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AI in Context

A selection of world thoughts – about AI – for global citizens.

What are the global perspectives on AI? Here, you will find a selection of articles from top newspapers, research publications, and leading magazines from around the world, exploring AI’s impact on language, culture, geopolitics, and economies. Our collection of local sources helps you understand the global landscape and navigate change through innovative ideas, keeping you informed about what’s relevant in this constantly evolving field.

Updated weekly (last update 30/09/25)


Last Month’s Most Read Articles

From Imminent Readings in September newsletter

China’s DeepSeek quietly releases an open-source rival to GPT-5—optimized for Chinese chips and priced to undercut OpenAI
A little-known Chinese startup is shaking up the AI race. DeepSeek’s latest model, V3, has drawn comparisons to OpenAI’s brand-new GPT-5—matching it on some benchmarks while costing far less to build. Earlier this year, DeepSeek stunned the industry by releasing its R1 model for free, built with a fraction of the resources used by U.S. rivals. Now, with aggressive pricing and rapid innovation, DeepSeek is forcing the question: how long can the AI giants hold their lead?
Read the full article on Fortune

Is the AI bubble about to burst – and send the stock market into freefall?
Generative AI is rapidly transforming economies, yet women remain underrepresented in the talent pipelines shaping this future. This joint paper from the World Economic Forum and LinkedIn reveals how early, inclusive action can turn AI into a force for gender equity—or deepen existing divides. With fresh data, strategic insights, and real-world policy levers, it’s a must-read for researchers, leaders, and decision-makers seeking to align technological progress with shared prosperity. The window to embed gender parity into the Intelligent Age won’t stay open forever.
Read the full report on The Guardian

AI systems are built on English – but not the kind most of the world speaks
AI systems may be trained mostly in English—but it’s not just any English. From autocorrect to voice assistants, what gets encoded is overwhelmingly mainstream American English, sidelining the vast spectrum of global Englishes spoken by 1.5 billion people. This article dives into how AI reinforces linguistic hierarchies and what it means to design technology rooted in linguistic justice—not conformity.
Read the full article on The Conversation


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What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?
This is a remarkable essay that pulls back the curtain on ChatGPT’s inner workings, revealing the elegant simplicity behind its apparent complexity. It explains how the model builds responses one token at a time, guided by vast patterns from human language—and how subtle randomness sparks creativity. By blending technical clarity with accessible storytelling, it turns machine learning mechanics into something both fascinating and human. A must-read for anyone curious about the true engine powering AI’s most talked-about conversationalist.
Read the full essay here

AI systems are built on English – but not the kind most of the world speaks
AI systems may be trained mostly in English—but it’s not just any English. From autocorrect to voice assistants, what gets encoded is overwhelmingly mainstream American English, sidelining the vast spectrum of global Englishes spoken by 1.5 billion people. This article dives into how AI reinforces linguistic hierarchies and what it means to design technology rooted in linguistic justice—not conformity.
Read the full article on The Conversation

You sound like ChatGPT
AI is quietly reshaping how we speak and write, injecting its “voice” into our vocabulary and tone—think words like “delve” suddenly everywhere. This article dives into how AI’s polished, uniform language risks erasing the authentic, imperfect quirks that signal our humanity and build trust. It reveals a brewing tension between standardized AI-driven speech and genuine human expression, raising urgent questions about what it means to communicate—and think—like ourselves in an AI-influenced world.
Read the full article on The Verge


On Generative AI and Satisficing
Satisficing—a blend of “satisfy” and “suffice”—means settling for a good-enough solution instead of chasing perfection. Generative AI excels at this, cutting through endless info to offer quick, workable answers for everyday tasks like trip planning or meal ideas. But when it comes to creativity or complex challenges, AI often delivers clichés and average results. 
Read the full article on The Future, Now and Then

Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?
Think of AI not as a sci-fi superintelligence, but as a digital McKinsey—streamlining operations, cutting costs, and often putting shareholder value above people. This article unpacks how AI, like management consultancies, can quietly shape corporate decisions, intensify inequality, and sidestep accountability. It asks the hard question: is an alternative possible?
Read the full article on New Yorker

How to draft a will to avoid becoming an AI ghost—it’s not easy
AI now enables the digital recreation of lost loved ones—often without their consent, sparking complex ethical dilemmas. Most wills fail to account for this emerging reality, leaving families exposed to AI ‘ghosts’ that can be both comforting and disturbing. Experts propose that future estate plans may include safeguards against unauthorized AI use, but legal frameworks lag behind. As this technology advances, we must reconsider how consent, memory, and humanity intersect in the digital afterlife.
Read the full article on Ars Technica


AI as Normal Technology
What if AI isn’t an alien superintelligence racing beyond our control, but simply the next “normal technology” — powerful, transformative, yet unfolding as slowly as past revolutions like electricity or the internet? This thought-provoking piece dismantles both hype and doom, showing how AI’s future will be shaped less by inevitability and more by human institutions, choices, and values. A grounded, historically informed vision that will make you rethink the headlines — and what real progress might look like.
Read the full paper on Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

Two Failure Modes of Emerging Technologies
AI is exploding—but the biggest risks aren’t sci-fi scenarios. The real danger? AI either works too well in ways we don’t expect or fails badly in ways we can’t see, hurting real people. This article breaks down these two critical failure modes and why we need to focus on the real problems of AI today—not just futuristic fears.
Read the full article on The Future, Now and Then

Prototype Computer Uses Noise to Its Advantage
What if noise—long considered the enemy of computing—turned out to be the key to a new era of AI? In New York, Normal Computing has built a prototype that harnesses thermal chaos to solve complex problems like matrix inversion. Thermodynamic computing is still in its early days, but it promises faster, more energy-efficient algorithms. A challenge to silicon-based orthodoxy, born outside the academic mainstream, that could redefine what it means to “process data.”
Read the full article on IEEE Spectrum


Small Countries Are Seeking Asylum in Europe
In an age where superpowers jostle for territory, resources, and influence, small states can no longer rely on neutrality or distance for safety. From Iceland to Switzerland, nations once content to stand apart are edging closer to the EU, NATO, or both, seeking strength in numbers. The lesson is clear: sovereignty may feel empowering, but in a world of raw power plays, belonging to a larger alliance isn’t just strategy—it’s survival. In today’s geopolitics, mass matters more than ever.
Read the full article on Foreign Policy

The Global A.I. Divide
AI is worsening the global digital divide—just a few countries control the massive data centers powering today’s breakthroughs, while most of the world falls further behind. This article reveals how this growing gap fuels brain drain, geopolitical tension, and a fierce race for digital dominance. 
Read the full article on New York Times

From fear to fluency: Why empathy is the missing ingredient in AI rollouts
AI adoption isn’t just about tools—it’s about people. As AI evolves from copilots to autonomous agents, the real challenge is emotional, not just technical. This piece lays out the “4 E’s” of successful adoption—Evangelism, Enablement, Enforcement, and Experimentation—and explains why empathy, trust, and psychological safety matter more than speed. 
Read the full article on Venture Beat