Inequality
In OneZero. More on Medium.
A group of ex-tech workers, gig employees, and locals priced out of the housing market are fighting for affordable housing in Silicon Valley
At the corner of East Homestead and North Wolfe Road in Cupertino, California, stands a large oak tree planted by one of the most successful companies in history — Apple. The tree is a landmark at the entrance to Apple Park, the company’s $5 billion spaceship-of-a-campus, which surrounds a circular headquarters set in an entire city block, not unlike the home button in the rectangle of an early-model iPhone. At least three or four stories tall, the oak is one of the larger specimens among the 9,000 trees planted in this 175-acre Garden of Eden. …
‘Vaccine hunters are the result of short supply, disorganization, inadequate sign-up systems, dire circumstances, and crowded hospitals’
In a Facebook group called Minneapolis Vaccine Hunters, a member recently shared a flyer announcing that a local shelter for people experiencing homelessness would be hosting Covid-19 vaccinations on February 11 — no appointment necessary. “Please be mindful that this clinic is intended for unsheltered people in Hennepin County,” noted the flyer, which was conspicuously addressed to individuals “living on the street.”
Later, in a separate post, another Facebook member said they’d managed to get vaccinated at the shelter. They were not homeless, as the flyer intended, but arrived late in the day and received a leftover dose from vaccination…
Climate change will force more people to leave their homes than at any other point in human history. Conflict is inevitable.
The 30 years from 2020 to 2050 will be among the most transformative decades in all of human history. Collapsing ice sheets, the aerosol crisis, and rising sea levels will force more people to leave their homes than at any other point in human history. In some places, that means conflict is inevitable.
A study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley found that higher temperatures and shifting patterns of extreme weather can cause a rise in all types of violence, from domestic abuse to civil wars. …
The paper from AI Now also calls for a moratorium on facial recognition
The artificial intelligence industry is promoting worker mistreatment, discrimination, and pseudoscience, a new report claims. Meanwhile, tech companies continue to push facial recognition and ignore the potential carbon footprint of running energy-hungry A.I. systems.
The paper, known as the “AI Now 2019 Report,” is published by The AI Now Institute, an organization that researches the societal impacts of artificial intelligence. In its fourth year, the report makes 12 recommendations to the tech industry and policymakers.
“Across diverse domains and contexts, A.I. is widening inequality, placing information and control in the hands of those who already have power, and further disempowering…
