Mass Media 1
What kinds of platforms are now the main source of news in the US? What was an issue raised by this trend?
Social media has been gaining popularity. However, this is coupled with the fact that it is known as a major source of false/misleading information.
Which country is Singapore in talks with about social media bans?
Australia
What are the 4 bioethic principles?
What is DeepSeek, and what was so significant about them?
It is a Chinese AI startup that developed a powerful AI model that could run processes at a fraction of the cost of the ones in the US, in spite of the restrictions on high performance chips from the US.
What's the difference between AR and VR?
AR: When computer-generated images are overlaid on an existing environment, usually through phones or tablets.
VR: When a computer-generated environment is simulated, usually through VR headsets.
Why was there a sudden popularity of Xiaohongshu amongst people in the US?
Which is the fastest-growing social and video network, used for news by 17% of people around the world, up 4 percentage points since last year.
TikTok
What is one finding from the article about spending 24 hours in the metaverse?
1. VR can redefine day-to-day life
2. VR has not replaced reality
3. VR tech needs more investment into comfort.
Based on the article read, who should be responsible for avoiding the ethical nightmares of emerging technology?
Leaders
What is diaspora?
Migrants or descendants of migrants; the dispersion or spread of a people from their original homeland
What was a new law implemented in GE2025?
The banning of deepfakes of candidates.
1. What is happening with cinemas in Singapore
2. What's being done to resolve the issue?
1. Lack of worth of a movie ticket due to online streaming platforms, new movie-watching habits due to the pandemic, diminishing value of the experience in a cinema
2. Cinemas becoming more 'experiential', short-film competitions/virtual quiz nights/photo booths
What is the issue surrounding drone warfare?
1. Cost asymmetry and scale
2. Faster kill chains
What is data bias?
Data bias refers to data that is incomplete or inaccuratem possibly due to the collected data being skewed to a certain category/group of people/animals/things.
What is an echo chamber?
A situation/environment where a person only encounters information that reinforces their own beliefs.
What is the Code of Practice for Online Safety?
It's a policy enacted in 2023 to mitigate the risks from harmful social media content (especially for children) by requiring designated Social Media Services to enhance online safety in Singapore.
What has been happening with farmers and countryside dwellers in China?
- Creation of content around the countryside
- Use of nostalgia and authenticity to paint rural China as an escape and a thriving cultural hub
- Rise of the 'new farmer'
- Rise of tourism
What are 2 ethical issues surrounding Big Pharma?
1. Prioritisation of profits over patients.
2. Suppression of the risks linked to certain drugs.
3. Lobbying power in US politics
4. Regulatory capture (where regulators depend on industry funding, leading to independent oversight)
What is one benefit and one downside of genetic testing of embyos?
Benefits: Better health outcomes through reducing risk of certain diseases
Downsides: Ethical concerns and potential for designer babies reinforcing social inequality, lack of regulation and transparency, shift from healthcare to selection
What is eugenics?
It is the study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable.
What were the conflicting reports of the BBC in the resource package about?
>100 staff accusing BBC of having a pro-Israel bias in coverage of Israel's war in Gaza vs reporters 'showing sympathy' to Hamas
Name one positive and one negative impact of 'Online Chinatowns'
Positive: Helping overseas Chinese connect with one another, forming united communities amid China's rise, group-buying, new careers
Negative:Inhibition of assimilation/integration, pursuance of one's own country's agenda leading to social implications for the host country
What is CRISPR?
It is a revolutionary gene-editing technology that enables positive health outcomes, like successful organ transplants.
Name one high-tech approach and one low-tech approach to making the perfect farm.
High-tech approaches: Robot sensors that apply fertiliser in targeted amounts, drones that can monitor the growth of plants, connected water systems that minimise wastage of water and provided targeted use of water, solar powered cold storage capsules
Low-tech approaches: Intertwining the use of livestock and crops to maximise the use of land and protect biodiversity, mixing crop breeds resulting in more climate-resilient species and higher crop yields
What is schadenfreude?
Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.