When it comes to whipping up AI hysteria, there is a tried-and-tested algorithm — or at least a formula. First, find an inventor or “entrepreneur” behind some “ground-breaking” AI technology. Then, get them to say how “dangerous” and “risky” their …
Jaron Lanier: How humanity can defeat AI
Jaron Lanier uniquely straddles the worlds of computer science and philosophy. Born in 1960, he was an academic child prodigy. He enrolled at New Mexico State University aged 13, joined Atari at 23, after which he became a pioneer in …
The rise of castration anxiety
Little is known about the ecstatic rites of Cybele, a pre-Hellenic goddess associated with nature and wildness. Shrines have been found throughout Europe, though she was originally from Mesopotamia. And numerous sources describe her mendicant priesthood: castrated men who bleached …
