Blog Archives

AI is our ‘Promethean fire’: using it wisely means knowing its true nature – and our own minds

AI is our ‘Promethean fire’: using it wisely means knowing its true nature – and our own minds

Future historians may well regard 2023 as a landmark in the advent of artificial intelligence (AI). But whether that future will prove utopian, apocalyptic or somewhere in between is anyone’s guess. In February, ChatGPT set the record as the fastest app to reach 100 million users. It was followed by similar “large language” AI models from Google, Amazon, Meta and other […] … learn more→

Dreaming may have evolved as a strategy for co-operative survival

Dreaming may have evolved as a strategy for co-operative survival

Have you ever woken from a dream, emotionally laden with anxiety, fear or a sense of unpreparedness? Typically, these kinds of dreams are associated with content like losing one’s voice, teeth falling out or being chased by a threatening being. But one question I’ve always been interested in is whether or not these kinds of dreams are […] … learn more→

Disinformation is rampant on social media – a social psychologist explains the tactics used against you

Disinformation is rampant on social media – a social psychologist explains the tactics used against you

Information warfare abounds, and everyone online has been drafted whether they know it or not. Disinformation is deliberately generated misleading content disseminated for selfish or malicious purposes. Unlike misinformation, which may be shared unwittingly or with good intentions, disinformation aims to foment distrust, destabilize institutions, discredit good intentions, defame opponents and delegitimize sources of knowledge such as science […] … learn more→

مرحبا is all around: where is our linguistic landscape going?

مرحبا is all around: where is our linguistic landscape going?

It turns out that this Saturday they open a new pop-up store in the center, and in two weeks the Christmas market begins , and what better time than Christmas to have a gourmet experience like the one advertised by a department store. The italics accuse us of the foreign origin of these terms that many of us, as readers, already identify […] … learn more→

As a death doula and professor who teaches about dying, I see a need for more conversations about death

As a death doula and professor who teaches about dying, I see a need for more conversations about death

A growing number of folks may have heard of the death-positive movement, death cafés or death-friendly communities — each of which are animated by the understanding that welcoming our own mortality could improve the quality of our lives. There is truth to these claims. Both as a person who has taught courses on death, dying, and spirituality for more than […] … learn more→

What if we created “sanctuaries without AI”?

What if we created “sanctuaries without AI”?

In Hyperion , a science fiction novel written by Dan Simmons in 1989, the characters are connected to a network of artificial intelligences, called the “datasphere”. By allowing them to have instant access to any information, knowledge is immediately available, but the ability to think for oneself is now lost. More than thirty years after the publication of […] … learn more→

The Independent Campus program's 'link and match' program is not appropriate for universities

The Independent Campus program’s ‘link and match’ program is not appropriate for universities

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek) is promoting the Independent Campus program with the spirit of link and match to overcome the gap between educational qualifications and industry demands. Link and match is a Ministry of Education and Culture policy developed to increase the relevance of education to work, business and industrial needs. One of […] … learn more→

Generative AI is a minefield for copyright law

Generative AI is a minefield for copyright law

In 2022, an AI-generated work of art won the Colorado State Fair’s art competition. The artist, Jason Allen, had used Midjourney – a generative AI system trained on art scraped from the internet – to create the piece. The process was far from fully automated: Allen went through some 900 iterations over 80 hours to create and […] … learn more→