by marketing | Feb 19, 2024 | News @ ORT, Old News
Artificial Hearts – the complex bond between human and AI
Saying ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ to machines like Alexa and ChatGPT has become ordinary, raising intriguing questions about our emotional connections to artificial entities. Sci-fi movies, books, and games have extensively explored the love connection between robots and humans, sparking curiosity about the potential Artificial Intelligence (AI) holds for the nature of interactions between machines and humans.
Robots seem to mystify us all. We often relate to them as if they were conscious beings, attributing to them intelligence that surpasses ours, despite knowing they are merely machines. As robots become an integral part of our lives, our hardwired social nature prompts us to treat them like humans. This unconscious response is triggered by anything that looks, moves, sounds, and interacts like us.
Current AI systems do not possess emotions or consciousness. They operate based on algorithms and data, making decisions and generating responses from programmed instructions and learned patterns. While AI can simulate understanding and responses that mimic empathy or emotional intelligence, this does not indicate true emotional experience or understanding.
Humans are capable of forming attachments not only to living beings like pets but also to fictional characters and machines. This extends to AI and robots, especially as they become more advanced in mimicking human-like interactions, fostering a sense of connection or affection towards machines.
Studies find that when humans interact with robots, people from all walks of life, across different age groups and genders, tend to be emotionally impacted. In one study, the same brain zones activate when a robot says ‘I love you’ as they do for a significant other, highlighting the depth of the impact the machines have over our emotions too.
The idea of love or deep emotional connections between humans and machines raises numerous ethical questions. It challenges our notions of relationship, companionship, and love, which are traditionally based on mutual emotional understanding and experience. Concerns about social isolation and the impact on human relationships grow if individuals begin to prefer interactions with machines over human connections. Extensive use of robots can lead to atrophy in social skills, making people less connected, more withdrawn, and lonelier.
Machines operated by generative AI lack emotional and creative intelligence, and yet, as a society, we tend to overestimate their intelligence due to their high computational capabilities. It’s crucial to examine the value we assign to different types of intelligences.
As AI technology advances, the interactions between humans and machines will likely become more complex, leading to profound questions about the nature of emotion, artificial consciousness, and the potential for machines to understand or even reciprocate love in a way that humans find meaningful. Addressing these challenges emphasizes the importance of maintaining human connections in the age of AI.”
by marketing | Jan 24, 2024 | News @ ORT, Old News, Uncategorized
Celebrating International Education Day
We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, different festivals, and many other occasions to mark special moments. International Education Day is equally important, though perhaps less recognized. A key factor that distinguishes humans from other mammals is our ability to learn, grow, and transfer skills and knowledge. More than this, we have the unique capacity to share this learning, impacting our families and communities.
ORT SA, an education-focused NGO, believes in the transformative power of education. Education exceeds the mere imparting of academic knowledge; it enables individuals to discover their potential, passion, and purpose in life, charting a course towards a better future.
ORT’s STEM, Coding, and Robotics programs in schools, along with our Skills Development courses and Enterprise Development initiatives, have demonstrated that education equips people with the capability and confidence to secure decent work, create enterprises, and contribute positively to their families and communities. Knowledge and skills are essential tools that can lift people out of poverty, increasing opportunities and fostering true empowerment.
However, we must ensure that the power of education reaches every corner. In South Africa, socioeconomic factors still prevent many from accessing quality education and using it as a force for positive change. This is why ORT SA partners with communities, corporates and stakeholders to break down these barriers through targeted programs. By establishing IT-related vocational training, digital skills programs, and entrepreneurship support, we pave the way for youth, women, and other groups to gain employment or start their own ventures.
On this International Day of Education, I call on governments, businesses, and civil society organizations to join hands in strengthening equitable, quality education throughout South Africa. Let’s collaborate to provide technology integration, teacher training, and inclusive education programs, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to learn, grow, and contribute to our nation’s progress.
by marketing | Dec 12, 2023 | News @ ORT, Old News
Dear Friends, Stakeholders, and Supporters,
As the festive season of December draws near, a time filled with twinkling lights and warm gatherings, we are reminded of the theme of light that resonates so deeply with our diverse culture and our vision of lifelong education here at ORT SA.
In many cultures, light is a symbol of hope, guidance, and enlightenment. It pushes back the darkness and brings clarity to our paths. This metaphor beautifully aligns with the essence of education – learning is a way to dispel the shadows of ignorance and illuminate the road to knowledge, understanding, and empowerment.
This year, as we celebrate amongst the glow of festive lights, let’s think about the transformative power of education. The greatest gift anyone can receive is not wrapped in glittering paper or tied with a bow. It is the gift of learning, the key to unlocking potential and opening doors to new possibilities.
Our commitment at ORT SA has always been to ensure that this gift reaches as many minds as possible, especially those in the most previously disadvantaged communities. Education is not just about acquiring knowledge; it’s about lighting a fire of curiosity, fostering a spirit of inquiry, and nurturing the ability to think critically and creatively.
As we move into the holiday season and look towards a new year, I am grateful for your support, passion, and belief in our mission. At ORT SA, we are not just teaching Coding, IT, Business, Math or Science; we are igniting the lights of change, with the hope for a brighter future for all.
May this festive season fill your homes with joy, your hearts with love, and your minds with the light of wisdom
Yours in Education,
Ariellah Rosenberg
by marketing | Mar 1, 2023 | Old News
The Scholas World Youth Encounter took place in Panama and continues World ORT’s collaboration with Pope Francis’s Scholas Occurrentes Foundation. ORT student and staff delegations travelled to Panama City from countries including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Israel, Spain and South Africa. In total, 50 students from 18 countries shared their experiences of life in their home cities. The four-day program featured art, music and sport sessions while encouraging the teenagers to learn more about themselves, their peers, their religions and the world around them. Three scholars from South Africa participated in the event and Tali, a student from South Africa, said: “This experience opened my eyes to how many cultures there are, how many languages, how to communicate with people – it’s been great.”
by marketing | Feb 27, 2023 | Old News
ORT SA is taking steps toward a more sustainable future to meet the challenges of unsustainable consumption, climate change, and growing inequality.
ORT SA has recently installed solar at their premises in Houghton, Johannesburg as yet another way to implement solutions that will help accelerate and prioritise the delivery of targeted SDGs and Environmental Social Governance measures. Seen in picture: ORT SA’s Green Team and the solar panels.
by marketing | Feb 27, 2023 | Old News
ORT SA CEO Ariellah Rosenberg visited Chai FM to speak on the relaunch of the CareerHub on 10 February and the focus on AI in the future, please follow this to hear more on the CareerHub and how you can join in on our chats: https://lnkd.in/d2CtPQFN
