Even the smartest AI likely won’t be “alive.” Here’s why. Is life itself, sentient or not, something that can be represented in a machine? In other words, is life computable? Whatever life is, can it be reduced to a series of mathematical operations carried out by a computer? Today, I want to introduce you to a remarkable thinker who asked this question more than 30 years ago and whose answer remains important, influential, and very contentious. … (BigThink)
A third of my online college students are AI-powered spambots. Now what? I am an adjunct faculty instructor at a community college. I teach in-person, online synchronous, and online asynchronous Art History and Art Appreciation courses. My current summer course load includes an online asynchronous Art Appreciation course. This is a course where all of the content is online and there are no specific live meeting times (such as a weekly Zoom seminar.) Students access all readings and videos for the course, and submit all discussions and assignments, via our Canvas site. Since it’s online asynchronous, I measure attendance by looking at the amount of time a student is logged into the Canvas site, and the assignments they have submitted. This time, there was something funny in the assignments. … (Medium)
Surgeon General calls for warning labels on social media platforms. The U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, announced on Monday that he would push for a warning label on social media platforms advising parents that using the platforms might damage adolescents’ mental health. Warning labels — like those that appear on tobacco and alcohol products — are one of the most powerful tools available to the nation’s top health official, but Dr. Murthy cannot unilaterally require them; the action requires approval by Congress. The proposal builds on several years of escalating warnings from the surgeon general. In a May 2023 advisory, he recommended that parents immediately set limits on phone use, and urged Congress to swiftly develop health and safety standards for technology platforms. … (New York Times)
Was Marcus Aurelius cuckolded? “How do you get over the fact that Marcus Aurelius’s wife cheated on him with a gladiator?” My initial reaction to this was: who cares? Or rather, I think the ancient Stoics would have advised us to view the feelings experienced by the author of this post as an unhealthy passion or irrational fear. Stoic philosophy would encourage us to question the assumptions on which this fear is based. Why, for instance, should more importance be placed on the alleged actions of Marcus Aurelius’ wife than upon his philosophy? … (Donald Robertson’s Substack)
It's OK to major in English or History. I have reached that time in life when my child is choosing which subjects to study for exams. As most parents acknowledge, our influence is limited and must be exercised through intricate ‘nudging’ that would make an economist proud. But in which direction should we nudge? Computer science, engineering and robotics are winning the PR war. Who wouldn’t want to work in a flashy office with bean bags and a messianic boss? Who needs history and English when Chat GPT can (approximately) tell you the causes of World War 1? … (Daily Philosophy)