• Elizabeth Dangerfield wrote about the areas of exponential growth responsible for most of the existential problems facing the world.
• Declan Humphreys considered the unlikelihood of artificial intelligence being kept free of ideological bias. 
• And I reported on the push for an end to discrimination and unfair treatment against non-religious Australians in government institutions and programs. 

For much of the past decade, conservative religious groups have dominated the public discussion with demands for ‘religious freedom’ and religious rights. Yet, such debates have ignored our nation’s international commitments to the equal treatment of religion and belief. Many non-religious Australians – particularly supporters of the organisations behind the submission to the Human Rights Council – feel that, for too long, our voices have been ignored by parliaments and governments. We are now seeking a fair go and an end to this discrimination.

The ‘growth is essential’ strategy has worked well for us if you are not worried about equity and equality. Over the last 200 years humans have been amazingly successful. While this success may have come at the expense of many, and been patchy in its effect around the world, on the whole it has had a remarkable effect on the quality of life of ordinary people. Many people who live in well-developed and wealthy countries can honestly say they have lived in the best of times. So many of the developments in the last 200 hundred years have been extraordinary and unprecedented.

In July, the United States government made it clear that artificial intelligence (AI) companies wanting to do business with the White House will need to ensure their AI systems are “objective and free from top-down ideological bias”. In an executive order on “preventing woke AI in the federal government”, President Donald Trump refers to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives as an example of a biased ideology. The apparent contradiction of calling for unbiased AI while also dictating how AI models should discuss DEI shows the notion of ideologically free AI is a fantasy.

There is no excuse for antisemitism, which is abhorrent. However, criticising the excessive force being used by the Israeli Defence Force is a different matter altogether. The world community should be able to criticise and condemn the excessive force being used by the IDF without being accused of antisemitism.