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Opinion | We shouldn’t listen to tech entrepreneurs on anything but technology

Opinion | We shouldn’t listen to tech entrepreneurs on anything but technology

In today’s noisy artificial intelligence marketplace, Adam Lashinsky’s query in his July 18 op-ed, “Why are we listening to tech moguls like Musk?,” resonated loudly. Why do we listen to only the loudest voices when some of the quieter voices might be echoing a truth we need to hear? Opinions are not truths, no matter who speaks them. And truths are only one component of wisdom, no matter their source.

Sorting out AI’s challenges and complexities must not be left only to those with the loudest voices. Tech giants whose profit motives encourage the rapid development of products and who sometimes ignore ethical standards are part of our world. There are other, quieter voices that also need to be heard, those for whom ethical responsibilities loom large. Their AI applications, although less well-known, might be equally important.

Take the recent spate of lawsuits against Big

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Opinion | ‘Oppenheimer’ and the Siren Song of World-Ending Technology

Opinion | ‘Oppenheimer’ and the Siren Song of World-Ending Technology

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

carlos lozada

So we drove out to the Midwest for vacation. And so I was like, oh, we’ll just audiobook it. And between the drive back and forth, I barely had covered half of the book because it was like 27 hours or something ridiculous.

lydia polgreen

Wait, you subjected your family to the “Oppenheimer” audiobook?

carlos lozada

They loved it. Or they lied to me.

michelle cottle

Either way.

carlos lozada

Well, I mean, I read it when it came out. It’s like 17 years ago, so I mean, I don’t remember.

ross douthat

So once wasn’t enough.

carlos lozada

I just remember that it was great.

michelle cottle

Nerd.

ross douthat

Uh-huh.

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Opinion | Screens Are Everywhere in Schools. Do They Actually Help Kids Learn?

Opinion | Screens Are Everywhere in Schools. Do They Actually Help Kids Learn?

A few weeks ago, a parent who lives in Texas asked me how much my kids were using screens to do schoolwork in their classrooms. She wasn’t talking about personal devices. (Smartwatches and smartphones are banned in my children’s schools during the school day, which I’m very happy about; I find any argument for allowing these devices in the classroom to be risible.) No, this parent was talking about screens that are school sanctioned, like iPads and Chromebooks issued to children individually for educational activities.

I’m embarrassed to say that I couldn’t answer her question because I had never asked or even thought about asking. Partly because the Covid-19 era made screens imperative in an instant — as one ed-tech executive told my colleague Natasha Singer in 2021, the pandemic “sped the adoption of technology in education by easily five to 10 years.” In the early Covid years, when my

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