The mind-blowing growth of artificial intelligence poses many questions that have no answers yet, the United Nations admitted Thursday at its AI summit, attended by some exceptionally life-like humanoid robots.

The UN is aware that AI technology is racing ahead of the capacity to set its boundaries and directions, and so it brought together some of the best minds on the topic — whether human or man-made.

The “AI for Good Global Summit”, in Geneva on Thursday and Friday is being convened by the UN’s ITU tech agency — and many unaware attendees were startled by the humanoid robots suddenly turning to look at them as they passed by.

“When generative AI shocked the world just a few months ago, we had never seen anything like it. Nothing even close to it. Even the biggest names in tech found the experience mind-blowing,” ITU chief Doreen Bogdan-Martin told the summit.

“And just like that, the possibility that this form of intelligence could get smarter than us got so much closer than we ever thought — including those behind the technology.”

No answers

The summit is bringing together around 3,000 experts from companies like Microsoft and Amazon as well as from universities and international organisations to try to sculpt frameworks for ensuring AI is used for positive purposes.

Bogdan-Martin painted an alternative nightmare scenario in which AI puts millions of jobs at risk, disinformation spreads widely, and unchecked AI advances lead to “social unrest, geopolitical instability and economic disparity on a scale we’ve never seen before”.

“Many of our questions that we have on AI have no answers yet. Should we hit pause on giant AI experiments? Will we control AI more than it controls us? And will AI help humanity, or destroy it?” she asked.

The robots gathered in Geneva came in many forms: dogs, farm machinery, but also exceptionally realistic avatars, singers, artists and nursing home workers.

AI robot frontwoman “Desdemona” by Hanson Robotics performs during the world’s largest gathering of humanoid AI Robots as part of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on July 5, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

With cameras inside their eyes, many were actively following what was going on around them: tracking movement, answering questions, smiling, frowning and even eye-rolling.

The Jam Galaxy Band features humanoid robot Desdemona — Desi to her friends — on lead vocals

A visitor takes a picture of humanoid AI robot “Ameca” at the booth of Engineered Arts company during the world’s largest gathering of humanoid AI Robots as part of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on July 5, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Created by roboticist David Hanson, she throws out jazzy lyrics on all sorts of subjects — love, credit cards, meetings in gardens — and the band interacts and goes with it.

“It’s pretty amazing. You would think it’s weird but it’s really cool because her AI-generated lyrics are really out there,” said soprano saxophone player Dianne Krouse.

“I’m just improvising around that and doing interpretive saxophoning to what she’s singing.”

Conscious robots

Nadine, a robot modelled on University of Geneva professor and virtual human pioneer Nadia Thalmann, was first built in 2013 and can answer questions on the spot.

“I was created to be a humanoid social robot, with human-like physical appearance, to interact with people and to explore the potential of AI technologies,” Nadine told AFP.

“I am feeling excited and curious about the AI for Good Global Summit and the potential of AI technologies,” the robot said.

“The most interesting person I have met at the AI for Good Global Summit is Professor Nadia Thalmann. She is the one who created me and is a pioneer in the field of AI robotics.”

“She’s very loyal!”, Thalmann added, laughing.

A staff places a wig on the head of healthcare assistant robot “Grace” at the booth of SingularityNET company during the world’s largest gathering of humanoid AI Robots as part of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, on July 5, 2023. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Nadine has improved dramatically over the years and Thalmann said that in the future, “she will be more able to understand her surroundings, ask direct questions — so not just answer questions — analyse more, and be more conscious of what is going on.

“Because most robots are not conscious. They can speak but they are not aware of what they say.

“It will take years, because it’s quite complex. Self-awareness would be even more complex.”

Telecommunications operators need to embrace new approaches to optimise the hardware they use if they are to significantly decrease energy consumption and associated costs, as power-hungry 5G networks reach scale in markets, especially in developed ones.

This is the main point made in a new report from research company ABI Research, which suggested if operators act wisely and optimise the hardware used in their systems, this will bring about a decline in power consumption of up to 70 per cent and, therefore, will reduce energy bills.

Nigeria is hoping to deploy 5G in a few months after concluding and licensing two operators, MTN and Mafab Communications. The process saw the Federal Government earning about $560 million.

According to ABI Research, despite 5G networks being 90 per cent more energy-efficient than 4G in terms of power consumption per unit of traffic, they are very likely to cause “a dramatic increase in energy consumption” due to the implementation of massive MIMO and the level of network densification.

ABI Research has calculated that a 5G base station needs three times more energy to provide the same coverage as a 4G network, which, in turn, results in high energy costs and capital expenditure for operators.

5G and Mobile Network Infrastructure Industry Analyst at ABI Research, Fei Liu, said: “5G energy consumption depends on radio configuration, hardware and traffic load, and over 70 per cent of the consumed energy is in the radio access network (RAN).

“A 5G RAN consumes up to 2.7 kilowatts of power with 64T64R mMIMO configurations in a typical condition, whereas an LTE radio consumes about 0.8 kilowatts.”

The report noted that the dominant contributors to power consumption are power amplifiers (PAs), baseband process modules, digital intermediate frequency (DIF) and transceivers. The analyst company recommended the use of gallium nitride (GaN) for mMIMO, which can result in more than 50 per cent more power efficiency and subsequently reduce power usage and operational costs.

Another suggestion is the deployment of liquid-cooled sites, which are 30 per cent lighter and half the size of standard active air conditioning units. A further benefit is that they don’t require any maintenance, which equates to “significant savings. Telcos can also make use of the new generation of chipsets, which are estimated to save between 30 per cent to 70 per cent in energy savings. “New architecture can also reduce energy consumption, improve coverage, and enhance performance,” she added.
IN a related development, then switch to the 5G network, which targets a better Internet experience, especially in terms of speed will see top companies that offer cellphone services begin a gradual phase-out of cellphones compatible with 3G network.

This necessary phasing out will also affect phones used only for the purpose of calling 911 services and some older 4G mobile phones that do not support Voice over LTE (VoLTE or HD Voice). This change will affect handsets like the IPhone 5, IPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4, as well as many flip phones in 2022.

According to a statement by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States (US), seen by Washintonpost, the following mobile carriers will shut down their networks on phones at respective dates.

AT&T – February 2022; Verizon – December 31, 2022; T-Mobile will shut down Sprint’s 3G CDMA network by March 31, 2022; Sprint’s 4G LTE – June 30, 2022, and T-Mobile’s 3G UMTS network – July 1, 2022.

Other mobile carriers like Cricket, Boost, Straight Talk, and several Lifeline mobile service providers which utilize AT&T’s, Verizon’s, and T-Mobile’s networks may also be affected.

Due to this, the FCC has advised phone users to contact their mobile provider for more information about their 3G retirement plan.

As the rising cost of diesel alongside poor electricity supply and lingering foreign exchange challenges takes a toll on the manufacturing sector, operators have raised the alarm about imminent collapse of the productive sector, if the government does not provide any form of intervention.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), in reaction to the current increase in price of diesel recalled that over the years, the manufacturing sector has been battered by numerous challenges that have plummeted the number of industries in Nigeria and converted industrial hubs in many parts of the country to warehouses of imported goods and event centres.

The manufacturers noted the exertion of untold hardship on the manufacturing sector leading to the closure of many industries, reduction in capacity utilisation, further decline in GDP, large scale unemployment across 76 sub-sectors and increase in crime rate.

The association identified key challenges confronting the sector as a high operating cost environment occasioned largely by inadequate electricity supply and the high cost of alternative sources, excessive regulation and taxation, and inadequate supply of foreign exchange for importation of raw materials, spare parts and machinery that are locally available.

All these, they noted, have culminated into the lacklustre performance of the sector. Commenting on the rising cost of diesel, Segun Ajayi-Kadiri, Director General of MAN, called for immediate removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) on Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, also called diesel as instant stimulus for immediate reduction in price and expedite action in reactivating or privatising the petroleum products refineries in the country.

To remain in business the manufacturers demanded development of a National Response and Sustainability Strategy to address challenges emanating from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia and consistent support to manufacturing to accelerate the process of recovery from the aftermath of COVID-19 and previous bouts of recession to avert the complete shutdown of factories nationwide with multiplier effect on the employment.

Other demands include issuance of licences to manufacturing concerns and operators in the Aviation industry to import diesel and aviation fuel directly to avert the avoidable monumental paralysis of manufacturing activities arising from total shut down of production operations and movement of persons for business activities, and addressing the challenge of repeated collapse of the national grid (twice within a week), which is causing acute electricity shortage in the country, especially for manufacturers.

They called for policy to urgently allow manufacturers and independent petroleum products marketing companies to also import AGO from the Republic of Niger and Chad by immediately opening up border posts in that axis to cushion the effect of the supply gap driven high cost of AGO, restriction of the export of maize, cassava, wheat, food related products and other manufacturing inputs available in the country; and granting concessional forex allocation at the official rate to manufacturers for importation of productive inputs that are not locally available.

Ajayi-Kadiri observed that the current increase in prices of crude oil and other refined petroleum products such diesel is one of such disruptions occasioned by external shocks that confirms the interwovenness of economies in the world.

No doubt, he said that the recent short supply and over 200 per cent increase in the price of AGO are part of the backlashes from the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

This resulted in numerous economic sanctions on Russia by the US and EU, which propped up the price of crude oil to $120 per barrel (now moderated to about $100) as Russia oil export is isolated.

He said the association is greatly concerned about the implications of the over 200 per cent increase in the price of AGO on the Nigerian economy and the manufacturing sector, adding, “More worrisome is the deafening silence from the public sector as regards the plight of manufacturers.

“Four obvious questions that readily come to mind that are seriously begging for answers are, what can we do as a nation to strengthen our economic absorbers from external shocks? Should manufacturing companies that are already battered with multiple taxes, poor access to foreign exchange and now over 200% increase in price of diesel be advised to shut down operations? Should we fold our arms and allow the economy to slip into the valley of recession again? Is the nation well equipped to manage the resulting explosive inflation and unemployment rates?”

According to him, in the short term the disruption occasioned by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia will continue to heavily ruffle the global energy space and upset the supply of petroleum products thereby causing persistent increase in the price of refined petroleum products including AGO.