Data Science Insider: September 2nd, 2022

In This Week’s SuperDataScience Newsletter: Nvidia Works with UN to Boost Data Science in Africa. ML is Reshaping Democracy and Authoritarianism. US Officials Order Halt on Sale of AI Chips to China. Choosing a DL Framework. French Tax Officials use AI to Spot Undeclared Pools. Cheers, - The SuperDataScience Team P.S. Have friends and colleagues who could benefit from these weekly updates? Send them to [this link]( to subscribe to the Data Science Insider. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Nvidia Works with UN to Boost Data Science in Africa]( brief: The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Nvidia have joined forces to boost data science in 10 African countries. The collaboration takes the form of a public-private partnership and aims to provide nations with data science workstations and education in AI. The partnership is designed to support census, public health, climate projects, and data analytics. The initiative is known as the United AI Alliance and is led by UNECA, the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (the Global Partnership). This partnership aims to facilitate data collaborations for the public good. They have teamed up with Future Tech, an IT solution provider and member of the NVIDIA Partner Network, which is the Alliance’s inaugural funding and global distribution partner. The initiative will galvanize the countries’ national statistical offices by providing AI hardware, and training for data scientists alongside ecosystem support. Why this is important: The project aims to ensure that policymaking comes from an informed position and that resources can be allocated in the most efficient way possible. [Click here to learn more!]( [ML is Reshaping Democracy and Authoritarianism]( brief: This essay by Foreign Affairs is a fascinating examination of the role that AI and ML are playing in shaping governmental structures. It argues that whilst most discourse has focused on the AI war between the US and China, the media has failed to recognise how both countries have political systems that will be transformed by the emergence of new technologies. It claims that democracies like the US will suffer as ML increases political polarization and the dissemination of fake news, whilst autocracies will find that a false appearance of consensus and concealing of underlying societal fractures will occur. The article claims that democratic countries will: “Have to contend with authoritarian countries that find themselves in the throes of an AI-fueled spiral of delusion” whereas “AI can seriously undermine autocratic regimes by reinforcing their own ideologies and fantasies at the expense of a finer understanding of the real world.” Why this is important: This article offers an in-depth and fascinating perspective on the race for technological supremacy. Ultimately it argues for a shared arrangement for international governance and increased collaboration between the US and China. [Click here to read on!]( [US Officials Order Halt on Sale of AI Chips to China]( In brief: Chip designer Nvidia has announced that US officials have issued instructions to stop exporting two top computing chips for AI work to China. The ban could potentially devastate Chinese companies’ ability to carry out advanced work. Nvidia has said that the embargo, which affects its A100 and H100 chips, could place the completion of developing the H100 - the flagship chip Nvidia announced this year- in jeopardy. Nvidia has claimed that US officials told them that the new rule "will address the risk that products may be used in, or diverted to, a 'military end use' […] in China." A spokesperson for the US Department of Commerce said: "While we are not in a position to outline specific policy changes at this time, we are taking a comprehensive approach to implement additional actions necessary related to technologies, end-uses, and end-users to protect US national security and foreign policy interests." Why this is important: The announcement is somewhat worrying as it indicates a major escalation of the US crackdown on China's technological capabilities. The move follows increased tensions over the fate of Taiwan, where chips for Nvidia and the majority of other major chip firms are manufactured. [Click here to discover more!]( [Choosing a DL Framework]( In brief: A DL framework is pretty similar to an ML framework, in that it is an interface, library, or tool that enables you to build DL models quickly and effortlessly, without becoming bogged down in the details of underlying algorithms. Using an existing framework means that instead of writing hundreds of lines of code, you can choose a framework that will do most of the work for you. These frameworks assist data scientists in defining models from a collection of pre-built and optimized components. The majority of applications are written using one of three frameworks: TensorFlow, PyTorch, and JAX, ensuring you choose the right one is essential for the success of your project. TensorFlow is the most established framework which offers dependability but has perhaps become somewhat stale, PyTorch offers excellence if you are conducting a research project, whilst JAX is the upstart that may offer a cutting edge. Why this is important: There is no simple answer to the question of what DL framework is the best one to use. However, this guide offers the pros and cons of each, helping you to find the best solution for the problem you’re working on at the time. that being anything other than a white westerner is wrong and can be corrected. [Click here to see the full picture!]( [French Tax Officials use AI to Spot Undeclared Pools]( In brief: A computer vision system developed by French IT firm Capgemini and Google has used AI to identify 20,356 residential swimming pools that had previously gone undeclared. The French tax office; the General Directorate of Public Finance (DGFiP), has used the technology to raise nearly €10 million in additional taxes. The system can identify swimming pools from aerial images, which it then cross-checks with land registry databases to ensure the correct details have been entered. The project was initially launched a year ago as an experiment in nine French departments, but its success means that it will now be extended across the country. The law in France states that modifications to properties, including adding swimming pools, must be declared to the tax office within 90 days of completion. French property taxes are calculated, based on the rental value of the property, improvements, therefore, result in a tax increase. Why this is important: Although this story only applies to a small area of France, the amount of money that the government was able to raise makes it almost a certainty that other countries will take note. [Click here to find out more!]( [Super Data Science podcast]( this week's [Super Data Science Podcast](, Kian Katanforoosh, CEO of Workera and Lecturer at Stanford University, joins us to shed light on the machine learning models, frameworks and software languages that power his EdTech company. --------------------------------------------------------------- What is the Data Science Insider? 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