Peter Biles
Which Way, Modern University? Jennifer Frey’s story
The shakeup at the University of Tulsa’s Honors College is a puzzler
Sports Gambling is a Big, New Problem
Common sense says sports betting isn't worth it. But once you start, it can be hard to stop.
Book Ban in San Fran
Bookstore states it won't sell Harry Potter anymore based on Rowling's views on gender
The State of Reading in an AI World
Are we heading to a post-literate society?
MIT Study Associates ChatGPT Use with Cognitive Trouble
The ChatGPT users in the study lost major ground in creativity, memory, and deep thinkingA new study from MIT links excessive use of ChatGPT to a decline in critical thinking skills. Instead of making users more productive, the study finds that dependence on ChatGPT is associated with loss of memory and cognitive decline. In short, the AI tool isn’t making us smarter. It’s doing quite the opposite to us. The researchers divided participants into three groups: the LLM group, the search engine group, and the brain-only group. Here is a section of the abstract from the study, Brain-only participants exhibited the strongest, most distributed networks; Search Engine users showed moderate engagement; and LLM users displayed the weakest connectivity. Cognitive activity scaled down in relation to external tool use. In session 4, LLM-to-Brain participants showed Read More ›
Did Orwell’s 1984 Predict the Rise of AI?
A simple act like writing a diary entry emblemizes the struggle to stay humanThree books stand at the top of the dystopian genre, even several decades after their publication: Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury; and perhaps supremely, 1984, by George Orwell. Each novel features versions of a futuristic society in which freedom is restricted (through different means) and foresees a bleak existence governed by the basest impulses in the human race. While Orwell’s masterpiece is typically hailed as a warning of the surveillance state, where individuality is erased in favor of group identity, it is also about the rise of technologies that replace human thought. Novelist Walter Kirn points this out in a recent episode of America This Week: 1984 is the story of the extinguishing, the Read More ›
Ohio State to Require Students to Learn “AI Fluency”
The university is embracing, rather than rejecting, AIIf you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? Ohio State University recently announced that each of its students must take an AI skills class starting in the Fall of 2025. Micaiah Bilger of The College Fix reports, Every undergraduate major at Ohio State will include classes that incorporate “AI Fluency,” NBC 4 WCMH reports. The public university’s leaders have developed a strategy that they believe will equip students to use the technology both creatively and responsibly. As AI continues to shape and disrupt higher education, administrators and teachers have to grapple with how to deal with this powerful technology. Many reports, personal testimonies, and commentary illustrates how much students today depend on AI systems like ChatGPT to do their assignments. Professors, meanwhile, Read More ›
AI Still Can’t Think
It can only create the appearance of thought
Adult Content Site Leaves France Due to Age Verification Law
Will other countries follow suit?
If AI Takes Too Many Jobs, Could the Birth Rate Plummet?
AI's potential impact on birth rates and the working class
Clare Morell Advocates for a Phone-Free Childhood
Moderation won't work. Families need to take the tech exit
NYT Journalist: The “Download” Model of Knowledge is Flawed
We learn by wrestling with ideas, by paying attention and making connections.
Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4 Can Deceive and Blackmail
Is AI getting out of control?
Deep Reading in a World Full of Words
The media environment is saturated with images, videos, and words. How can we regain our attention?
AI: The New Industrial Revolution?
Experts try to guess where AI is heading over the next few years
Chicago Sun-Times Used AI to Create Fake Summer Book List
The blind trust in AI continues
Legacy Media is at a Crossroads. Can They Regain Public Trust?
Unless journalists recognize the ways they've fallen short, people will continue to distrust mainstream media
Does AI Expose Colleges’ Underlying Problem?
AI could be a symptom of a deeper issue in higher education