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Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Personal Finance

By
TI Partners
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0

Artificial intelligence (AI) significantly changes how we handle our finances. It is quickly altering the traditional methods of getting financial advice and making investment decisions. Financial advisors no longer have exclusive control over financial knowledge. Now, AI and machine learning technologies provide personalized financial advice and more intelligent investment options.

Adding to the discussion of technology in finance, VPN apps have become increasingly relevant as they are crucial for protecting financial transactions conducted over the Internet. They offer a secure connection, encrypting data and shielding personal information from potential cyber threats. Using authentication tools is also important for protecting financial accounts from unauthorized access.

The Essence of AI and Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence, in the context of personal finance, refers to the capability of machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Machine learning is a subset of AI, focusing on using data and algorithms to imitate how humans learn, gradually improving its accuracy. Unlike traditional computing, AI doesn’t just follow a set of rules. It learns from vast amounts of data, identifying patterns and making decisions with minimal human intervention.

AI-Powered Personal Financial Management

Personal Financial Management (PFM) tools have become widely used, and artificial intelligence (AI) is adding advanced features. These AI-enhanced tools are capable of examining how you spend your money. They can advise you on budgeting more effectively and even estimate your future financial state.

These tools use AI to understand your spending habits over time. With this information, they can provide personalized advice to help you manage your money better. They can suggest where to cut expenses or how to adjust your budget to meet your financial goals.

An example is how an AI system can alert you to the risk of spending more money than you have in your account. By doing so, it helps you avoid overdrawing your account and the high fees that come with it. This predictive feature of AI-driven PFM tools can be a significant aid in preventing financial missteps.

Machine Learning and Investment Decisions

Machine learning excels in sifting through complex market data to identify investment opportunities. By recognizing subtle patterns and trends, it can predict market movements with significant accuracy. For example, AI-driven investment platforms utilize algorithms like neural networks to forecast stock performance, giving individual investors insights once available only to professionals.

Tailoring Financial Advice with AI

Robo-advisors, automated financial advising systems using artificial intelligence, are changing the way financial advice is given. They collect information about your financial objectives and how much risk you’re willing to take. Then, they offer investment advice that fits your profile. These digital advisors make it easier for you to get personalized investment help without needing a human financial advisor.

According to data from Statista, it’s expected that robo-advisors will have $2.76 trillion in assets under management by 2023. This large amount indicates that more people are beginning to trust these AI-driven systems, often preferring them over the traditional, human-centric advising methods. The convenience and tailored advice robo-advisors provide are significant factors in their growing popularity.

Challenges and Responsibilities

Introducing artificial intelligence into personal finance brings certain difficulties. One of the main issues is data privacy. People are concerned about how their financial information is handled and kept secure. They want to be assured that their sensitive data is not misused or improperly accessed.

Additionally, the laws and regulations that govern financial advice are trying to adapt to the rapid advancement of AI technology. These rules are being updated to guarantee that the financial guidance provided by AI is fair and that the processes behind AI decisions are clear to users and regulators alike.

The Road Ahead for AI in Finance

The trajectory for AI in personal finance points to a future rich with innovation. We’re looking at the advent of technologies that not only automate transactions but also provide foresight into financial health. The job market for financial advisors will undoubtedly evolve as AI takes on more analytical load, freeing professionals to focus on more complex client needs.

Conclusion

The integration of AI into personal finance is not a fleeting phenomenon. It’s a significant shift in how individuals engage with financial institutions and manage their wealth. Embracing AI in personal finance is becoming not just an option but a necessity for those seeking to maximize their financial potential. AI will undoubtedly lead us to a future where financial advice is more accessible, investments more strategic, and personal finance management more intuitive.

Getting Through Russia’s Elections in 2024

By
Mutiu Iyanda
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0
Figure 2: Confidence in political leaders and electoral rating of political parties Source: Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 2023

 

The Russian Federation has held seven presidential elections since the role of President of Russia was established in 1991. The country will have its eighth presidential election in 2024. Under President Vladimir Putin’s leadership, Russia has exhibited endurance in the face of economic hardships, international sanctions, and isolation. President Putin, a visionary political leader, has guided the country through crises, demonstrating that nations can weather the storm of global sanctions and isolation with the correct measures.

Despite the obstacles provided by sanctions, isolation, and the pandemic, President Putin’s crisis leadership style has received plaudits from a variety of local and international groups. Despite hurdles, the pillars used to judge his national and global success have stayed consistent from 2020 to the present. President Putin’s skillful handling of internal political intricacies has promoted solidarity among political and economic elites, resulting in greater economic well-being for both citizens and outsiders.

Russia has shown economic resilience in the face of sanctions and greater isolation. President Putin’s careful allocation of the country’s resources to sectors with significant benefits for Russians and allies across the world has been critical in sustaining economic stability. Despite Western isolation, Russia has maintained connections with governments around the world, increasing its network of allies. Putin and his staff have skillfully handled the socioeconomic environment, keeping it under control, through vigorous diplomatic measures targeted at mutual advantage.

Notably, two prominent Russian sociological centres, the official Russian Public Opinion Research Centre and the private Public Opinion Foundation, came to the same conclusion about Putin’s widespread support among Russian residents. Their analysis agrees on one critical point: if President Vladimir Putin declares his intention to compete for re-election, no plausible rival will emerge.

Figure 1: Like to see Vladimir Putin as a president of Russia after the expiration of his current presidential term, after 2024?
Source: Statista, July, 2023

A survey conducted in June 2023 indicated that approximately 70% of 1,634 Russians, primarily those aged 18 and older, wanted Vladimir Putin to be reelected as the country’s president in 2024, when his current term would expire. This represented a four percent reduction from May 2022, but a significant 21 percent gain from September 2021. Furthermore, between September 2021 and June 2023, the percentage of individuals opposed to Putin serving another term substantially halved.

President Putin’s stanch backing shows a solid endorsement of his leadership and programmes. The decline in opposition over time reflects a greater acceptance and approval of his leadership. This degree of popularity demonstrates Putin’s ability to navigate the complexity of global politics while maintaining stability in the face of external threats.

As Russia approaches its eighth presidential election in 2024, the landscape is marked by a political environment where Putin appears to have a firm grip on public opinion. The combination of economic resilience, diplomatic finesse, and domestic political acumen positions President Putin as a formidable candidate. While challenges may persist, Putin’s double-edged national-geopolitics strategy seems to be steering Russia toward continued stability and global influence.

Figure 2: Confidence in political leaders and electoral rating of political parties
Source: Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 2023

On Photography and Desensitized Society

By
Mutiu Iyanda
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0

In the age of photography, a tool originally created to capture and preserve beloved memories has mutated into a double-edged sword, one that not only immortalizes the joys of life but also catches the stark realities of human misery. While the camera remains a valuable device for documentation, its pervasive presence has inadvertently contributed to the desensitization of society, numbing our moral sensitivity, particularly in times of crisis such as public lynchings.

With the development of photography, individuals were able to capture the essence of human experiences by freezing moments in time. Photography was a revolutionary invention. But as the lens changed from being a luxury to a feature on every smartphone, the nature of photography changed as well. Because taking pictures was instantaneous, people could record not just their own joys but also the happenings in society, even the cruelest and most agonizing occasions.

The camera has taken on dual roles in the context of public lynchings, acting as a moral degradation perpetrator and witness. People frequently prioritize the process of capturing over intervening, making the very tool that should elicit empathy and motivate action a passive observer. The photographer loses sight of the moral need to step in and help when they are focused on getting the ideal shot or creating viral content, and they stop caring about the suffering of people in front of them.

This problem is made worse by the widespread use of social media, where horrifying pictures spread quickly and are no longer contextualized. Instead of evoking a sense of shared outrage and compassion, these images frequently become just pixels on a screen, deafening viewers to the underlying tragedy of humankind. The constant barrage of upsetting pictures also contributes to the desensitization of society, making empathy seem insignificant in the face of so much photographic content.

Taking pictures of a crisis can cause attention to change from the victim to the image’s composition. The importance of framing, lighting, and angles increases, dehumanizing the subjects. This change in viewpoint pulls viewers away from the unfiltered feelings of the situation, turning real empathy into an objective appreciation of art.

In the quest of drawing attention in a visually saturated internet scene, there is a tendency to favor graphic material over ethical considerations. Public lynchings, which previously shocked the whole world, are occasionally reduced to being nothing more than spectacles that are watched and then forgotten like a feed on social media. The appeal of engagement numbers overrides the human agony depicted in these pictures.

The photographer’s role in these circumstances is also an ethical one; although documentation is essential for accountability and justice, it can be difficult to draw a distinction between bearing witness and taking advantage of the weak. Taking pictures can occasionally reinforce a voyeuristic culture in which people put their duty as documentarians ahead of their duty as fellow human beings.

In order to address the decline of moral sensibility in the era of photography, there needs to be a mental shift among people. It demands a return to the fundamental ideas of moral obligation, empathy, and compassion. Photographers and viewers alike must be conscious of the potential harm caused by the thoughtless dissemination of distressing images and strive to reclaim the human element within the frame.

While it remains a powerful tool for capturing the essence of the human experience, its pervasiveness has inadvertently led to a desensitization of society, particularly in the face of crises such as public lynchings. Reclaiming our moral sensibility necessitates a reevaluation of our relationship with the camera, emphasizing empathy over spectacle and ethical responsibility over virality.

The Fallen 300-Year-Old Tree in Ghana and the Physics of African Culture

By
Ndubuisi Ekekwe
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1

It was a major news story on BBC Newshour on Monday. Yes, someone had chopped down a famous 300-year-old kola tree in Ghana. Many Ghananians especially in the town of Feyiase were outraged because this tree was like a deity with mystical and healing powers. You cannot write the history of the legendary Ashanti Kingdom without mentioning this tree, indicating the treasured nature of this tree.

Who might have chopped it? And for what?

If you lived in the village as I did, you might have encountered young men who wanted to test their new belief by challenging and demonstrating that the gods are not indeed capable of defending themselves. Yes, they will go to the village stream to harvest fishes (abominations!) or draw water from streams with basins violently, when you are expected to gently scoop the water with small native bowls.

I was a member of my secondary school Scripture Union and we were part of the “anointed ones”, baptized and protected by the Blood. But going into a shallow freshwater village stream to kill fishes made no sense. I felt there was a Physics in the ordinance passed by the elders, despite anything the gods or norms or beliefs might have held.

In Ovim, while the Tantuta Ugwunta stream has an ordinance of not to fish therein, the Iyinta Obayi banned both fishing and using large buckets to scoop water. Examining the two streams, Tantuta flows from a higher level to a lower one which means there was no need to restrict on the scooping method since if you stir the lower level, it would not affect the source of the freshwater. But when you go to Ide (a bigger water body), all those rules vanish, allowing you to fish and do whatever you want!

Indeed, if you fish in shallow village streams, you will distort a source of drinking water, causing problems for the whole village. If you use a large bucket to scoop the water, you will distort its flow and it will take time to settle in slow flowing streams. So, to stop people from doing those things, norms are invented, scaring people. And most times, it was a tradition which has emerged as a means for people to preserve a way of living, and not necessarily connected to any absolute deity. So, when you kill those fishes, you may not be annoying any god; you are simply a stupid person who does not want people to have clean water!

People, do not chop native trees. Some of those trees may be the only survival herbs which have medicinal value. When people boil their leaves, they get better, and due to that villagers will come together to protect them. That tradition is passed from generation to generation. You do not need to destroy them just to prove your new faith because doing that is stupidity since most of the time, there is really nothing religious about them! 

It is all part of the physics of African culture; if they had invented a way of writing to chronicle them, you may be studying for a PhD to master them.

(Sure, some trees, fishes, etc have powers. Do not try)

Crypto.com Joins the World Economic Forum, ERC-4337 Account Abstraction on FuseBox

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

Crypto.com, one of the leading platforms for buying, selling and trading cryptocurrencies, has announced that it has joined the World Economic Forum (WEF) as a partner. The WEF is an international organization that brings together leaders from business, government, civil society and academia to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Crypto.com will collaborate with the WEF on various initiatives related to blockchain, digital assets and financial inclusion.

According to a press release, Crypto.com will contribute its expertise and insights to the WEF’s Global Future Council on Cryptocurrencies, which is co-chaired by Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, and Sheila Warren, Head of Blockchain and Data Policy at the WEF. The council aims to provide a vision for how cryptocurrency can improve the lives of billions of people, while addressing the challenges and risks posed by this emerging technology.

Crypto.com will also participate in the WEF’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) Network, which is a global hub for multi-stakeholder cooperation on the governance and policy of new technologies. The C4IR Network works on various projects related to blockchain, digital identity, data policy, artificial intelligence, drones, internet of things and autonomous vehicles.

Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder and CEO of Crypto.com, said: “We are honored to join the World Economic Forum as a partner. We share the WEF’s vision of using technology for good and creating a more inclusive and sustainable world. We look forward to working with the WEF and its network of partners to advance the adoption and innovation of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.”

The partnership with the WEF is another milestone for Crypto.com, which has been growing rapidly in the past year. The platform now has over 10 million users worldwide and offers a range of products and services, including a crypto app, a Visa card, an exchange, a DeFi wallet, a lending platform and an NFT marketplace. Crypto.com also recently launched a $200 million fund to invest in crypto startups and projects.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction on FuseBox

If you are a developer who wants to build decentralized applications (dApps) on Ethereum, you might have encountered some challenges with the current account model. For example, you have to deal with complex gas management, user experience issues, and security risks. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could abstract away these details and focus on your core logic?

That’s where ERC-4337 comes in. ERC-4337 is a standard for account abstraction that allows dApps to pay for their users’ transactions, while giving users full control over their accounts. With ERC-4337, you can create accounts that are smart contracts, and use them to interact with any other contract on the network. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for dApp development.

But how do you implement ERC-4337 in practice? That’s where FuseBox comes in. FuseBox is a framework that makes it easy to create and use ERC-4337 accounts. With FuseBox, you can:

Generate ERC-4337 accounts on the fly, without deploying any code. Use a simple API to send transactions from your accounts, without worrying about gas fees or signatures. Customize your accounts with hooks and plugins, to add features like meta-transactions, recovery mechanisms, or access control. Integrate your accounts with any existing contract or protocol, without modifying them.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction is a proposed Ethereum improvement that aims to simplify the user experience of interacting with smart contracts. It allows users to delegate the responsibility of paying gas fees and signing transactions to a third-party service provider, called a sponsor. This way, users can use any wallet or application that supports ERC-4337 without having to worry about the technical details of the Ethereum network.

One of the main barriers to mass adoption of Ethereum and DApps is the complexity and friction of using them. Users have to deal with concepts such as gas fees, gas price, gas limit, nonce, transaction hash, private keys, public keys, signatures, etc. These are unfamiliar and confusing for most people, especially those who are used to traditional web or mobile applications.

Moreover, users have to manage their own funds and keys, which exposes them to the risk of losing access or being hacked. They also have to constantly monitor the network conditions and adjust their gas fees accordingly, which can be costly and time-consuming.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction aims to solve these problems by abstracting away the low-level details of the Ethereum protocol and providing a more user-friendly interface for interacting with DApps. It enables users to delegate the tasks of paying gas fees and signing transactions to a sponsor, who acts as a proxy between the user and the network.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction offers several benefits for both users and developers of DApps:

For users, it simplifies the user experience and reduces the cognitive load of using DApps. Users do not need to understand or care about gas fees, signatures, keys, etc. They can simply use any wallet or application that supports ERC-4337 and enjoy a seamless and consistent experience across different DApps.

For developers, it lowers the barrier to entry and increases the reach of DApps. Developers do not need to implement their own custom solutions for handling gas fees and signatures, which can be complex and error prone. They can leverage existing standards and tools that support ERC-4337 and focus on building their core features and logic. They can also attract more users who may otherwise be deterred by the complexity and friction of using DApps.

For sponsors, it creates new business opportunities and incentives for providing value-added services to users and developers. Sponsors can charge fees for their services, such as subsidizing gas costs, providing faster confirmations, offering better security, etc. They can also differentiate themselves by offering various features and options for users and developers to choose from.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction is not without its challenges and trade-offs. Some of the main ones are:

For users, it introduces a new dependency and trust assumption on the sponsor. Users have to rely on the sponsor to pay gas fees and sign transactions on their behalf. This means that users have to trust that the sponsor will not act maliciously or negligently, such as censoring transactions, stealing funds, compromising privacy, etc. Users also have to accept the terms and conditions of the sponsor, which may vary depending on the service level and quality.

For developers, it requires some changes and adaptations to their existing codebase and infrastructure. Developers have to update their smart contracts to support ERC-4337 Account Abstraction, which may involve some redesign and refactoring. They also have to integrate with different sponsors and handle potential errors or failures from their side.

For sponsors, it imposes new technical and operational challenges and risks. Sponsors have to implement a robust and scalable system that can handle a large number of transactions from different users and DApps. They also have to manage their own funds and keys, which exposes them to the risk of losing access or being hacked. They also have to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements that may apply to their services.

ERC-4337 Account Abstraction is a promising Ethereum improvement that aims to simplify the user experience of interacting with smart contracts. It allows users to delegate the responsibility of paying gas fees and signing transactions to a third-party service provider, called a sponsor. This way, users can use any wallet or application that supports ERC-4337 without having to worry about the technical details of the Ethereum network.

However, ERC-4337 Account Abstraction also comes with its own challenges and trade-offs, such as introducing a new dependency and trust assumption on the sponsor, requiring some changes and adaptations from developers, and imposing new technical and operational challenges and risks for sponsors.

FuseBox is designed to be flexible, modular, and extensible. You can use it as a standalone library, or as a plugin for popular frameworks like Hardhat or Truffle. You can also mix and match different components of FuseBox, depending on your needs.

How ERC-4337 works and why it is useful. What is the difference between ERC-4337 and other standards. How to install and configure FuseBox. How to create and use ERC-4337 accounts with FuseBox. How to customize your accounts with hooks and plugins. How to integrate your accounts with other contracts and protocols.

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