Technology
The growing rebellion against screens in schools
In the late 17th century, Europe’s greatest intellectuals were consumed by the quarrel of the ancients and the modern, satirised…
Meet Jared Cooney Horvath, the neuroscientist taking on screens in schools
‘I’ve been here a week, and I can’t figure it out,’ says Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, neuroscientist, teacher and now…
Children will always get around a social media ban
Back in January, I voted for a Conservative amendment to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to restrict social media…
Do we really want to live in a world where we’re perpetually spied on?
We are now approaching the point where the Stasi dream is achieved globally. But the more surveillance expands, the more ineffective it becomes
Finding happiness in simple tactile pleasures
In our high-tech, automated world, we should cherish any gratifying sensory experience, however humble or fleeting, says Ian Bogost
The West has become its own worst enemy
America’s post-Cold War decision to share its technological innovations with the rest of the world has spectacularly backfired, says Steve Feldstein
What precipitated a worldwide total war in the 1930s?
Rather than focusing on the struggle in Europe, Jonathan Fennell shows how the hopes and fears of tens of millions of people fired processes of radicalisation across the globe
Britain will need China to survive the AI revolution
Professional players of Texas hold ’em, the most popular variant of poker, go to great lengths to play a balanced,…
America’s Anthropic blackout won’t make the world safer
For the first time, the United States government has switched off frontier artificial intelligence and forced the world to go…
The rise of Palantir Derangement Syndrome
A late spring outbreak of righteous indignation is affecting the United Kingdom. It’s yet another variant of Palantir Derangement Syndrome. Virologists…
The Pope’s AI intervention shames our politicians
I was born into a sternly Presbyterian culture. Politically, I’m more Orange than Donald Trump’s skin tone. But today I…
Why drones will carry out the next 9/11
Few know more about drone warfare than Brett Velicovich. During the Iraq war, the former Delta Force intelligence analyst lived…
The ‘airport effect’ that’s ruining modern life
The phrase ‘computer says no’ now has its own Wikipedia page. The first recorded use dates back to a Stasi-era…
A meditation on reality: Transcription, by Ben Lerner, reviewed
In a short, glittering novel, Lerner shows how the factual is always infused with the fictional as he explores the tension between the given and the constructed
The new AI system causing panic over cybersecurity
It’s tempting, even fashionable, to pooh-pooh the hyperbole from our tech overlords. The release in 2022 of ChatGPT, the first…
The age of the aircraft carrier is over
Ever since World War Two, America’s aircraft carrier fleets have served as imposing instruments of imperial power, roaming the oceans…
A lament for the landline
Two years ago my quality of life began to go downhill. It happened when BT Openreach gave our old copper…
The speed-camera approach to government
I was recently shown an AI analysis of long-term trends in the public’s attitude to government. The AI had been…
Hegseth’s vision is more Starship Troopers than Starfleet Academy
“Welcome to Starbase, Texas,” Elon Musk said from the stage Monday night, as the crowd whooped. “This is a city. It’s actually…
‘I’ve been allergic to AI for a long time’: an interview with Peter Thiel
Peter Thiel has been described variously as ‘America’s leading public intellectual’, the ‘architect of Silicon Valley’s contemporary ethos’ or as…
Snobbery is the best weapon against screen time
I can’t be the only neurotic mother to have rejoiced when the Princess of Wales revealed recently that she has…
AI will take jobs – the wrong ones
As those of you familiar with this column will know, I am always eager to distinguish between an option and…
Bring back the album
Usually when my tweenage sons ask about relics from my 1990s adolescence – ‘What’s a landline?’ ‘What’s a phone book?’…
Say hello to your AI granny
Doing the rounds on social media is the most disturbing advert I’ve ever seen. And I’m telling you about it…
My portable charger obsession
A femtosecond, derived from the Danish word femte meaning ‘fifteen’, is a unit of time in the International System of…
