AI +++ Fidutam +++ Influencing lawmakers +++ Absolutely Intercultural 304

Fidutam logoWe’re going to be talking about responsible technology. That may sound a bit vague, so I’ll share a few more hints about where we ‘re going. This is about an initiative by, and for, young people. We’ll be talking to the president of Fidutam ,  a small but global civil society organisation which started by using secure tech to enable small loans to young people. But there’s more, they have also developed technology to enable anyone, but especially young people, to be able to learn almost anything using generative AI tools for free, a sort of study buddy if you like.  

Fidutam have also worked out how to influence policy makers and have contributed to consultations in the USA and Europe. To me, this is an intriguing mix of activities for a global organisation that is focused on, and run by, young people.

absolutely AI

And just so you know, we recorded this in December 2024 so the AI and political landscape may have changed a great deal by the time you’re listening to this. Maestro should be up and running now that we are in 2025 so that you could try it out yourself. If you do, let us know how it went. I first found out about Fidutam from an article in the New Scientist magazine from 2023 and I am really amazed at the influence they seem to have built up with the politicians. What about you? What do you think the politicians should be doing to ensure AI develops in a good way over your lifetime?

Thanks for listening and if you have a story to tell then don’t hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment. We are also on Apple podcasts and Spotify where you can give us a rating.

Our next show will be coming to you from Laurent Borgmann in Germany on 4th April.

Until then, stay tuned!

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absolutely intercultural 130 +++ China’s one child policy +++ Speaking ‘merican +++ Vicki Hollett +++ indirectness +++

The picture is of me holding our European Podcast Award, beautiful but heavy, together with the Olympus DM 55o Digital Voice Recorder which I used to record this show. OK I promise that this is the last time I’ll mention it! Thanks for the votes and thanks to the whole Absolutely Intercultural team which keeps the whole thing going.

absolutely lost
Tingting Yang is a Chinese teacher of English and corporate communication advisor. There was lots to talk about but having done a Masters in Intercultural Communication and working as an intercultural trainer with Verge Cross-cultural Communication. There was one aspect of Chinese policy which Tingting was convinced has had a huge effect on Chinese culture and that is the one-child policy.

absolutely ‘merican
Now I want to introduce you to Vicki Hollett, author of several successful English language learning books. Vicki is British but moved to the US about ten years ago. Her book Business Objectives, had been very successful in its original British English version so her publisher suggested that they make an American English version. We hear about positive and negative politeness and indirectness as used in Britain and America. To test our understanding of indirect English, Vicki produced a dialogue in which two people discuss what to do about a project which is behind schedule. Is the outcome clear?

And if you need a bit of structured listening or writing practice then you can find several different types of dictation exercises based on a snippet of that interview at the Listen and Write website.

Our next show will be coming to you from Dr. Laurent Borgmann in Germany on18th March

So long … stay tuned!

The host of this show is Anne Fox : Editor: Markus Scherer

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