Another major conclusion is the distrust of institutions to remedy this situation. Qs 2 and 3 show a marked distrust in big tech companies and the federal government to help. In contrast, Qs 4, 5, 6, and 7 suggest people are more confident that education, culture, leadership, and AI are likely to be more useful. Better education stands out as the most powerful force for change.

Finally, we can see bipolar distributions of the data showing the prevalent divide in attitudes toward government, culture, leadership AI and education.

In short, the mis/disinformation problem is deadly serious, it is here to stay, and companies and governments are not likely to help. But there seems to be hope in reforming education, social cultures, leadership and AI applications.

This analysis is supported by the many comments also included below, but opinion varies widely, as noted in the bipolar data. To fully appreciate the richness of this complex issue, please look over the comments and savor the wide diversity of viewpoints. You will be grateful for the thought poured into this crucial study.

An insightful conclusion runs through these comments. There is a compelling suggestion that mis/disinformation should be penalized through fines, dropping service, or some form of "penalty" to discourage misuse of the media.  An authoritative body, aiding by good AI, would have to judge when mis/disinformation has occurred, of course. But that's needed in any case. This strategy of "internalizing social costs" has been shown to be a powerful regulator of behavior with minimal intrusion."

We received a flurry of interest on this topic because mis/disinformation is such a serious issue today. These results provide a penetrating analysis of another pathbreaking TechCast study, and we now invite our readers to use it for their own purposes. Please also consider posting this work on your social media and publishing it in magazines or journals you can access.  If you want to help curb mis/disinformation, how about sending the above bar chart to all your friends and associates? As always, make sure you credit the TechCast Project as your source.

We always welcome problems, good ideas, and constructive suggestions on this study and the newsletter itself.

Thanks for your continuing support. The TechCast Team

Exxon, Shell and Other Big Oil Companies Forced to Address Climate

Exxon was forced to accept two climate activists who were voted onto its board of directors. Meanwhile, A Dutch court forced Royal Dutch Shell to make deeper, faster cuts to its climate-warming emissions, setting a legal precedent that may plague other oil companies. Coming on the heels of the Business Roundtable announcement that overturned shareholder supremacy, is this the end of "business as usual"?





 

Virgin Galactic took two people to the very edge of suborbital space for the first time in more than two years, and its third time overall.  This flight was the first of four planned crewed missions slated for this year, and they will all be crucial to the company proving it can fly quickly, consistently, and safely. Virgin Galactic plans to launch 400 space tourism flights from the site, called Spaceport America. And later Jeff Bezos himself was on board the maiden flight of his space vehicle, Blue Origin.  




 

Germany Gives Greenlight to Driverless Vehicles 

Germany has adopted legislation that will allow driverless vehicles on public roads by 2022, laying out a path for companies to deploy robo taxis and delivery services in the country at scale. While autonomous testing is currently permitted in Germany, this would allow operations of driverless vehicles without a human safety operator behind the wheel.  With driverless cars roaming the streets of Germany, how much longer can it take to do the same everywhere?