Bridgewater says ChatGPT passed its investment associate test

July 7, 2023 News Editor

The bot was in the 80th percentile of performance, around the same level as a first-year associate at the hedge fund.

The co-CIO of Bridgewater Associates seems pretty impressed with the investment acumen of OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial intelligence tool.

Greg Jensen, co-CIO of the world’s biggest hedge fund, told Bloomberg that ChatGPT was able to pass its investment associate test, and that the power of the buzzy AI chatbot is like having “millions” of junior staffers working all at once.

Speaking on the Odd Lots podcast, Jensen – who’s flagged AI as a major interest for Bridgewater well before ChatGPT’s viral craze – said the hedge fund was now experimenting with machine learning AI in its trading strategies.

Bots like ChatGPT have already performed well on Bridgewater’s internal tests for investments associates, Jensen said. ChatGPT 3.5, the most well-known version of the AI large language model, scored at the level of a first-year associate at the firm, landing in the 80th percentile of all test takers.

Though the chatbot isn’t perfect, its strong performance reflects a significant amount of brainpower, Jensen said, who equated ChatGPT’s abilities to having an army of investment associates.

“Because all of sudden if you have an 80th percentile investment associate, technologically, you have millions of them at once. And if you have the ability to control their hallucinations and their errors by having a rigorous statistical backdrop, you could do a tremendous amount at a rapid rate. And that’s really what we’re doing in our lab and proving out that process can work,” he said.

Major issues largely revolve around ChatGPT’s tendency to give inaccurate information, Jensen said, calling some of the bots’ answers outright “hallucinations.”

He suggested the AI bot was unlikely to fully replace human employees anytime soon, though Bridgewater is working on a fund primarily run by “machine learning techniques,” Jensen said, adding that the firm was trying to pair ChatGPT with other statistical and AI models to improve its predictive capabilities.

“You still need – for as far foreseeable future – you’re going to want people around that, working on those things,” Jensen said, noting there was a greater need for “flexible generalists” who were able to utilize “whatever tools are necessary” to meet a goal.

Wall Street has been eyeing ChatGPT’s role as a potential investment advisor, though most experts agree more work needs to be done on the language model before it dispenses truly reliable investment advice.

At the moment, the bot can only generate “first-level” responses and is incapable of applying knowledge to specific situations, according to Morningstar Investment Management’s CIO.

Cardi B shows off her twerking skills for bemused onlookers in Paris

July 6, 2023 News Editor

Cardi B never fails to turn heads in an outing and she ensured all eyes would be on her as she demonstrated her twerking skills for bemused onlookers outside her hotel in France on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old rapper has been making her way around the shows during Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week and opted for her third outfit of the day in a skintight jumpsuit that showed off her incredible curves.

The Jean Paul Gaultier one-piece cinched in at her slender waist and highlighted her famous figure while she added glamour with chunky necklaces.

Cardi completed the look with a pair of barely-there silver heels and by styling her raven locks loose.

Earlier in the day, Cardi was seen attending the Balenciaga show with her husband Offset, with a source telling MailOnline: ‘Cardi and Offset’s Paris trip is a little business with a lot of pleasure.

‘Offset attended the Balenciaga couture show in Paris and Cardi has been hitting up all the shows. She is such a muse for designers, and everyone loves a good rags to riches story.

‘Her fan base in France is enormous and they are both really taken aback by this.

‘Aside from attending fashion shows, Cardi and Offset are using this as an opportunity to spend some quality romantic and intimate time together – away from the stress of their busy schedules.’

It comes amid reports the couple ‘will hash their problems out as they always do’ according to a new report – after he claimed she cheated on him – sparking a furious row.

Offset’s now-deleted post on Monday – which came hours after he reunited with Quavo at the BET Awards – read: ‘My wife f****d a n**** on me gang yall n***** know how I come.’

Cardi then hit back at Offset’s claim with a bizarre Twitter rant in which she accused her ‘motherf****r’ spouse of ‘spiraling.’

An insider has now told People: ‘They’re just having a little quarrel. They’re very intense so go back and forth quite a bit. They’ll hash it out like they always do.’

Paris Fashion Haute Couture Week kicked off on Monday, but the city has been rocked by a week of violent protests after Nahel M was shot dead in a Parisian suburb on Tuesday.

Celine cancelled their menswear show – which was outside the official calendar – on Sunday due to the chaos as shops were looted, cars were set on fire and fights broke out in the street.

Celine designer Hedi Slimane said it was ‘inconsiderate’ to hold a fashion show when Paris was ‘bereaved and bruised’.

Thousands have been arrested since the protests began, with some 45,000 officers deployed across the country to try and quell the unrest.

Sunday night saw the intensity of the protests abate somewhat, with the grandmother of teen shooting victim Nahel M. appealing to citizens to demonstrate peacefully and stop the violence.

But tensions remain fraught, particularly in the suburbs of cities like Paris, Marseille and Lyon

King Charles receives Crown of Scotland in Edinburgh Coronation Ceremony

July 5, 2023 News Editor

King Charles has been presented with the crown jewels of Scotland in a historic Thanksgiving serving today, July 5.

The monarch received the Crown of Scotland, the Sceptre, and the Sword of State of the Honours of Scotland at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh eight weeks after his crowning at Westminster Abbey.

William and Catherine, known as the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay north of the border, joined Scotland’s leading figures and 100 individuals from all walks of society at the church on the Royal Mile.

The Right Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, delivered the sermon, in which she called for action to tackle global warming to stop the world ‘baking to a crisp’.

A 21-gun salute rang out across the Scottish capital following the historic ceremony, before nine planes left trails of red, white, and blue as the royals watched from the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

The King and Queen Camilla stood side by side with the Prince and Princess of Wales to watch the Red Arrows flypast.

For the service, the Princess of Wales wore a Catherine Walker coat, hat by Philip Treacy and a necklace from the late Queen’s collection, while her husband was dressed in his RAF No1 uniform.

Delivering the sermon, the Right-Reverend Foster-Fulton told the congregation that society will be on the ‘right track’ if we understand that ‘the Heavens and Earth’ are not ‘human commodities or possessions’.

“Blessed are we, on the right track are we when we understand that our children do not inherit this Earth from us – we have borrowed it from them,’ she said.

“And it is our duty to return it still singing and surging and bathing, not baking to a crisp.”

The $500 million deal between AfDB and the US

July 4, 2023 News Editor

African Development Bank and USAID extend and expand their partnership through the Regional Development Objectives Agreement (RDOAG) to tackle energy poverty and climate change in sub-Saharan Africa.

The agreement aims to eliminate energy poverty by 2030, accelerate the just energy transition, and improve the enabling environment for renewable energy in Africa.

The partnership allows for potential future US contributions of up to $500 million and provides financial, technical, and operational support to stakeholders through grants, investments, and risk-reduction strategies.

On the sidelines of the Africa Energy Forum in Nairobi, the African Development Bank and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through the Power Africa Presidential Initiative, signed an extension and expansion of their current Regional Development Objectives Agreement (RDOAG).

The action increases the foundation for collaboration in the development of creative and sustainable solutions to tackle energy poverty, and climate change, and enhance energy systems in sub-Saharan Africa. It also deepens the strategic relationship.

The pact specifically aims to eliminate energy poverty by 2030, speed up the just energy transition in Africa, and improve the favorable climate for renewable energy.

The five-year extension, which runs through September 2028, opens the door for potential future US contributions of up to $500 million to support RDOAG’s goals. The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the African Development Bank’s Desert to Power program have received direct funding through the RDOAG to date, totaling around $388 million.

The partnership will also be able to help the public, commercial, civil society, and other stakeholders financially, technically, and operationally through grants, equity and debt investments, and risk-reduction strategies.

Acting Coordinator for Power Africa David Thompson emphasized the importance of partnerships in advancing and sustaining the fair energy transition during the signing ceremony at the Africa Energy Forum. “The importance of our partnership with the AfDB, as evidenced through this agreement, in achieving our shared ambition of universal access to energy cannot be overemphasized. We effectively leverage one another’s strengths to accomplish much more jointly than either institution could do on its own,” he said.

The Power Africa Strategic Framework, the Bank Group’s New Deal on Energy for Africa, and Sustainable Development Goal 7 are all concerned with ensuring that everyone has access to cheap, dependable, sustainable, and modern energy. Activities carried out under the enlarged agreement will support these goals.

Partnerships are crucial, as Dr. Daniel Schroth, Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the African Development Bank, who signed the extension on behalf of the Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate, and Green Growth, emphasized.

According to Schroth, “Power Africa is a long-standing and key partner of the African Development Bank, and a central pillar of our collaboration focuses on mobilizing increased private sector investments, which are quintessential to achieving our joint objectives of universal access to energy and a just energy transition in Africa.”

EAC launches peace caravan to promote peaceful coexistence

July 4, 2023 News Editor

The East African Community (EAC) on Monday launched a peace caravan aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence, good neighborliness and peaceful resolution of disputes among border communities through experiential learning from practices of other border communities in the region.

A statement by the EAC headquarters in Tanzania’s northern city of Arusha said the initiative, called peace caravan and benchmarking tour for border communities in Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan, was launched in Namanga on the Kenya-Tanzania border.

According to the statement, the initiative was launched by the EAC secretariat in collaboration with Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan, and in partnership with the African Union Border Program. It is also aimed at sensitizing border communities on other ongoing national, regional and continental initiatives to peacefully and sustainably resolve border issues as well as learn from experiences, lessons and practices of border communities where border disputes have been peacefully and successfully resolved.

The seven-day caravan that involved representatives of the Atekar community composed of Turkana in Kenya, the Toposa of South Sudan, and the Karamajong of Uganda, started in Lodwar in Turkana county, Kenya, and traveled by bus to Namanga border through Eldoret to interact and learn from the experiences of the Maasai community, said the statement.

Why Nigerian billionaires do not “japa”

July 4, 2023 News Editor

Nigerian billionaires choose to stay in the country due to significant disparities in tax rates compared to developed economies like the UK and the US, where higher-income earners face higher tax burdens.

Some billionaires benefit from monopolistic business ventures supported by the Nigerian government, while developed economies have antitrust laws that promote fair competition and limit market power.

While the allure of developed economies may be enticing, these billionaires weigh the benefits against the unique opportunities and circumstances presented in Nigeria.

In 2022, the National Immigration Service reported that a staggering 1,899,683 passports were issued, indicating a significant outflow of Nigerians seeking better opportunities abroad.

This phenomenon, often referred to as the “brain drain,” has caught the attention of experts and policymakers. Surprisingly, amidst this mass exodus, Nigeria’s billionaires remain resolute in their decision to stay.

Figures like Aliko Dangote have openly declared their commitment to the country, prompting an investigation into the reasons why these billionaires choose not to relocate.

Tax Rates: A Favorable Comparison

One crucial factor that may contribute to Nigerian billionaires’ decision to remain in the country is the significant disparity in tax rates between Nigeria and countries like Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service reports that only a small fraction of the labour force is captured in the tax net. In contrast, countries such as the United Kingdom have stringent measures in place to prevent tax evasion, especially for high-net-worth individuals like Femi Otedola and Aliko Dangote.

For instance, if Aliko Dangote, with a net worth of $9.7 billion, were a resident of the United Kingdom, his tax liability would amount to up to 40% of his income. The UK’s progressive income tax system has different tax bands based on income levels, with the highest bracket being 45% for income above £150,000.

This stark contrast in tax rates presents a compelling financial incentive for Nigerian billionaires to stay put.

Economic Monopoly: A Distinct Advantage

In Nigeria, there are speculations that certain billionaires have been able to establish monopolistic business ventures with the support of the government.

One prominent example is the Dangote Group, which operates at the top of the manufacturing chain for staple food and building items.

Reports suggest that Dangote’s business empire owes much of its success to governmental support, including waivers and subsidies in foreign exchange.

However, in developed economies like the United States and the United Kingdom, antitrust laws are in place to promote fair competition and prevent the concentration of market power.

These laws ensure that mergers and acquisitions do not create monopolies, and if necessary, they break up firms that have become monopolistic.

Consequently, billionaires running businesses in these countries face stiffer competition, which may discourage them from relocating to more developed economies.

Income Inequality: A Disparity Challenge

In Nigeria, the business environment is characterized by significant wealth inequality, with a large gap between the rich and the poor

Although Nigeria scored 35.1% on the 2022 Gini coefficient, indicating wealth inequality, the country still faces challenges in reducing unemployment rates, improving job income, and lowering housing prices.

The minimum wage in Nigeria is among the lowest in the world, according to reports. Bloomberg highlights that nearly two-thirds of Nigeria’s population lives on less than $2 a day, with approximately 133 million Nigerians classified as “multi-dimensionally poor.”

However, in Nigeria, these basic necessities are often accessible only to the elites and middle class. This means that the elite class in Nigeria enjoys a higher standard of living. As a result, billionaires in Nigeria feel a sense of security in their wealth, unlike in the United States where these amenities are more widely available to the average person.

Economic Competition: A Landscape Comparison

Nigeria’s economy is still in its early stages of growth, grappling with challenges such as inflation, insecurity, and corruption.

These issues, combined with certain policies and macroeconomic shocks, have hindered the progress of many promising companies.

Some businesses, like Opay, faced regulatory challenges that led to their demise as a logistics company.

Without sufficient access to business funding, many companies have been forced to shut down, allowing established players to dominate the market. In contrast, developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom boast thriving business environments with better access to funding.

If Nigerian billionaires were to operate in these highly competitive landscapes, they would face formidable competitors capable of challenging their market position.

While the allure of developed economies may be enticing, these billionaires weigh the benefits against the unique opportunities and circumstances presented in Nigeria.

As the country strives to address these challenges and create a more conducive business environment, it may foster an atmosphere that encourages both billionaires and talented individuals to contribute to Nigeria’s growth and development.

(Nairametrics)

Why is A for Apple in a country where apples don’t naturally grow?

July 4, 2023 News Editor

The common pedagogical approach with which many of us were introduced to the English alphabet is a metaphor for all the anomalies and confusions that characterise Nigerian education at all levels. First off, going from the minor to the major issue, one wonders what exactly is being taught when teachers say A for Apple. Are we being taught letter A or sound /ˈæ/? When they say C for Cat, are we thinking of letter c or sound /k/?

While this, for starters, is a pedagogical deficiency which I am not out to address in this essay, the bigger concern is why A cannot stand for Agama which the African child can easily find on his way home from school. Apple is the fruit for the well-to-do families. You must have a healthy esteem to say publicly that you prefer orange to apple. You might be thought of to have entered into a covenant with poverty. The metaphor of apple has a great ideological conditioning for Nigeria and its effect gets wider by the day.

The negative implication of this analogy manifests in several perspectives– social, psychological, religious and educational.

Socially we have come to attach importance to anything that is foreign such that Italian shoes are for the socialites and “Aba” have to be for the poor. At the level of religion, the Christians and Muslims are entitled to several holidays in a year while the traditional worshippers have to beg for one day holiday in their own land. Psychologically, the Nigerian youth can call you all sort of names if you think they need not “japa” (leave the country) to enjoy a good life. And to my concern: education.

Now in Nigeria, you must be doubting the paternity of your children to let them have their tertiary education in Nigeria unless you cannot afford it. Well, let us not scratch the part of these children returning to practice law, journalism, medicine and other professions in Nigeria without native intelligence. Shall we take a step farther? If our so-called international conferences must be one of the most talked about on campus, then you have to get the keynote speaker from South Africa if you cannot afford the cost of bringing one from South America.

Remember too that even a local journal in Nigeria may reject your submission if you have not applied a “foreign” theory that may have no contextual relevance to your inquiry. And of course you are not a first-class professor if you have not published in those foreign high-impact journals. Your doctorate is a local piece if you have not got a postdoctoral fellowship from the white. Of course nobody sees your impact on your campus until you get a foreign validation when you travel for a conference or you are invited by the almighty white for a presentation.

When will A stop being for Apple in Nigeria? When will we find our bearings? When will our education suit our purpose and solve our problems? When will education mean more than certification in Nigeria? When will ingenuity be restored into our education? When will final year projects be aimed at addressing issues and stop being a ritual for graduation? When will we take clue from the Nigerian hip-hop artistes who have established throughout the world that the “Afro version” is a unique musical flavour?

When will A stop being for Apple in Nigeria?

(Vanguard)

Dr. Ganiu Bamgbose (PhD) writes from the Department of English, Lagos State Un

iversity, LASU.

Apple is shuttering ‘My Photo Stream’

July 4, 2023 News Editor

Photos uploaded onto Apple’s My Photo Stream feature, the free cloud storage system, will be permanently deleted when the service officially shuts down on July 26.

Apple already stopped uploading new photos from customers’ devices to My Photo Stream on June 26. Photos uploaded before that date will remain in the cloud feature for up to 30 days from the date of upload. When the service is shut down in July, however, no photos will remain in My Photo Stream, and they will be lost if they are not saved elsewhere.

To make sure your photos are safe, Apple encourages users to locate the original versions of the photos you wish to keep on at least one physical device, such as an iPhone or iPad. Photos from My Photo Stream are pulled from the devices on which the originals are stored.

“So as long as you have the device with your originals, you won’t lose any photos as part of this process,” Apple said in a support article addressing the transition.

Photos on My Photo Stream that are not already in your photo library on an Apple device, should be saved there if you do not want to lose them.

iCloud will replace My Photo Stream

Apple has suggested it will replace the My Photo Stream storage option with iCloud Photos which is free for up to 5GB of storage but requires a premium subscription plan, available in three price tiers, for anything beyond that. Apple’s iCloud is the “best way to keep the photos and videos you take up to date across all your devices,” the company said in the support article.

Apple charges 99 cents per month for 50 GB of iCloud+ storage, $2.99 for 200 GB and $9.99 for 2 terabytes.

Some iCloud users may already have made the transition, or are already subscribed to iCloud+ and therefore didn’t use My Photo Stream, which would be redundant. In this case, no changes apply.

“If you already have iCloud Photos enabled on all of your devices, you don’t need to do anything else — your photos already sync to iCloud,” Apple explained.

To be sure, go into your device’s settings, click on your name, then iCloud. Next to the photos icon, make sure it reads “On.”

Make sure the photos you wish to keep are synced with iCloud in order to keep them.

How to save My Photo images onto your device

You can save images in My Photo to your device’s photo library by following these steps:

On a mobile device: Open the “Photos” app, and go into “Albums.” Tap “My Photo Stream” then “Select.” Tap the photos you want to save.

On a Mac: Open the “Photos” app, then the “My Photo Stream” album. Select the photos you want to save and drag them from the photo stream album to your “Library.”

Dangote Gives Luxury Counsel

July 4, 2023 News Editor

Billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote has revealed that while some of his staff have houses abroad which they use as holiday homes, he has none.

Dangote, in an interview, outlined the need for young people to take their eyes off luxurious things and focus on making their businesses grow.

He said;

“A lot of people even the younger ones, we need to be very careful because one of the biggest issues with us Africans is that we spend our projected incomes.

“Once you start doing business and the business starts doing well, rather than for you to keep investing into the business, you start spending money and thinking that the profit will continue to come. There are ups and downs in business so you need to be very focused and say ‘Okay fine what do you do and how to do those things.

“Luxury things, they also take up your time which will not make you focus on your business. I mean, I don’t have any holiday home anywhere; I don’t have a house anywhere but I know people who are working for me, they have a house in London. But I don’t.”

S/Leone: ECOWAS, AU, Commonwealth sue for peace as opposition rejects election results

June 30, 2023 News Editor

Election Observation Mission (EOM) Heads to Sierra Leone’s June 24, 2023 General Elections have called on political stakeholders to work collectively for national cohesion, peace, and reconciliation to prevent the country from relapsing into conflict.

President Julius Maada Bio was sworn in on Tuesday shortly after the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) announced his victory.

However, the opposition candidate, Dr Dr Samura Kamara, of the APC has rejected the results, saying, “they are not credible.”

Concluding their post-election consultations in Freetown on Wednesday, the Heads of ECOWAS, African Union and Commonwealth Missions as well as the West Africa Elders’ Forum (WAEF), met separately with re-elected President Bio, of the ruling SLPP, his defeated opponent in the presidential election, Dr Samura Kamara, of the APC, and representatives of the National Election Peace Pledge Committee, reiterating their message to all Sierra Leoneans to work together in the national interest.

At the meeting with the Committee’s leadership led by Co-Chair Marcella Samba-Sesay, the Heads of the Observation Missions, Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas (ECOWAS), H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, former Prime Minister of Ethiopia (AU), Madam Elizabeth Lwanga (Commonwealth), and former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of Nigeria (WAEF), took turns to commend the Committee for its mediation efforts, including the signing of the Peace Pledge by the leaderships of major political parties that took part in the just-ended general elections.

The Heads of International Election Observation Missions urged the Election Peace Pledge Committee to engage with political parties and other stakeholders to resolve any residual issues arising from the general elections and advocate for clarifications and review of some provisions of the constitution and the electoral laws to enhance the transparency of the electoral process.

The committee, comprising civil society organizations, including religious, women and youth groups, government representatives, and persons living with disabilities, was urged to continue its peace initiatives beyond the election period.

The Heads of AU and ECOWAS Missions noted that the organizations they represented had regional and continental responsibilities to accompany Sierra Leone on the path of good governance and democratic consolidation.

Further to their primary role as election observers, the international Observation Missions undertook quiet diplomacy that contributed to dousing political tensions and steering stakeholders on the same page.