The Betrayal of Responsibility: Academia’s Blindness and the Shield of Stupidity

OmegaPro has been exposed as a massive Ponzi scheme, primarily centered around forex trading and cryptocurrency, luring investors with promises of returns as high as 300%. This fraudulent operation has impacted millions of people across more than 55 countries.   https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65038949

The credibility of OmegaPro was further bolstered by the involvement of over 20 football legends, who participated in various events organized by the company. Renowned former players such as Luís Figo, Ronaldinho, Kaká (pictured above), Iker Casillas, Marco Materazzi, John Terry, Wesley Sneijder, and others lent their star power to these events, unwittingly or otherwise, giving the scheme a veneer of legitimacy. This incident raises a crucial question about the ethical responsibilities of celebrities and public figures. Are they liable for the economic chaos caused by their greedy endorsements, while sitting on fortunes worth hundreds of millions of euros, or can their stupidity shield them from accountability?

The most striking irony emerges with undeniable clarity upon examining the contents of the Scopus database. When one conducts a search using the keyword "Ponzi" within the title, the database returns a scant 200 documents. In stark contrast, a search for the term "fashion" floods the database with an overwhelming 18,262 results. This glaring disparity compels us to confront a significant and troubling question: Does this imbalance suggest that academia exhibits a profound indifference toward financial schemes that wreak havoc on the lives of millions?

PS - This academic disconnection is not a new concern. Years ago, a French historian affiliated with the University of Paris-XIII argued that universities are becoming increasingly insular, fixated on their own academic agendas paying limited attention to pressing public issues. https://pacheco-torgal.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-role-of-academia-towards-type-1.html The OmegaPro Ponzi scheme serves as a stark reminder that this detachment can have dire consequences. If universities do not take an active role in addressing and preempting such crises, who will? 

Declaration of competing interests - Back on January 21 i wrote: "Within the contours of this envisioned civilization... football players would inevitably find themselves...relegated to a tier analogous to "monkeys..."

The list of companies that are producing the most highy cited research and patents in Artificial Intelligence-AI

In May, I embarked on a comprehensive comparative analysis of three leading generative AI models, challenging them with the task of identifying the most paramount question of all. One of these models, Scopus AI, responded by listing several influential publications, most notably the groundbreaking paper titled "Attention is All You Need.". https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/05/a-comparative-analysis-among-three.html

This paper has had a profound impact on the field of artificial intelligence, not only propelling its authors to substantial financial success but also achieving a remarkable academic milestone: it has garnered over 50,000 citations in just seven years on the Scopus platform. 

Remarkably, just a few days ago, the prestigious journal Nature highlighted the enduring impact of the "Attention is All You Need" paper in an article that explored the realm of highly cited AI research. The article pointed out that the most cited AI publications are overwhelmingly produced by companies based in North America and China. As the accompanying image reveals, European companies are alarmingly trailing behind in this critical domain. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02515-1

PS -  This situation reinforces the relevance of revisiting the insights shared in the earlier post titled "Tech Titans Clash: America vs. China in the Race for Innovation Supremacy" https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/06/tech-titans-clash-america-vs-china-in.html

A pergunta mais importante que pode existir e a inevitável tragédia europeia

No passado mês de Maio, comparei o desempenho de três modelos de IA generativa, quando questionados sobre qual era a pergunta mais importante que pode existir https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/05/a-comparative-analysis-among-three.html

Na resposta a esse pedido, um dos referidos modelos (Scopus AI) listou várias publicações, nomeadamente uma de título "Attention is All You Need", que não só tornou os seus autores super-ricos, mas que em apenas 7 (sete) anos recebeu mais de 50.000 citações na referida plataforma, o que é um feito extraordinário, pois quando se analisam as mais de meio milhão de publicações, produzidas em Portugal e indexadas nessa plataforma, constata-se que nunca houve alguma que tivesse chegado perto de 50.000 citações. O artigo mais citado de sempre, com co-autoria de um cientista Português é um artigo de titulo "The electronic properties of graphene", onde participou um catedrático da Universidade do Minho e dois vencedores do prémio Nobel da Fisica, artigo esse que até hoje recebeu 21.000 citações. 

Curiosamente há poucos dias atrás, um artigo publicado na prestigiada revista Nature, fazia referência à tal altamente citada publicação, de título "Attention is All You Neeed". Nesse artigo fica-se a saber que são de nacionalidade Norte-Americana e Chinesa as empresas que andam a publicar os artigos mais citados na área da inteligência artificial. Vide infografia abaixo. As empresas europeias, essas parece que andam a ver passar os comboios, ao invés de prestarem a devida atenção aquilo que é não só muito importante como até crucial para o futuro da economia europeia, sobre o qual pairam várias ameaças. https://19-pacheco-torgal-19.blogspot.com/2024/03/the-economist-impending-economic.html

PS - No contexto supra vale a pena revisitar o post do passado dia 14 de Junho "Os políticos Portugueses são distraídos ou padecem de tacanhez mental profunda?"