In this week’s newsletter, we talk about Saudi Arabia’s futuristic cities, challenges associated with reckless AI usage, LinkedIn games and more.
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Before we begin…
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And back to our stories for the day…
Saudi Arabia is hell bent on building futuristic cities… Will it succeed?
Imagine living in a 3D (3-dimensional) linear city with 9,000,000 people. It has no roads, cars or fossil fuel-powered electricity. And yet, everything you need is just a 5-minute walk away â groceries, healthcare, offices, schools, shopping malls, you name it.
Thanks to its design, you wonât see scattered houses and buildings on an oddly shaped piece of land. Rather, all of this is consolidated into a straight line that stretches across 170 km. Corridors let you walk up, down, diagonally or horizontally inside the city, making it easy to get around. Despite having floors stacked on top of each other, you have the open sky above you. You can move from one end to another in just 20 minutes via a high-speed subway. So technically, everyone living with you is your neighbour. They could be robots too by the way. And the city is wrapped up in a 500-metre-tall mirror glass.
Now before you brush this off as an imaginary city or a scene straight out of a sci-fi movie, letâs state unequivocally that it’s not. Itâs a real city called the Line and Saudi Arabia is building this as part of a revolutionary hub called Neom.
Neom is a combination of two words â âNeoâ, the Greek word for new and âMustaqbalâ which means future in Arabic. Itâll be a hub for technology and futuristic living. A region that houses advanced cities, spread across 26,500 km in the North-West of Saudi Arabia. Where people live sustainably with zero carbon emissions and desalinated water from the sea. It will have the worldâs largest floating city, an all-year-round mountain destination for tourists, glow-in-the-dark beaches, the most advanced manufacturing industries, flying taxis, Jurassic Park-like islands with robotic dinosaurs and even a fake moon!
By the time everythingâs ready it will be massive â nearly 33 times the size of New York! And it will connect to nearly 40% of the world in 6 hours or less.
Yeah, we know it all sounds too good to be true. But Saudi Arabiaâs Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud is hell-bent on making this a reality. Why, you ask?
Well, itâs simple. Saudiâs economy still runs on oil. In fact, 40% of all economic output can be attributed to it. Itâs one of the largest oil producers in the world and the largest oil exporter.
But the problem with relying on oil is that it doesnât help the economy grow consistently. A war between oil-producing nations can drive up oil prices, which is good. But in the same vein, oil prices could go down as well if the oil-producing nations canât agree on limiting output. These geopolitical scenarios can lead to oil price fluctuations. And this can have a massive impact on the countryâs national income. The fluctuations in income also affect other parts of the economy and can put the brakes on overall economic growth. Thatâs exactly why Saudiâs economic growth shrank by 0.9% in 2023.
The easy way out of it?
Diversify!
This means that Saudi needs to increase its non-oil economic activities like tourism, sports, and entertainment, which were practically⌠well⌠zero a few years ago.
But the Kingdom is working on fixing this. And it now wants to shift gears. It wants to build scenic tourist spots and entertainment centres, generate employment and create trade hubs so that its residents donât have to fly to places like Dubai. And itâs willing to pour in $500 billion into Neom to achieve exactly that.
But can Saudi do it?
Well, the world doesnât think so.
And thatâs because this isnât Saudiâs first attempt at diversifying its economy. In the early 2000s, the Kingdom began building economic cities like Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) and Jeddahâs King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). But these plans didnât really turn out as expected. Construction was slow and in some places, it even came to a screeching halt. Saudi eventually had to alter its plans and figure out ways to salvage what was left.
And while some may contend that Saudi has learnt from past mistakes, there are other roadblocks in its current plans.
For instance, funds.
See, the money to build Neom is supposed to come from Saudiâs sovereign wealth fund called the Public Investment Fund (PIF). This fund has actually invested billions of dollars across the world already. It has equity stakes in Uber, the Heathrow Airport, Nintendo, Hollywood studios, French hotels and even funds run by private equity giants!
But its investment performance in global markets hasnât been all that great of late. In fact, Saudiâs cash reserves have actually dropped to $15 billion as of September 2023. Itâs the lowest since 2020. And that isnât good for Neom since the government needs to pour in at least $270 billion into the PIF by 2030 if it wants to keep its plans intact.
And the government seems to be coming to terms with this new reality. They have already scaled back a lot of their original plans. What was thought to be a huge Line City by 2030, is now expected to span a measly 2.4 km by then. Instead of 9 million people, theyâre expecting 300,000 people â a tiny fraction of the original estimation.
And thatâs not all.
There are environmentalists who are concerned about the Lineâs glass walls. It could confuse migratory birds who move from one place to another when seasons change. And if you think theyâre the only ones who want to stop Saudi from building it, you might have to think again.
Because human rights groups across the world are concerned as well. A BBC story which broke a few days ago alleged that Saudi had wiped homes, schools, hospitals and even entire villages off the map to make way for The Line. There are also reports that Saudi may have permitted the killing of tribals who have been protesting forced eviction from the region.
And remember that huge floating city we spoke of earlier? Yeah, itâs called Oxagon. And itâs an octagonal port city being built nearâŚ. Wait for it⌠the Suez Canal! Itâs a shipping route that connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
And you know whatâs happening at the Red Sea, right? A Yemen-based rebel group called the Houthis have wreaked havoc there, attacking shipping vessels and disrupting trade. So unless that dies down, Saudi canât have its floating city.
Put together, thereâs a funding problem, logistical challenges, and pressure on countries working with Saudi Arabia to get them to respect human rights.
Will Saudi be able to deal with these many problems and still build Neom the way it originally imagined?
You tell us.
The Guardians of the AI Revolution
Picture this.
A father drops off his son in an exam centre. He wishes him luck, bids goodbye and goes about his day. Soon, he gets a call from a certain Vinod Kumar who identifies as a police officer. He tells himââââYour son has been apprehended alongside a gang of rapistsâ, and he demands Rs 30,000 on Paytm to clear his sonâs name. He then hands over the phone to his son. Trembling, his son pleads, âPapa, please pay him. They are real policemen. Please save me.â The father instantly recognises his sonâs voiceâââhis mannerisms and his desperation. He hangs up and contacts the local police station only to find out that there is no Vinod Kumar. The real police soon send him a picture of his son from inside the exam centre. He is safe.
So, who was on the call earlier?
Well, it was an AI-generated clone mimicking the sonâs voice.
This story appeared in the Indian Express earlier this year and it is not an isolated incident. In some cases, AI scammers have mimicked the voices of company executives, manipulating employees to divulge sensitive insider information or process financial transactions. And this massive unchecked usage of AI is fueling a major uptick in online scams.
Now, youâd probably look at this and sayââââHey, I am not falling for this!â
And while that may be true even a simple slip-up could entail catastrophic consequences. According to a recent report by McAfee, around 80% of Indian AI fraud victims said that they lost money, and half of them lost more than Rs 50,000.
So, by now, it should be clear that there is an urgent need to regulate AI, and thankfully, some countries are stepping up to the plate. Take, for instance, the European Union. Theyâve taken a giant leap forward in addressing some of these concerns with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. The European Parliament approved the bill on March 13, 2024, and though it’s pending review in the EU Council, itâll be applicable across EU nations starting in 2026 if everything goes well.
But what does this Act entail?
Well, AI systems should be trusted to not infringe on fundamental rights, safety, and ethical principles. And the law attempts to mitigate risks associated with powerful AI models.
Theyâve categorised these risks into three levels.
First, you have the unacceptable risk category. These are AI systems that pose a threat to safety, fundamental rights, or public order. For instance, an AI-powered autonomous weapon that can independently target and engage in combat. This can endanger human lives, violate international law, and potentially even trigger wars. The AI Act aims to prevent the deployment of such systems.
Next, thereâs the high-risk category. These are AI systems used in critical areas where a failure could lead to significant consequences. Consider an AI system that assists radiologists in detecting early signs of cancer from medical images. Patientsâ lives could be at risk if this system provides inaccurate results. Sure, doctors make mistakes as well. But theyâre regulated too and in the same vein, the AI Act wants to make sure that such systems undergo rigorous testing, and certification, and involve human oversight.
Then, thereâs the limited risk category. For instance, Chatbots or virtual assistants that help customers navigate e-commerce websites. While this isnât exactly life-or-death business, you still want to make sure that AI systems are transparent and fair in their user interactions.
Also, the European Union isnât the only one thatâs worried right now.
In the US, President Joe Bidenâs Executive Order (E.O.) on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, aims to guide responsible AI development and deployment. And Americaâs NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) is developing standards for âred-teamingâ AI systems, stress-testing their defences and identifying potential problems.
Let us explain.
For instance, consider facial recognition software that uses AI. The red teamâs objective could be to determine if the AI can be fooled into misidentifying a person or object. The team might use masks, artificial lighting or even digital photos/videos to trick the AI into granting access.
In the US, the NIST will function as a principal authority establishing guidelines for âred-teamingâ exercises. In other words, big companies prove their AI is safe, and NIST sets rules for testing the AI. If the AI fails here, then NIST will report on the vulnerabilities and test it again. So theyâre the guardians here.
The UK, on the other hand, is keen on a pro-innovation approach to AI regulation. Itâs eager to keep an eye on the wrongful usage of AI. But it doesnât want to take an overbearing approach that curbs innovation.
In India, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently issued a revised AI advisory. The advisory highlights intermediariesâ responsibility to prevent AI models from propagating unlawful content or perpetuating bias and discrimination, among other things. But itâs sparse on any concrete details.
Finally, country-specific laws may not be effective in cases where an AI crime is committed in another country and has to be tried in a different country altogether. This is why OpenAIâs CEO Sam Altman calls for an international agency monitoring the âmost powerfulâ AI to ensure âreasonable safetyâ. He is wary of a time in the not-so-distant future wherein frontier AI systems have the capability of causing enormous global harm.
So yeah, while the European Union and the US may have some ideas on regulating AI, maybe what we truly need is an agency that can work on global regulations.
Finshots Recommends 
This week’s movie recommendation is the 2011 film Moneyball.
It is a sports drama that follows the true story of the Oakland Athletics’ unconventional and data-driven approach to building a winning team, challenging the traditional norms of baseball and inspiring a revolution in the game.
Watch it on: Netflix
Why does LinkedIn want you to play games?
LinkedIn just launched a bunch of games on its app and website! But why would people want to play games on a professional networking website you ask?
Well, first things first, these games are small brain teasers that can help you get your mind off work and take small breaks. So in principle, they could help boost productivity. Also playing games and building daily streaks could help you kickstart new conversations with your colleagues or new people in your network. This in turn builds engagementâ something that LinkedIn has been wanting to do.
The company breached the $15 billion mark in annual revenues for the first time in 2023. And while that number looks great on paper, itâs only 9% higher than what it made the year before. So if it needs to up its game, it has to draw new users. It needs more takers for paid services like talent-hiring software, premium subscriptions and advertisements. So building engagement is always a good place to start.
But it may not stop there. It can also switch to a freemium model. This means that the company could get its free users hooked to games and then bundle them with premium subscriptions in the future. Youâre probably baulking at this suggestion. But hear us out.
This could be like The New York Timesâ (NYT) Wordle Effect.
In 2022 NYT acquired the word puzzle game called Wordle. Itâs a simple game that gives you 6 chances to guess a 5-letter word of the day. And its popularity soon rose, with over 2 million people playing it after NYTâs acquisition.
So yeah, LinkedIn might be taking a leaf out of NYTâs book. But will it pan out? Weâll have to wait and see.
And that’s all for today folks! If you learned something new, make sure to subscribe to Finshots for more such insights đ
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