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AI-powered automation will have an ethnic bias

July 30, 2019 Articles, WEF
Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation and Policy Initiative The Fourth Industrial Revolution, with artificial intelligence (AI) as one of its principal drivers, promises big changes. AI automation is expected to lead to, among other things, large disruptions in the labour market. A 2013 Oxford study estimated that almost half of employment in the US is at risk of computerization. Similarly, a 2017 McKinsey report suggests that by 2030 one-third of work activities could be displaced by automation. Some countries, industries and professions are more susceptible to these risks, which means these changes will lead to redistributive effects. That is, AI is expected to lead to increased economic inequality both across and within countries. But this is not the first time that a technological revolution has threatened jobs and to upend society. The First Industrial Revolution generated similar concerns and was the catalyst of the "Great Divergence" in cross-country incomes; nations that industrialized became rich, while those that did not were left behind. The gap has grown with each successive jump in technological progress. Although AI automation will bring about significant productivity gains for society as a whole, it will nevertheless spawn winners and losers. Economists usually speak of such…

Is the English language too powerful?

November 2, 2018 Articles, WEF
Even in countries with a powerful home language, the weight of English can be strong. Is this good for the world? Not only is English the most powerful language, it is more than twice as powerful as its closest rival, Mandarin Image: REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin 02 Nov 2018 Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation and Policy Initiative In 2016 I published the “Power Language Index”, a research note on the efficacy of languages. It was a systematic data-driven analysis using 20 indicators to compare the clout of the world’s languages. It tried to answer the question: which language best serves a person to engage in life from a global perspective? The index was designed as a cardinal measure, meaning that the output -- a number that ranges from zero (least powerful) to one (most powerful) -- not only ranks the languages, but also indicates the magnitude with which they are more or less influential vis-à-vis another. Not surprisingly, the index showed that English, with a score of 0.889, is most powerful. It is the world’s lingua franca. In second place is Mandarin at 0.411. So not only is English the most powerful language, it is more than twice as powerful as its…

Quels pays proposent le meilleur enseignement supérieur ?

October 11, 2017 Articles, WEF
[caption id="attachment_3437" align="aligncenter" width="1008"] Image: REUTERS/Cris Toala Olivares[/caption] 11 Oct 2017 Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation & Policy Initiative Les universités sont vitales si l’on veut mettre en valeur le capital humain. Ce sont des rouages essentiels dans l’économie mondiale du savoir. Si, autrefois, les études supérieures étaient réservées à une minorité, elles constituent aujourd’hui un pré requis pour entrer dans les classes moyennes, et plus encore pour appartenir à l’élite. La compétition entre les universités a donné lieu à la création de classements visant à déterminer les plus compétitives sur le plan international. Ces listes se fondent en général sur des indicateurs comme le nombre de publications de recherches, le prestige et la réussite des anciens étudiants. Bien que les diverses mesures produisent des classements différents, les meilleurs établissements universitaires sur le plan international sont souvent les mêmes d’un classement à l’autre. Le nombre d’établissements classés au niveau mondial d’un pays est donc invariablement utilisé pour évaluer la qualité de son enseignement supérieur. Cependant, cela ne prend pas en compte l’inégalité croissante au sein de l’enseignement supérieur. L’enjeu actuel : l'inégalité L’inégalité est l’un des plus grands enjeux de notre société. Mais le débat se focalise sur l’inégalité…

¿Qué países ofrecen a sus ciudadanos la mejor educación superior?

May 25, 2017 Articles, WEF
25 May 2017 Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation and Policy Initiative Los responsables políticos tendrán que asegurar que la educación terciaria de alta calidad sea accesible para todos, no solo para la élite. La educación superior inclusiva podría cerrar las divisiones sociales que separan a la sociedad Las universidades son vitales para el desarrollo del capital humano. Son piezas fundamentales de la economía mundial del conocimiento. Si bien alguna vez solo estuvo disponible para unos pocos, la educación superior ahora es casi un requisito para el ingreso a la clase media, y más aún a las filas de la élite. La competencia entre universidades ha dado origen a clasificaciones que intentan determinar cuáles son las más competitivas a nivel mundial. En general, estas listas se basan en métricas como la producción de investigación, el prestigio y los logros de los exalumnos. Aunque las distintas medidas producen clasificaciones diferentes, las principales universidades del mundo son muy similares en todas las evaluaciones. La cantidad de universidades reconocidas a nivel mundial de un país se utiliza siempre para medir la calidad de su educación superior. Sin embargo, esta perspectiva pasa por alto la creciente desigualdad de la educación superior. El desafío de…

Which countries provide their citizens with the best higher education?

May 4, 2017 Articles, WEF
04 May 2017 Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation & Policy Initiative Universities are vital for developing human capital. They are essential cogs in the global knowledge economy. Where once only available to few, higher education is now almost a requirement for entry to the middle class, and even more so to the ranks of the elite. Competition among universities has given rise to rankings that try to ascertain which are the globally most competitive. These lists are typically based on metrics such as research output, prestige and accomplishments of alumni. Although the various measures produce different orderings, the global top schools are highly similar across the assessments. The number of globally-ranked schools in a country is then invariably used to measure the quality of higher education there. However, this perspective overlooks the growing inequality of higher education. The challenge of our time: inequality Inequality is one of society’s biggest challenges. But much of that debate has centred on inequality of income and wealth; much less attention has been paid to inequality of opportunity for high-quality tertiary education. Yet, inequality of education is a driver of income inequality and a force behind assortative mating – privileged people tend to go…

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