Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says there will never be a perfect artificial intelligence system. AP
Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says there will never be a perfect artificial intelligence system. AP
Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says there will never be a perfect artificial intelligence system. AP
Meta Platforms chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says there will never be a perfect artificial intelligence system. AP

Mark Zuckerberg on Joe Rogan podcast: Facebook chief talks about bots, AI and Hunter Biden


Deepthi Nair
  • English
  • Arabic

Bot accounts on social media platforms are trade-offs all the way down, according to Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and chief executive of Meta Platforms.

There is never going to be a perfect artificial intelligence system, the billionaire co-founder of Facebook said on the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, which was released on Thursday.

“You could either build a system and be overly aggressive, capture a higher percentage of the bad guys, but also take out some number of good guys by accident,” he said.

“Or you could be a little more lenient and say the cost of taking out any number of good guys is too high, so we are going to tolerate having just a little bit more bad guys on the system. These are values questions.”

Replying to a question from podcaster Joe Rogan on controversial content on social media platforms, Mr Zuckerberg said he had formed an independent oversight board, whose members’ paramount value is free expression.

“It is good to have separation of powers with different stakeholders involved in governance, so it is not just one private company making decisions on what happens on our platform,” he said.

“I have to be involved because I run the company and can’t just abdicate that. I got into this to design technology that helps people connect. The right way is to establish principles for governance that try to be balanced and not have the decision-making too centralised.”

He said he did not want his company to decide what misinformation was.

“We work with third parties and let different organisations decide that. We are not the Ministry of Truth for the world,” Mr Zuckerberg told the podcast, which was bought by Spotify in a $100 million deal.

“There are going to be more such polarising decisions coming up because of the scale of what we do.”

The Meta chief executive was also questioned on how Facebook used algorithms to censor the story concerning Hunter Biden's laptop.

He defended Facebook’s practices and told Mr Rogan that the platform's process were “pretty reasonable” since it still allowed New York Post articles to be shared, as opposed to taking a complete blackout approach adopted by Twitter.

“We took a different path than Twitter. If something is reported to us as potential misinformation, we use third-party, fact-checking programmes,” he said.

“Distribution on Facebook was decreased but people were still allowed to share. Ranking in [the] news feed was a little bit less and fewer people saw it than would have otherwise.”

The FBI approached Facebook and asked the platform to be wary of Russian propaganda linked to the laptop story in the run-up to the 2020 US presidential election, he said.

“But we weren’t sort of as black and white about it as Twitter. We just kind of thought if the FBI — which I still view is a legitimate institution in this country, it is a very professional law enforcement — they come to us and tell us that we need to be on guard about something, then I want to take that seriously,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

To a question on working models, he said his company was leading from the front in terms of remote work.

“Some types of work, like software engineering you can do from many kinds of places,” Mr Zuckerberg said.

“You will never be able to do all things you can do in person, but you will be able to do more and more. You will be able to work remotely, live wherever you want and show up in any place; that is going to be pretty awesome.”

However, he said it was “pretty important” to be present in the same space as other workmates.

“I think we will need to find a mix. If you can give people the ability to work remotely, to teleport to a place and be present as a hologram, that is valuable. But, for larger meetings, the most useful thing is to be able to catch up with people before and after.”

The right way is to establish principles for governance that try to be balanced and not have the decision-making too centralised
Mark Zuckerberg,
chief executive of Meta Platforms

The Facebook founder also said that he did not have time to use social media platforms. However, he said he teaches his daughters to code at bedtime.

He told Rogan that “there is always stuff to work on” and that he had to “maintain control” of his time so he was not merely reacting “to things that people throw at me”.

“You could spend all your time reacting to that but what creates the ability to be successful, long term, is carving out the time that is proactive, that is both taking care of yourself and being physical and getting out there and spending time with my family and my girls,” he said.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Global Fungi Facts

• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil

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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

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Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne

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Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

 

 

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Healthy tips to remember

Here, Dr Mohamed El Abiary, paediatric consultant at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, shares some advice for parents whose children are fasting during the holy month of Ramadan:

Gradual fasting and golden points - For children under the age of 10, follow a step-by-step approach to fasting and don't push them beyond their limits. Start with a few hours fasting a day and increase it to a half fast and full fast when the child is ready. Every individual's ability varies as per the age and personal readiness. You could introduce a points system that awards the child and offers them encouragement when they make progress with the amount of hours they fast

Why fast? - Explain to your child why they are fasting. By shedding light on the importance of abstaining from food and drink, children may feel more encouraged to give it there all during the observance period. It is also a good opportunity to teach children about controlling urges, doing good for others and instilling healthy food habits

Sleep and suhoor - A child needs adequate sleep every night - at least eight hours. Make sure to set a routine early bedtime so he/she has sufficient time to wake up for suhoor, which is an essential meal at the beginning of the day

Good diet - Nutritious food is crucial to ensuring a healthy Ramadan for children. They must refrain from eating too much junk food as well as canned goods and snacks and drinks high in sugar. Foods that are rich in nutrients, vitamins and proteins, like fruits, fresh meats and vegetables, make for a good balanced diet

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Best Foreign Language Film nominees

Capernaum (Lebanon)

Cold War (Poland)

Never Look Away (Germany)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

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Points to remember
  • Debate the issue, don't attack the person
  • Build the relationship and dialogue by seeking to find common ground
  • Express passion for the issue but be aware of when you're losing control or when there's anger. If there is, pause and take some time out.
  • Listen actively without interrupting
  • Avoid assumptions, seek understanding, ask questions
Nepotism is the name of the game

Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad. 

Company Profile

Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

Updated: August 26, 2022, 7:17 AM`