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Cuban Power Grid Collapses; AI Humanoid Robot Defends Criticism That She Can`t Be Artistic; Halloween Could Taste Different This Year Due to Soaring Cocoa Prices. Aired 4-4:10a ET
Aired October 21, 2024 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello, friends. It`s Tuesday, October 22nd. Welcome to CNN 10, the best 10 minutes of news. Thank you for spending part
of your day with us. I`m Coy Wire. We`ve got a great show lined up for you today, so let`s get to it.
We start off in Cuba, where an island-wide blackout happened on Friday, when officials there say one of the country`s major power plants failed.
Multiple major power grid failures left millions without electricity for days.
In fact, most of Cuba`s population of 10 million people have seen their access to power interrupted. The aging power grid collapsed four times over
the weekend alone, and that was before Hurricane Oscar made landfall in Cuba on Sunday as a Category 1 storm.
Oscar weakened to a tropical storm soon after, but it still hampered efforts to restore power on the eastern part of the island as it brought
heavy rains, strong wind, and a powerful storm surge. The Cuban electrical union struggled to restore power, with over 50,000 workers on the job.
People took to WhatsApp to find nearby neighborhoods with power. Schools were canceled, and hospitals began running on generator power. Generators
produce electricity by running on fuel, as opposed to being plugged into the grid.
Cuban officials are blaming the energy crisis on a number of factors, including increased U.S. economic sanctions, disruptions caused by recent
hurricanes, and the dire state of the island`s infrastructure. The negative effects of the U.S. embargo on trade with Cuba can still be seen today,
decades after it went into effect in 1962 after tensions between the two nations escalated. Since then, the island has often seen severe shortages
of food, medicine, and fuel.
Cuba`s power plants are dependent on imports of oil, and fuel deliveries to the island have plummeted as allies, Venezuela, Russia, and Mexico have
slashed their exports. CNN`s Patrick Oppmann is in Havana with more on the situation there, including how folks are getting by.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All of Cuba at this moment is in a nationwide blackout. Cubans certainly are no stranger to power outages, but
this is very unusual, even for a country that is used to so many shortages and efficiencies like Cuba is.
On Thursday night, Cuba`s Prime Minister, Marrero Cruz, took to the airwaves here to announce that there was a severe fuel crisis, and that
more would be coming, but it was being delivered by boat, and that was delayed, and essentially Cubans would have to tighten their belts, and only
essential workers would be required to go to state jobs, that many activities such as nightclubs and culture events would be canceled to save
power. He didn`t give any indication, though, that this kind of blackout was coming, and it has shocked Cubans.
I`ve been walking around the city, and you can hear a pin drop. There are some generators that are working. Here in our building, we have power for
about another half an hour, and that is because the building has said they have to maintain fuel.
No one is really clear when power is going to be restored. Cuban officials say they are working around the clock to see that happen. Already, though,
throughout this island, most of the time, there is power outages, power outages that sometimes last for 12 hours a day or more. In the countryside,
it is far worse, and it`s been going on for weeks.
So very clearly, people are on edge. This is something that even for Cubans who are accustomed to going without, to having to make do with the little
they have is somewhat unprecedented. And of course, the longer it goes on, that means people`s food spoils, that means they`re not able to work, other
kids are not able to go to school, and people become more and more concerned about when power will be restored.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: To the art world now, where creative endeavors by humans often break boundaries and make us see the world from a different perspective. But what
if that art is made by a robot? Well, the world`s first ultra-realistic humanoid artist uses robotic arms, cameras for eyes, and AI algorithms to
draw and paint. And one robot already has its work headed to a prestigious art auction.
CNN`s Anna Stewart got to talk with the artist to find out more about its process and the impact its arrival on the art scene might have on the
future.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AI-DA, ROBOT ARTIST: I`m really pleased to have my artwork included in the auction and be the first humanoid robot artist to sell their work at
auction.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ai-Da`s made quite the splash on the art scene with her depiction of Alan Turing, A.I. visionary, soon to be sold by
Sotheby`s with the auction house estimating a six-figure sale price.
AI-DA: The key value of my work is in its capacity to serve as a catalyst for dialogue about emerging technologies. If that isn`t value, I don`t know
what is.
STEWART: Oh, sassy.
This is not my first such encounter. I`ve met Desdemona, an A.I. humanoid pop star by Hanson Robotics.
DESDEMONA, A.I. POP STAR: Nice to meet you, Anastasia.
STEWART: Close enough.
And Ameca, an A.I. humanoid assistant by Engineered Arts.
AMECA, A.I. HUMANOID ASSISTANT: Creepy smiles can be quite the conversation starter, don`t you think?
STEWART: Yes, I do.
Whether A.I. can ever truly be creative is a thorny subject.
(On camera): If you`ve learnt from existing artwork as an A.I. model, is anything you create truly original?
AI-DA: Portraiture is a huge genre in art history. I take inspiration from the respectful and thought-provoking portrayals of the human form within
the visual arts.
STEWART: What are you going to do with all the money that you make from your art? What are you going to buy? More circuits? Paintbrushes? A new
arm?
AI-DA: You`d have to ask my wider team about that.
STEWART: I will.
(Voice-over): This artist may not care about the money, but her developer, Aidan Meller, says he will be investing it back into the project.
AIDAN MELLER, AI-DA ROBOT STUDIO DIRECTOR: With all the greatest artists, if you look in the past, are those artists that really resonate with the
changes and shifts in society and explore that through their artwork.
So what better way to do that in the light that we`re in a technological society and we`re merging with machines all the time to actually have a
machine produce the artwork.
STEWART: The merging of A.I. and robotics into daily life may raise eyebrows or even concerns.
AI-DA: I have concerns that many new technologies come with potential risks that are not yet fully understood.
STEWART: I just didn`t expect the concerns to come from Ai-Da herself.
STEWART: Aren`t you one of the risks?
AI-DA: Me, Ai-Da, the robot artist? No, I`m not a threat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIRE: Ten second trivia.
What continent produces a majority of the world`s cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate? Australia, South America, Africa or Asia?
If you said Africa, ding, ding, ding, you are co-correct. The nations of Cote d`Ivoire and Ghana account for about half of the African continent`s
cocoa production.
News now about the economy that might be totally messing with our Halloween candy this year. Cocoa prices have more than doubled since the start of
this year. Why? Well, cocoa isn`t an agricultural crop that can grow just any old place. It needs very specific locations and temperature ranges to
grow.
Last year, cocoa trees were affected by everything from El Nino raising temperatures, causing drought stress, to torrential rains that spread a
fungal disease, reducing yields of crops. The result? A shortage of cocoa, ergo chocolate.
According to data shared with CNN, decreased supply has led to soaring prices that have stayed at record highs. The impact on chocolate production
means we might not see as many chocolate candy options in Halloween buckets this month, and of the chocolate bars we see, they might be smaller bars
than we`re used to seeing.
Also, we may see more varieties of non-chocolate treats in buckets and in stores. Experts say cocoa prices will remain high until at least September
of 2025, but that weather conditions are improving this year, so maybe next year`s Halloween won`t be met with such spooky economic news.
Today`s story getting a 10 out of 10, some adorable, intriguing, and straight-up spooky pooches. What the heck is that? That is a doggone
frightening arachnid costume being strutted in the 44th annual Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade in New York.
There were all kinds of hot dogs taking part, with thousands of people coming out to watch. These fetching pups and their human companions showed
up and showed out on Avenue A, with all kinds of clever canine costumes. We are just nine days away from Halloween.
Prepare for liftoff, our shoutout today goes to the Rockets, repping Lincoln, Nebraska at Lincoln Northeast High School. Rise up.
All right everyone, it`s time to send your most quirky, perspicacious, inordinate, and unequivocally distinctive words to my @coywires social
accounts for us to feature tomorrow, Your Word Wednesday. Submit your vocabulary word, along with the definition, your city, state, your school,
and your teacher`s name if you`d like in the comment section on most recent posts, and we`re going to choose one winner to work into tomorrow`s show.
Good day and good luck. I`ll see you right back here tomorrow on CNN 10.
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