Hello ODI Supporter,
There are lies, damned lies, and labour statistics. Well, if you’re President Donald J Trump that is. News broke way past my bedtime last Friday that the US President had fired the federal government official in charge of US labour data, hours after the published figures painted a far from rosy picture of job growth since Trump took office. Not only did job growth fall below predictions for July, but the figures for May and June were revised down. As the story rumbled into this week, US commentators pointed out that the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics plays no role in collecting the data, and would have only seen them a few days before publication, while others said there is no substitute for high-quality, nonpartisan data from the federal government. Still, Trump had previously taken to social media with SHOUTY CAPITALS, saying the figures were ‘RIGGED’ to make him look bad, with revisions ‘CONCOCTED’ to make the party's success less impressive. But writing in the Financial Times, former commissioners in the US Bureau of Labor Statistics said that “Without the strong foundation of federal statistics, we would lack nationally consistent, transparent and trustworthy data about people and the economy.” This could then put off future commissioners taking roles, erode public trust, and reduce response rates to surveys by employers and employees. So, it’ll either be fine or it’ll have grave consequences in the long term for the US economy. Let’s see.
There was uproar in Sweden this week as it emerged that prime minister Ulf Kristersson admitted he regularly uses AI tools for a second opinion on running the country. Tech experts voiced concerns about politicians using Chat GPT and the like in such a way, while a professor of responsible artificial intelligence at Umeå University said AI would merely reflect the views of those who made it, and was incapable of giving meaningful political opinions. So let’s keep an eye on how the constituents of Leeds South West and Morley react now that they have an AI bot to interact with. MP Mark Sewards has worked with an AI startup to create an avatar of himself to help people with policy queries and local issues. He said using the technology will allow people to access support "24/7 365 days a year". However, friend of the ODI Dr Susan Oman, a senior lecturer in data, AI and society at the University of Sheffield, warned "There is the risk here that as an MP you are trying to be more efficient and more present for your constituents, but the knock-on effect is they feel less listened to."
Synthetic data has been gaining traction in recent years as a means of increasing the availability of data that, while deemed valuable, may be sensitive in nature and/or in limited supply. But while there are promising studies that demonstrate the potential of using synthetic data to address data challenges within health research, there remain technical and ethical limitations. With support from GSK, we published a report this week looking at these limitations in an attempt to identify opportunities in which synthetic data could be used more widely to enable health research. Check it out. We’ve also got a great webinar coming up on Wednesday 17 September 09:30 - 10:30 BST. Join Ramon Abraham Sarmiento, Deputy Director at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, as he delves into the pressing issue of disclosure risks within the contemporary big data landscape, focusing particularly on the growing use of “dark patterns”. Tickets are free so get yours now.
And finally…Rod Stewart (not words I ever thought I’d type in The Week in Data) found himself incurring the wrath of the Prince of Darkness while on tour in the US. Well, fans of the Prince of Darkness at least. During his song Forever Young, the model railway enthusiast and pothole filler showed a film on the big screens depicting an AI-generated Ozzy Osbourne using a selfie stick to snap pictures of himself with other dead stars, including Kurt Cobain, Prince and Tina Turner. One post on social media described it as “a new low” for terrible AI visuals. I have a feeling we’re just getting started.
