The Parklands Diary

Courtesy of LinkedIn  Artificial intelligence (AI) has undoubtedly revolutionized the way we live, work, and interact with the world around us. From personalized recommendations to autonomous vehicles, the possibilities of AI are seemingly endless. Kenya's digital startup scene is a testament to the incredible strides we have made in the tech world. However, with great power comes great responsibility. As AI becomes more pervasive, it is important to recognize the potential for bias to sneak into our decision-making process, perpetuating discrimination and oppression. Bias in AI occurs when algorithms deliver systematically biased results due to incorrect assumptions made during the machine learning process. Unfortunately, AI bias can perpetuate discrimination and oppression, especially in today's climate of increasing representation and diversity. Let’s take a closer look at some of the examples of AI bias. In the American healthcare system, an algorithm used in hospitals ...

Courtesy of Election Access On July 30, 2022, while addressing a special-interest group forum in Mandera County, Prof. Abdi Guliye, a commissioner for the IEBC, stated that the commission would not be providing braille ballot papers for visually impaired voters. The commission would, however, be providing voter education material in braille. This meant that once again, just like in previous elections, blind voters would have to rely on voter assistance to exercise their right to vote based on universal suffrage. The only slight difference with this voting method was that in the 2022 general elections, voters would be receiving assistance only from presiding officers who had received appropriate training on maintaining "secrecy." Party agents would be allowed to stand behind the presiding officer and listen in as they guide the voter. In previous electoral years, blind voters were allowed to choose assistants who had to take oaths of secrecy prior to the voting exercise. W...

Courtesy of The Star The end of an era has arrived. New wineskins to replace the old wineskins Our galleries are about to be filled with beautiful posters of serious men and women who seek to take over the mantle. With the language of poets, they will sing their promises each day and night. So sweet will be their promises that we will forget their natural characters. Project after project, party after party, alcohol everywhere—all to woo us, the voters. But before we are consumed by the forthcoming campaigns, how about we reflect on your past vote? Let us inquire and evaluate. Did that vote mean anything to you? What has changed in your life since then? The promises were as sweet as liquor. The aspiring leaders, clothed with the confidence of comrades marching to a demonstration, sang to us their manifestos. Debates, arguments, discussions, and conversations in our class groups made their manifestos clear. It was crystal clear that you were convinced that the leader you were voting ...

Courtesy of Law Technology Today Of the many professions protected by regulatory oversight, the legal profession is one of them. This is informed by the fact that it has been stable since the industrial revolution and is mostly protected from external threats. The numerous protectionist professional standards and regulations that regulate decency and ethics and prevent lawyers from being overthrown serve to defend this privilege. Despite the fact that it is protected by rules and is rooted in tradition, the legal profession may not be able to withstand the widespread impact of the digital revolution for long. Fredrich Von Savigny’s "Fiction Theory of Corporations" holds that corporations have existence but lack real personality save that given by the law, which ultimately regards them as persons. Champions of artificial intelligence have mirrored this theory and equated artificial intelligence with corporations in the legal field. They claim that the existence of AI is in so...

Courtesy of Family Institute Despite what you think, come-we-stay relationships are here to stay. Getting married is something that most people fantasize about from a young age. It is very common to see children playing mock weddings. Moreover, books also talk about falling in love with a prince or princess, having a wedding, and riding off into the sunset. Adulting and the current economy have unfortunately snatched away the dream from most people. The "let’s just live together" situation is one that most couples now prefer, blatantly avoiding an official wedding. Most people enter into come-and-stay relationships in the hope of one day being able to afford a lavish wedding. For others, it is just a matter of wanting to find out whether the marriage will be suitable for them and their partner. Commonly, it is the hope that kills. In fact, research points to cohabitation before marriage as the leading cause of divorce. A factor that makes come-we-stay relationships even more ...

Courtesy of The Star Njogu is an aspiring Kenyan farmer. He plans to specialize in tea farming, which he begins to cultivate on a recently leased medium-sized farm in Limuru. After the tea is harvested, it is dried and packaged in a factory for export to the United Kingdom. Njogu is confident that he has met all customs tariffs and other tax regulations as advised and anticipates huge profits. He does, however, learn that his goods have been rejected as being unfit for export. They appear to fall short of packaging and conformity assessment requirements prescribed by the UK and Kenyan governments. Njogu is perplexed because he is unaware of the said conformity assessment requirements. He is not alone in this predicament. Surprisingly, despite the fact that NTMs affect 90% of global trade, little or no information about them is readily available to the average mwananchi. This lack of transparency has serious consequences for businesses, particularly medium and small busi...

The recent dropping of attempted rape charges against Manchester United starlet Mason Greenwood has drawn mixed reactions from all quarters. Guardians of morality have been critical of the criminal justice system, dubbing it a farce that principally serves the interests of the elite. Rationalists, however, welcome the decision, noting the overbearing nature of the presumption of innocence in an inherently adversarial ecosystem. It is imperative to note that the overarching justification for the dismissal of the charges is the Blackstone principle. The principle holds that it is better for ten guilty people to escape than for one innocent person to be convicted. To this end, failure to establish and sustain damning charges against an accused person necessitates their release from the shackles of trial. In Mason's case, the withdrawal of key witnesses and the emergence of new material substantially weakened the case stacked against him. For the sake of argument, it would be farcica...

Courtesy of Nairobi News First and foremost, I would like to dedicate this article to all participants in the incoming UNSA elections, wishing them a peaceful, free, and fair election as they exercise their political rights. Secondly, this piece is in no way a campaign instrument for any of the prospective contestants; it is a non-aligned project. Nonetheless, this article attempts to highlight how the electoral atmosphere has drastically changed under the current UNSA electoral regulations and how it has affected student politics, especially in Parklands.  This week, I had an illuminating conversation with Ben Odhiambo, a former KU student leader; the conversation was peppered with nostalgia for the glory days when politics was politics. Vote hunting was a do-or-die venture, and the actual vote hunting was done on the ground, not on the keyboard. We were reminiscent of the days when we used to campaign vigorously, through mass public addresses, door-to-door campaigns, and even, to...