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Portugal

Portuguese Daily Hails 'Win' Of UN Chief Antonio Guterres

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Publico — Oct. 6, 2016

"We all win" reads the front-page headline of Lisbon-based daily Publico on Thursday, after Portugal's former Prime Minister António Guterres was chosen to become the next UN secretary general.

After what was largely considered an unremarkable tenure by outgoing UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, commentators are hoping for better results from Guterres, 67, who has served at the helm of the UN's refugee agency.

In Público, Jorge Almeida Fernandes sums up the challenge: "There are always more crises to control and always fewer means to do so," Fernandes writes. "Guterres knows he won't be the leader of the world. He only knows that the UN is in the eye of the storm."

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Future

AI As God? How Artificial Intelligence Could Spark Religious Devotion

We may be about to see the emergence of a new kind of religion, where flocks worship — literally — at the altar of Artificial Intelligence.

Image of artificial intelligence as an artificial being

Artificial intelligence generated picture of AI as a god

Neil McArthur

The latest generation of AI-powered chatbots, trained on large language models, have left their early users awestruck —and sometimes terrified — by their power. These are the same sublime emotions that lie at the heart of our experience of the divine.

People already seek religious meaning from very diverse sources. There are, for instance, multiple religions that worship extra-terrestrials or their teachings.

As these chatbots come to be used by billions of people, it is inevitable that some of these users will see the AIs as higher beings. We must prepare for the implications.

There are several pathways by which AI religions will emerge. First, some people will come to see AI as a higher power.

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