential return is hard to comprehend fully. With the right tools, human capital, and infrastructure, the UAE is poised to create a truly global digital currency that would entrench the country’s position as a hub of the emerging world. The time is right; it’s time to take the plunge.
Cybersecurity in the spotlight: Cybersecurity is the backbone of tomorrow’s knowledge economy. With more information moved to the internet every day, the importance of sound cybersecurity defense on a national level is apparent, but it doesn’t stop there. In this piece published by Xische, we explore how cybersecurity is evolving to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
SPOTTED ELSEWHERE
Things are getting creepy. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, has a new product making the rounds. It’s a chrome orb that can identify people with an IRIS scan and looks like something from a science fiction film. According to Wired, the orb and a new cryptocurrency called Worldcoin aim to create a global identification system that will help reliably differentiate between humans and artificial intelligence in preparation for when intelligence is no longer a reliable indicator of personhood. Privacy analysts and the European Union have shown deep concern.
Is ChatGPT getting dumber? Something strange is happening with ChatGPT, the world’s favorite AI chatbot. It’s getting bad at math. New research reported by the Wall Street Journal shows that ChatGPT has become worse at performing certain basic math operations. Researchers from Standford University and the University of California, Berkeley, said that the decline is due to something called drift. Essentially attempts to improve one part of ChatGPT’s complex AI model has made another part of the model perform worse. We still have a long way to go before these bots take over the world.
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