Up First from NPR - Disease In Gaza, New York Times vs. ChatGPT, Hottest Year On Record

Episode Date: December 28, 2023

The World Health Organization warns that disease could kill more people in Gaza than the bombings, if living conditions and health care systems do not improve. The New York Times sues the makers of ChatGPT, saying the chatbot threatens the digital news industry. Plus, 2023 is likely to be the hottest year on record and some scientists say we're not prepared for what's coming.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Neela Banerjee, Gabriel Spitzer, Denice Rios and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Julie Depenbrock, Mansee Khurana and Chad Campbell. We get engineering support from Hannah Gluvna. And our technical director is Zac Coleman.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In Gaza, the lack of clean water, food and sanitation has public health officials worried. This really just is an infectious disaster in waiting. What's being done to prevent a deadly outbreak? I'm Asma Khalid, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. The New York Times is suing OpenAI and Microsoft, saying they used copyrighted material to develop ChatGPT. The Times says its reputation is at stake. What does this mean for artificial intelligence and the future of digital journalism? And 2023 is almost certain to be the hottest year ever recorded.

If we keep going on the trajectory we're going, we will look back at 2023 and think of it as, you know, remember that year that wasn't so bad. How hot is 2024 expected to be? Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day. Now, our change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. In Gaza, access to food, sanitation and clean water is scarce as the war between Hamas and Israel rages on. The World Health Organization warns disease may eventually kill more people

than actual combat if the health system is not fixed. We've got NPR's Ari Daniel here to walk us through what's being done to try to stay ahead of an outbreak. Ari, first off, can you give us a snapshot of infectious disease in Gaza right now? What's it looking like? Sure, it's bad, and it may well get worse. The WHO says rates are, quote, soaring. Here's one example, a more than 100,000 cases of diarrhea, with rates among children that are 25 times higher than before the war. Our producer Anas Baba spoke to pediatrician Tahreer Alsheikh, who's seen some brutal cases of diarrhea. I treated a four-month-old baby who had 20 bowel movements in a day.

Along with a torrent of respiratory diseases. I've had cases that didn't respond to any treatment. The WHO says there are also numerous cases of meningitis, rashes, scabies, lice, and chicken pox. Wow. Now, and we hear how hard it is to treat people who are hurt and sick right now. Ari, what combination of conditions created the situation where an infectious disease disaster could really be right around the corner? Well, Gaza's health infrastructure has really crumbled amidst Israel's bombardment and ground offensive. The WHO says more than half of Gaza's hospitals are no longer functioning. And that's because Israel has accused Hamas of harboring fighters and weapons in and around those hospitals and under them in tunnels, putting them in the line of fire.

Plus, the conditions inside Gaza are a perfect storm for the spread of infectious disease. There is intense overcrowding, colder winter weather, and a lack of clean water, sanitation, and proper nutrition, which are services that are difficult to secure under Israel's near-total siege of Gaza. Here's Amber Alyan, Deputy Program Manager for Doctors Without Borders in the Palestinian Territories. It's just sort of a cauldron of possibility of infectious disease. This really just is an infectious disaster in waiting. And that brings us back, I suppose, to the World Health Organization's

prediction that disease could endanger more lives in military action. Exactly. And it's why global health groups are racing to ramp up disease surveillance efforts. What did that look like in Gaza before the war? Pretty good, actually, despite the Israeli blockade. But the wars compromised all that. Here's Dr. Asheikh again. We used to culture bacteria in Gaza, prescribe medication based on the results. Now we can't do cultures or anything, and the infections are spreading. So then what are public health professionals doing to try and catch an outbreak before it even

takes off? Well, a WHO official recently traveled to Gaza with rapid tests for hepatitis and cholera. They want to resuscitate one or two of the local laboratories that used to do pathogen screening. Negotiations are also underway to bring a mobile lab into Gaza or ferry specimens out to Egypt for testing. For now, Rick Brennan, a regional emergency director with the WHO, told me it's fortunate that terrible diseases like measles or cholera haven't yet surfaced. To be honest, I'm grateful that we've got to this point. We've got increased rates, but we haven't had a deadly outbreak yet. Whether that good fortune lasts isn't certain, but early detection will be critical to keeping potential disease outbreaks contained before they lead to further suffering.

That is NPR's Ari Daniel. Ari, thank you. Thanks so much for having me. The New York Times is taking ChatGPT to court. The paper filed a federal lawsuit yesterday alleging that OpenAI, that's the creator of ChatGPT, made the chatbot powerful by using millions of Times articles without permission and without payment. It's the latest copyright infringement case filed against OpenAI in recent months. We're joined now by NPR tech correspondent Bobby Allen. So the New York Times, Bobby, is the first major media publisher to sue OpenAI.

Microsoft was also named. They're a big backer of OpenAI. What's the New York Times want to get out of this lawsuit? Yeah, well, let's start at the beginning here. Lawyers for the Times say OpenAI fed ChatGPT millions of stories from the Times website. Now, OpenAI did this because that's how ChatGPT millions of stories from the Times website. Now, OpenAI did this because that's how ChatGPT works, right? It swallows vast amounts of text from the internet and uses that as data to make ChatGPT smarter. The problem is that some of that text is copyrighted. And for months,

OpenAI and the Times have tried to hammer out some kind of licensing deal where OpenAI would pay the paper for use of its articles, but those talks have collapsed over how much money OpenAI should pay to the newspaper. Now, this isn't the first copyright lawsuit OpenAI has seen. What have they said in response to this one? Yeah, an OpenAI spokesperson said the company was, quote, surprised and disappointed by the lawsuit. The company says it respects the rights of content creators and is committed to making sure they benefit from new AI technology. Now, in the past, OpenAI executives have defended the company's massive scraping of the internet

under something that is known as fair use doctrine. It's basically a legal theory that says in certain circumstances, like in academic research or commentary or parody, copyrighted material can be used without permission. But the Times says fair use does not apply here. In fact, the Times says OpenAI has become a direct competitor of the Times' website, since people can ask ChatGPT a question and be served up answers that lift huge chunks from the Times' stories. And the lawyers point out that ChatGPT is question and be served up answers that lift huge chunks from the Times' stories. And the lawyers point out that ChatGPT is often citing the Times incorrectly, claiming the paper reported things it never has reported, which of course is a huge problem for the

paper's credibility and reputation. Yeah, Bobby, this sounds like it could be a massive game changer. How could this lawsuit maybe reshape the world of digital publishing? Yeah, it's fair to say the entire digital publishing industry is on edge about generative AI tools like ChatGPT that, you know, can create something new based on these big data sets. There are fears about job loss, fears over AI turbocharging misinformation online, and a concern that AI companies like OpenAI are becoming popular on the backs of copyright holders. Prominent writers,

comedians, and Getty Images have all sued AI companies over this. And some publishers like the Associated Press and German media giant Axel Springer have gone the opposite way and hammered out licensing deals with OpenAI. But the Times has chosen other path, and this legal fight could have repercussions for, you know, both the AI industry and online journalism. Oh, how so? Yeah, well, the Times is asking for ChatGPT's enormous data set to be destroyed since it contains copyrighted material that the paper says was used illegally. OpenAI could then be forced by the court to try to recreate these huge data sets using only work it is authorized to use. And for tools like ChatGPTA, the data is everything. I mean, data is gold, right? That's how it generates all its responses.

So this would be an incredibly disruptive, if not impossible task for the company. Other AI companies with similar business models will be watching this lawsuit closely, as will other publishers whose work has been harvested without permission by ChatGPT. That's NPR's Bobby Allen covering the tech world for us. Bobby, thanks. Thank you, A. We want to note that Microsoft is a financial supporter of NPR. Scientists think that when it comes to global heat, 2023 will be one for the record books. Temperatures around the world were extremely hot this year. So will it be the hottest year ever recorded?

Lauren Sommer from NPR's Climate Desk is here with the answer. Lauren, I'm on the edge of my seat. Where does 2023 rank? Yeah, so there are a few days of December left, of course, but it's virtually certain that 2023 will be the hottest year on record. That's in the last century and a half where humans have measured the temperature, and it's likely going back the last 125,000 years where scientists have reconstructed the temperature record.

You know, the second half of 2023 had some really hot months globally, like September, that pushed it over the top. And this caps what's already a really hot decade. The past eight years have been the hottest eight on record. So is this something that scientists expected, or is it something about climate change that's somehow speeding up? Yeah, you know, it's something climate scientists are watching closely. Some say it could be accelerating, but others say, you know, there needs to be more data, more information from future years to say that. I talked to Zeke

Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, which is a nonprofit that analyzes climate trends. And he says a year like this one has a clear link to all the fossil fuels that humans are burning. We know why this is happening. You know, this, a year like this would not have occurred without the trillion tons of carbon that we've put into the atmosphere over the last century. Yeah. And we've seen what the world looks like and feels like at these kind of temperatures this year. A lot of disasters. I remember Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona was so hot at one point where it was just insane how hot it was there. Yeah, yeah. That was record-breaking.

You know, over the summer, Phoenix spent 31 days above 110 degrees. More than 500 people died in the area from heat-related causes. But it wasn't alone. You know, China, Southern Europe, Mexico all saw extreme heat waves. And Christy Ebay, who is a scientist at the University of Washington who studies heat, says, you know, that should be a wake-up call. A major lesson is how unprepared we are, that there are places with heat wave early warning and response systems. They certainly saved lives. They didn't save enough. You know, there were also heat waves in the ocean. In July, the water off Florida hit 100 degrees,

which is, you know, hot tub level, basically. Corals really can't survive that temperature, and there was a major die-off on the reef there. Okay, so that's 2023, which is almost over. Can we start a clean slate, Lauren, for 2024, or is 2024 going to take over the top spot? You know, there's a decent chance it might take the top spot, because right now an El Nino climate pattern is beginning. It basically means a whole bunch of heat that's been stored in the ocean gets released into the atmosphere. So El Nino years are hot years, and this is a strong El Nino. But even if next year

doesn't take that top spot, you know, scientists say this trend will continue, like Tessa Hill, who is a marine scientist at the University of California, Davis. If we don't change things, if we keep going on the trajectory we're going, we will look back at 2023 and think of it as, you know, remember that year that wasn't so bad. She says, you know, every little bit that humans can do to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the use of fossil fuels will help slow this trend. And there is still time to do that. That's Lauren Sommer from NPR's Climate Desk. Lauren, thanks a lot. Thank you.

And that's Up First for Thursday, December 28th. I'm Amy Martinez. And I'm Asma Khalid. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Neela Banerjee, Gabriel Spitzer, Denise Rios, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Julie Deppenbrock, Manzi Khurana, and Chad Campbell. We get engineering support from Hannah Glovna, and our technical director is Zach Coleman. Start your day again with us here tomorrow. And there's a very easy way to stay connected to news and podcasts from the NPR network. That's the NPR app. Hear community coverage from your local stations, stories from around the world, and podcast suggestions based on what you like. Download the NPR app in your app store and you can listen to this podcast sponsor-free while financially supporting public media with Upburst Plus.

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