The Word Made Lifeless

The development of AI reads less like a familiar chapter from the history of consumer capitalism and more like the storyboard of a Bond film in which we’ve all been cast as extras.

Perplexity

Why is the essential promise of technology—the alleviation of drudgery—not enough? Maybe, in the case of AI, because it remains unclear what drudgery it can realistically alleviate.

Perplexity

Why is the essential promise of technology—the alleviation of drudgery—not enough? Maybe, in the case of AI, because it remains unclear what drudgery it can realistically alleviate.

The Delusion Machine

ChatGPT Is a Gimmick

AI offers a tempting illusion to students—and evidently to some teachers.

On Not Carrying a Camera

The ten thousand photographs stored on a cellphone are a dramatic refutation of my photographic diffidence.

Workshop summary: how do I get my next (or first) job in polar science? – APECS Germany

The Algorithm and the Hippocratic Oath

Doctors need a medical humanities that does more than just help them see health and disease through a patient’s eyes.

The Department of Everything

A world that has tossed out the print edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica in favor of Wikipedia is not necessarily a richer one.