Opinion
-
Could machines help us be more ethical?
Written by
Even as a professional ethicist, I’ll admit it’s not easy to live an ethical life. Heck, it’s a slog at times. Choosing to living well means thinking critically about choices that most people make automatically. Sometimes it means committing to courses of action we don’t enjoy, drawing solace from the knowledge that the greater good…
-
Teaching machines right from wrong
Written by
The trouble with computers: you get exactly what you ask for. Ask a robot waiter to serve table eight’s food immediately and it might just throw it. An AI that’s trying to earn you money might decide the best way is to sell your house. It’s not enough to tell machines what to do; you…
-
Should we be polite to chatbots?
Written by
Suddenly they’re everywhere, destroying the idea of homework as we know it and worrying writers across the globe. Few technologies have captured public imagination quite like the modern chatbot: it took ChatGPT just two months to reach 100 million users, a feat that took Instagram two years. Understandably, tech firms now are racing to launch…
-
Artificial intelligence: who owns the future?
Written by
How did you go bankrupt?Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly. Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises The late Gordon Moore famously observed that computing power doubles every two years. For a long time you’d be forgiven for barely noticing. Our devices got faster and smaller, sure, but ultimately they were still computers doing computer things, just more…
-
The World after Covid: What Should Change?
Written by
Just over three months ago, we went to our offices, schools, and universities, and potentially saw hundreds of people every day. Today, as we sit in our homes, health services and scientists all around the world are fighting against a virus that has already claimed over 400,000 lives globally. Many say that it has changed…
-
On Ethical Consumerism
Written by
Interested in ethical issues like climate crisis, ecological collapse, animal welfare, and human rights? Looking to avoid problems like child labor or unfair working conditions for garment workers? Would you rather see a world full of ethical supply chains, fair trade, and respect for animal rights? Well, it sounds like you’re passionate about ethical consumerism…
-
Getting Beyond the Economy: A Journey with Extinction Rebellion
Written by
In April this year I first went to the protests organised across central London by Extinction Rebellion. I had never attended a demonstration before. To my surprise I found myself in a movement that embodied and tied together many of the views, directions and values that had previously made me feel quite isolated but to…
-
Ethical Consumerism and Self-Growth
Written by
Why ethical consumerism is essential to self-growth Ethical consumerism is sometimes perceived as a luxury for those who are money or time-rich, or even as an affectation to improve one’s social image. Terms like social justice warrior (SJW) are used to suggest that socially-aware people are really just putting on an act, advertising their wokeness…
-
Why ‘Net Zero Emissions by 2050’ Needs a Green New Deal
Written by
I remember the days when months would go by without anything much happening about climate change at all. Thinkers and doers called for stuff, politicians occasionally did a few things, but you could go on holiday for a month and come back and things were pretty much as they were. Not any more. The last…
