When a president gives a primetime televised speech, it is typically about something of serious import: to make the case for a major new policy or to announce the beginning of a war. President Donald Trump’s speech on Wednesday night had no grave significance. In fact, there didn’t seem to be much of a point […]

This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a critically important climate research center in Colorado. What’s happening? US Office of Management and Budget Director Russ […]

When it comes to fixing the world’s worst problems, it’s easy to pretend that we’re helpless. We tell ourselves that global poverty is just too big, too distant, and too intractable an issue for us to solve. If the world could afford to solve it, or something like hunger, then surely somebody else would have […]

Almost 2,000 years before ChatGPT was invented, two men had a debate that can teach us a lot about AI’s future. Their names were Eliezer and Yoshua.  No, I’m not talking about Eliezer Yudkowsky, who recently published a bestselling book claiming that AI is going to kill everyone, or Yoshua Bengio, the “godfather of AI” […]

Ordinary Americans today enjoy a living standard that would have awed kings for most of human history.  We live in homes conditioned to our ideal temperature in any season; drive vehicles that pack the power of 250 horses into a 100-square-foot metal frame; carry six-ounce rectangles that offer instant access to virtually any loved one, […]