June 2022

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Big News
It’s alive! Waves were made this month in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) as a software engineer at Google claimed that the Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) project could be sentient. Transcripts of the discussion between engineers and LaMDA are a little creepy; the AI talks about having “feelings” and “emotions” and it expresses an awareness of its own consciousness. This topic has seen understandable scepticism, especially when it comes to deciding what “sentience” actually means. There is also discussion around the potential risks of AI, although currently most people are distracted by the AI which can create hilarious memes to worry about any possible threats. 

UK suffers a rough month.  Last month I discussed the impact inflation was having on the cost of living in the UK. Sadly things haven’t improved. This month, alongside the continued impact of the cost of living crisis the UK saw disruptive national rail strikes (the worst in 30 years)  as well as a rise in COVID-19 cases, possibly driven by new sub variants.  Overall, the UK economy and the healthcare sector have taken a beating and currently there is no easy solution and not much light at the end of the tunnel. 

Little News
Breakthrough in pancreatic cancer vaccine. In more optimistic news, that may have been missed, early results for an mRNA based pancreatic cancer vaccine have been released and appear promising. Following surgical removal of a tumour the BioNTech vaccine can custom made, based on the mutations present in an individual patient's tumour. Initial data in a small group of patients suggests that it could have a 50% success rate at preventing relapse of pancreatic cancer. It could take a while before the vaccine is approved by regulatory agencies but it is good news for patients with cancer and the future of mRNA vaccines.

What I’ve been enjoying this month
Barack Obama. I wish I’d been enjoying the company of the real Obama this month, instead I’ve had to settle for his memoir A Promised Land. It’s an outstanding piece of work; it’s well written, gives a brilliant breakdown of his run for president and his time in office and really gives you a view into his mind during a rough period of history. I also found a surprising number of parallels between the 2008 recession and current economic difficulties. If you want some incredible political insight given by a very charming individual I can’t recommend it enough.

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