Weekly Quiz: Investigations, International Students, and Innovations in AI

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const title = "Weekly Quiz: Investigations, International Students, and Innovations in AI"; const date = "October 25, 2025"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/Roy_SwarmDEC25_1200.jpg", title: "Why Did a Group of Teenage Girls Kill a Man in a Downtown Toronto Parkette?", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/why-did-a-group-of-teenage-girls-kill-a-man-in-a-downtown-toronto-parkette/", question: "In December 2022, eight teenage girls were charged in the swarming death of fifty-nine-year-old Kenneth Lee in a Toronto parkette. Two of the girls appeared in court this past February where much of the proceedings involved examining blurry security footage. What key component of the crime was the Crown hoping the video would clarify?", options: [ "Whether the fight started over a bottle of alcohol or money", "What the murder weapon was and who had been carrying it", "How many suspects were present at the scene of the crime", "Which of the suspects initiated the fight", ], answer: "What the murder weapon was and who had been carrying it", correct: "In February, at a courthouse on University Avenue in downtown Toronto, journalist Inori Roy sat in on the trial of the girl accused of stabbing Lee and one other girl accused of second-degree murder. There were only a handful of witnesses, and much time was spent in court piecing together the events of that night from hours of CCTV footage and short cellphone clips pulled from the girls’ phones, watched on repeat. The Crown hoped the footage would determine whether the girl accused of stabbing Lee had been in possession of a knife. This was one of the two big questions of the case: What was the murder weapon, and who had been carrying it? ", incorrect: "In February, at a courthouse on University Avenue in downtown Toronto, journalist Inori Roy sat in on the trial of the girl accused of stabbing Lee and one other girl accused of second-degree murder. There were only a handful of witnesses, and much time was spent in court piecing together the events of that night from hours of CCTV footage and short cellphone clips pulled from the girls’ phones, watched on repeat. The Crown hoped the footage would determine whether the girl accused of stabbing Lee had been in possession of a knife. This was one of the two big questions of the case: What was the murder weapon, and who had been carrying it?", }, { title: "Canada Held the Door Open for International Students. Then Slammed It in Their Face", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canada-held-the-door-open-for-international-students-then-slammed-it-in-their-face/", question: "For decades, Canada has deliberately recruited international students to help support its economy and post-secondary institutions. What program was a key part of Canada’s strategy to attract international students and fold them into the work force?", options: [ "The Temporary Foreign Worker Program", "The Express Entry Program", "The Post-Graduate Work Permit Program", "The Curricular Practical Training Program", ], answer: "The Post-Graduate Work Permit Program", correct: "The feds introduced the Post-Graduate Work Permit Program as a pilot program on the Prairies and in Atlantic Canada in 2003 before expanding nationally in 2008. Instead of having to leave Canada after graduation, the new program allowed full-time international students to apply for an open work permit to stay and work in Canada for between eight months and three years, depending on the duration of the grad’s program of study. The PGWPs were meant to lure international students to Canada and fold them into our skilled workforce once they’d completed their studies. The strategy worked. Enrolment by migrant students in Canadian institutions swelled in the years that followed.", incorrect: "The feds introduced the Post-Graduate Work Permit Program as a pilot program on the Prairies and in Atlantic Canada in 2003 before expanding nationally in 2008. Instead of having to leave Canada after graduation, the new program allowed full-time international students to apply for an open work permit to stay and work in Canada for between eight months and three years, depending on the duration of the grad’s program of study. The PGWPs were meant to lure international students to Canada and fold them into our skilled workforce once they’d completed their studies. The strategy worked. Enrolment by migrant students in Canadian institutions swelled in the years that followed.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/Eliot_AIJobs_1800.jpg", title: "Your Job Is on Track to Becoming Economically Worthless", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/will-ai-take-your-job-you-better-believe-it/", question: "Advocates for automation often argue that technological progress will inevitably create new jobs, but this is unlikely to be the case with AI. What about AI makes it especially disruptive to the way we work?", options: [ "It operates completely independently of human input", "It undermines the role data plays in corporate decision-making", "It disproportionately eliminates manual labour roles", "It is “general purpose technology” that can be applied across multiple industries", ], answer: "It is “general purpose technology” that can be applied across multiple industries", correct: "AI is not a one-dimensional technology. It isn’t even a single piece of technology. It is a collection of technologies and methods for collecting and processing data that can be applied in numerous ways. It is not contained to a sole application. It is what’s known as a general-purpose technology, other examples of which include the internet, computers, and, most notably, the steam engine. This gives AI the ability to disrupt countless industries at once. Where efficiencies in one area may have, at one time, resulted in new jobs in another, it is now possible that the other area will be experiencing the same efficiencies due to AI. Therefore, they may be creating some new jobs, but they will also be eliminating others.", incorrect: "AI is not a one-dimensional technology. It isn’t even a single piece of technology. It is a collection of technologies and methods for collecting and processing data that can be applied in numerous ways. It is not contained to a sole application. It is what’s known as a general-purpose technology, other examples of which include the internet, computers, and, most notably, the steam engine. This gives AI the ability to disrupt countless industries at once. Where efficiencies in one area may have, at one time, resulted in new jobs in another, it is now possible that the other area will be experiencing the same efficiencies due to AI. Therefore, they may be creating some new jobs, but they will also be eliminating others.", }, { title: "Mark Carney’s Recession Problem", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/are-we-in-a-recession/", question: "Fears around stagflation—which you get ​​when prices keep rising even as growth stalls—are mounting in the US. What is one reason why similar concerns may migrate across the border to Canada?", options: [ "Canada sends approximately 75 percent of all its exports to the US", "Roughly 40 percent of Canadian consumer spending is tied to US retail trends", "Canada relies heavily on US tourism to prop up its economy", "The Bank of Canada always matches the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate", ], answer: "Canada sends approximately 75 percent of all its exports to the US", correct: "Fears of stagflation shouldn’t be overstated, but they are worth taking seriously. Stagflation would mean higher costs and weaker paycheques, fewer jobs and less investment, and more families falling behind on mortgages. Is Canada headed in that direction? It doesn’t appear so right now, but the US faces the prospect of just that. As the old trope goes, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. And who stands to get sick first? Whoever is closest. Canada, which has a trade relationship worth roughly $1 trillion a year with the US, and to whom we send approximately 75 percent of our exports, fits the bill.", incorrect: "Fears of stagflation shouldn’t be overstated, but they are worth taking seriously. Stagflation would mean higher costs and weaker paycheques, fewer jobs and less investment, and more families falling behind on mortgages. Is Canada headed in that direction? It doesn’t appear so right now, but the US faces the prospect of just that. As the old trope goes, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. And who stands to get sick first? Whoever is closest. Canada, which has a trade relationship worth roughly $1 trillion a year with the US, and to whom we send approximately 75 percent of our exports, fits the bill.", }, ];