Topic: Technology
Quotes
Max Weber, Economy And Society (1956)
- Had not rational calculation formed the basis of economic activity, had there not been certain very particular conditions in its economic background, rational technology could never have come into existence.#
Posts
The University in the AI Era
We are well into the process of AI upending higher education. It’s unclear what the university will end up looking like in the AI era – or even if there’s a role for universities at all. I’m confident there is, in principle, but it’ll involve a major retooling at the . . .
Solving the Participation Pickle with Pick.al
One of my biggest ongoing teaching challenges is keeping students engaged during lectures. Sure, there are ways to add interactivity here and there, but sometimes there’s just no way around an old-fashioned lecture. There are a few ways of dealing with this, and I haven’t been satisfied with any. It’s their grade, if . . .
What Computer-Generated Language Tells Us About Our Own Ideological Thinking
Earlier this year, the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI built GPT-3, a 175-billion-parameter text-generating artificial intelligence. Compared to its predecessor, the humorously dissociative GPT-2, which had been trained on a data set less than one hundredth as large, GPT-3 is a startlingly convincing writer. It can answer questions . . .
The Apparatus Cost of Net Neutrality
Net neutrality is a winning issue. Not only that, but people are likely to ignore libertarian arguments on the issue because it sounds a lot like what they love about the rule of law. General rules, non-discrimination, etc. The best argument against it is that the enforcement of net neutrality comes . . .