Magazine

Anger over Hong Kong's controversial extradition bill isn't going away, even after it was suspended.

A controversial extradition law has been suspended in Hong Kong, but protesters say that's not enough.

The bill would allow suspects to be sent to mainland China for trial. The demonstrators have demanded it be scrapped completely.

And they now want the territory's leader Carrie Lam to step down too.

The chief executive serves like a prime minister and is chosen by a committee. But it's made up of mainly pro-Beijing politicians and business leaders.

The 'one country-two systems' governance deal with China, was meant to protect Hong Kong's semi-autonomy status.

But protesters say their freedoms are under threat, and they'll fight to keep them.

So, how will Hong Kong administration deal with this?

And how's it viewed in China?

A record seven million people in South Sudan are facing severe hunger, according to a report by its government and three UN agencies.

That's more than half of the population. A lack of rain, an ongoing economic crisis and years of civil war are being blamed for the worsening situation.

The report stopped short of declaring a famine, but says nearly two million people go without food for long periods and suffer acute malnutrition. That's leading to many deaths.

Over the past two years, the number of people needing food aid has increased by two million.

And if the lack of rain and poor harvests continue, 21,000 people could suffer famine.

So, what should be done to stop this disaster?

On The Listening Post this week: Taxpayer-funded smears and a well-published but fake activist - worrying twists in the US-Iran online battle. Plus, the YouTube influencers of the Algerian protests.

US-Iran debates: Fake writers and state-funded trolling

As the Trump administration continues with its hawkish talk on Iran, we need to look at how that story is being crafted and by whom: Heshmat Alavi was once cited by the White House as a credible commentator on Iran. Shame he doesn't exist.

It turns out he is a fictional persona reportedly created by the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), a shadowy group opposed to the Iranian government and supported by Washington.

Then there is the Iran Disinformation Project funded entirely by the American taxpayer, ostensibly to counter Iranian propaganda, it trolls and sometimes smears Iranian-American commentators and journalists online.

And the government in Tehran is no innocent player in all this. It also tries to engineer what gets said and read online.

On Our Radar
Richard Gizbert speaks to producer Johanna Hoes about the situation in Hong Kong - amid mass demonstrations over a controversial bill that would allow extradition to mainland China, journalists there have been among those criticising the law. Why?

Algeria: The revolution will be YouTubed
"They must all go" - that is the rallying cry from the streets of Algeria.

For four months now, millions of Algerians have been hitting the streets demanding political change. While they have succeeded in toppling the country's long-time President - Abdelaziz Bouteflika - they are not done and are demanding a comprehensive dismantling of the ruling elite.

And many Algerians are far too politically aware to trust the state-owned media, which initially underplayed the protest story and continues to spin it. Instead, they have their own outlets.

Long before the demonstrations began, a generation of YouTubers emerged as unofficial spokespeople for Algeria's youth.

We spoke with two of them - Anes Tina and Raja Meziane - about the grievances they articulate, the political and social change they advocate - in the slick videos they have produced, videos that are now part of the soundtrack of the Algerian revolution.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation holds yet another summit on the heels of a global trade war.

Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are in Kyrgyzstan for an annual summit.

Led by China and Russia, the eight-member Eurasian bloc accounts for almost half of the world's population.

The meeting comes as tensions are growing between the U.S. and China over their escalating trade war.

Meanwhile, observer state Iran is seeking support against Washington's 'maximum pressure' campaign.

But regular conflicts between its members - namely India and Pakistan - cast doubts on whether the bloc can challenge the existing world order led by the U.S.

So, what purpose does this group serve globally?

Artificial intelligence might be a technological revolution unlike any other, transforming our homes, our work, our lives; but for many - the poor, minority groups, the people deemed to be expendable - their picture remains the same.

"The way these technologies are being developed is not empowering people, it's empowering corporations," says Zeynep Tufekci, from the University of North Carolina.. "They are in the hands of the people who hold the data. And that data is being fed into algorithms that we don't really get to see or understand that are opaque even to the people who wrote the programme. And they're being used against us, rather than for us."

In episode two of The Big Picture: The World According to AI we examine practices such as predictive policing, predictive sentencing, as well as the power structures and in-built prejudices that could lead to even more harm than the good its champions would suggest.

In the United States, we travel to one of the country's poorest neighbourhoods, Skid Row in Los Angeles, to see first-hand how the Los Angeles Police Department is using algorithmic software to police a majority black community.

And in China, we examine the implications of a social credit scoring system that deploys machine learning technologies - new innovations in surveillance and social control that are claimed to be used against ethnic Uighur communities.

As AI is used to make more and more decisions for and about us, from targeting, to policing, to social welfare, it raises huge questions. What will AI be used for in the future? And who will stand to benefit?

Artificial intelligence is already here.

There's a lot of debate and hype about AI, and it's tended to focus on the extreme possibilities of a technology still in its infancy. From self-aware computers and killer robots taking over the world, to a fully-automated world where humans are made redundant by machines, the brave new world of Artificial Intelligence is prophesied by some to be a doomed, scary place, no place for people.

For others, AI is ushering in great technological advances for humanity, helping the world communicate, manufacture, trade and innovate faster, longer, better.

But in between these competing utopian and dystopian visions, AI is allowing new ways of maintaining an old order.

It is being used across public and private spheres to make decisions about the lives of millions of people around the world - and sometimes those decisions can mean life or death.

"Communities, particularly vulnerable communities, children, people of colour, women are often characterised by these systems, in quite misrepresentative ways," says Safiya Umoja Noble, author of the book, Algorithms of Oppression.

In episode one of The Big Picture: The World According to AI, we chart the evolution of artificial intelligence from its post-World War II origins and, dissect the mechanisms by which existing prejudices are built into the very systems that are supposed to be free of human bias.

We shed a harsh light on computerised targeting everywhere from foreign drone warfare to civilian policing. In the UK, we witness the trialling of revolutionary new facial recognition technology by the London Metropolitan Police Service.

We examine how these technologies, that are far from proven, are being sold as new policing solutions to maintain in some of the world's biggest cities.

The Big Picture: The World According to AI explores how artificial intelligence is being used today, and what it means to those on its receiving end.

China has its eyesight on the use of Artificial Intelligence in its army. This effort to advance this vast country of Asia in the case of national security interests is very important.

A white paper from the China Academy of Information and Communication at Artificial Intelligence states, "The war can be controlled in the future if it is away from the use of weapons by artificial intelligence, it will be able to control the war Can also limit the battlefield.

In 2017, the State Council of China released a report, in which the idea of ​​focusing on the production of integrated equipment of dual-use civil and military technology was given, and emphasized on modern 'artificial intelligence'.

The purpose of civil-military mail was to bring China's leading technology companies, including the private sector, under the purview of 'Artificial Intelligence' in the field of military industrial production.

In 2018, two multinational technology companies of China took responsibility for Baidu (2,368) and Tencent (1,168) and secured maximum US patents associated with research and development of 'Artificial Intelligence' within China. But China went further and invested in start ups to develop research frameworks and focused their strategy on linking them with government schemes under government schemes.

According to media reports, there is cooperation between the companies engaged in the Chinese army and artificial intelligence. It can also be understood from the fact that the Chief of the China Artificial Intelligence Association is Major General Lee Dei of the Chinese Army.

According to China's National Intelligence Law, on the issues of national security, companies should 'collaborate and assist in national intelligence'.

These efforts also start to get results. In March 2019, China overtook the United States in patenting about the new technology of Artificial Intelligence.

And to showcase his accomplishments, he has been organizing an annual Civil-Military Integration Expo for the past four years. The show features large-scale military products run by artificial intelligence, such as drones, command-control systems, training simulation equipment and unmanned war hardware.

A drone is an area where artificial intelligence can be greatly improved. Apart from other things, Artificial Intelligence will provide a drone the ability to recognize and kill unmanned aircraft on its strength in the battlefield.

Chinese companies such as Xian UAV and Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group make Chinese Fighter jets like J-10, J-11 and J-20, who are investing in drawing artificial intelligence-driven drones.

Xian UAV has developed the Blowfish A-2, which is such a drone.

The company's website says that the Blowfish A-2 completes a more complex combat mission, including mid-point or fixed-point detection, fixed-range spying and target strikes on its own.

Another Chinese company, IHang, has developed a drone called 184 AAV, which can fly 500 meters on a previously fixed route without any human assistance, it is also capable of carrying a passenger or luggage with it.

It can be used as a civil-military 'drone taxi'. This is an example of China's great effort raised in the direction of civil-military integration.

Military drone will act as a unmanned aerial aircraft (UAV) as a reconnaissance aircraft in the war zone and from there it will be able to return data to the command center.

The ability to work as a reconnaissance aircraft on a large area will turn the UAV into a machine that can monitor without human assistance.

Apart from this, those drones capable of machine learning systems will be able to make the right decisions in the war zone so that military detective will be even more precise.

Simultaneously, China's growing mastery on the 5G network technology will enable the drone to send data faster than it has never been seen before.

China has emerged as a major supplier of UAE throughout the world. Countries like UAE, Pakistan, Libya and Saudi Arabia are looking at China for this technology.

Xian UAV has sold the Bloofish A-2 UAE, its sale is being discussed with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Hong Kong-based Newspaper South China Morning Post wrote that China could also set up factory for drone production in Saudi Arabia.

And media reports have said that during recent conflicts in Libya and Yemen, the drone made in China was allegedly used.

China has not signed any international agreement that controls its exports of drones and small missiles. For example, it is not in 35 countries that are part of the missile technology control scheme.

An article in the Japanese Association of Defense Industry (JADI) magazine said that China's budget for UAV development increased from $ 1.2 billion in 2018 to $ 1.4 billion in 2019.

According to the report, on this basis, Chinese investment in UAE making up to $ 2.6 billion by 2025

According to the experts, in 2016, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) handed over the research and development of the UAV to a new group of the Communist Party- Central Military Commission Subsidiary and as the Central Military Commission is headed by the President, the UAE Development Program is now in progress. Jinping comes under direct supervision.

China has also emerged as a supplier of face tracking (facial recognition) technology, its demand is increasing in many countries.

This Chinese monitoring technology has a large number of databases.

It is believed that the Ministry of Public Security is preparing one of the largest database of facial signals. It has its own focus on Xinjiang Province.

Sense Time is a startup in China that has given surveillance technology to the police in Xinjiang. However, its use is also being opposed. The company recently sold its shares to Tangli technology.

War planning software: According to official news agency Xinhua, since 2007, China is developing a software based on Central Agorithm that will be helpful in taking decisions with speed and accuracy in the battlefield.

However, it is difficult to ascertain how far China has grown, but the US and NATO have advanced technology. To challenge them, it is necessary to have very detailed information in developing new technology.

It is said that China's efforts in this area are based on activities in the United States of Afghanistan.

A report from the South China Morning Post said that the Chinese government has acquired the Lucidlitespeed software from the company of Lucia, Belgium, which provides data along with clear imagery, GPS, satellite photography, and its use in reference to the geographical location. NATO's army does.

In 2015, Xinhua registered the Chief Engineer Liu Zhong at the National Defense Technology University, who was in charge of 'Chief Laboratory of Information Engineering System'.

Xinhua said, "Professor Zhong has been imposed on developing a new technology which accelerates the pace of planning the army on the basis of artificial intelligence."

In the war zone, Zhong is one of China's leading experts in terms of software to take decisions with the help of Artificial Intelligence.

Missile: China is developing AI-powered missiles, which can attack the target without any human assistance, by detecting the target.

A report by JADI states that China has linked AI to its Dongfeng 21D, a medium-range missile. Newspaper People's Daily in the Chinese government has said that DF-21D can immobilize 'one aircraft carrier' and it is also difficult to stop it on the way.

People's Daily has also said that the DF-21D's earlier versions DF-26 can target targets of large size on the ground and even water at 4,000 kilometers, although the report may Not to mention that the missile runs from Artificial Intelligence.

Military experts say that AI-powered drones will be developed to work with ballistic missile systems so that their firepower improves.

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