Every Monday on Global Comment, we share the slow, thoughtful, considerate words that our brains – and souls – need but that it’s easy to miss in our busy world. We distil the best of the web and recommend just three links every week that you absolutely must see.
No fluff, no fuss, just three exceptional reads.
Here are this week’s recommendations:
Bible Banned in Schools as Book Censorship Backfires Big Time (Dan Foster / Medium)
The recent decision to ban the Bible from elementary and middle schools in Utah has sparked controversy and debate. Those who support the decision argue that the Bible contains grotesque violence and pornographic material, making its presence unsuitable for young students. Meanwhile, critics of the decision predictably claim that removing the Bible from schools infringes upon religious freedom and limits access to important cultural and historical texts.
This was always going to be the logical end of a book-censorship war that was primarily instigated by Christian parents trying to protect their children from the “evil leftist agenda” and its apparent attempts to indoctrinate their children with horrible things like tolerance, acceptance of difference, and the value of “live-and-let-live.”
But now the chickens have come home to roost.
A.I. Poses ‘Risk of Extinction,’ Industry Leaders Warn (Kevin Roose / NY Times)
Eventually, some believe, A.I. could become powerful enough that it could create societal-scale disruptions within a few years if nothing is done to slow it down, though researchers sometimes stop short of explaining how that would happen.
These fears are shared by numerous industry leaders, putting them in the unusual position of arguing that a technology they are building — and, in many cases, are furiously racing to build faster than their competitors — poses grave risks and should be regulated more tightly.
Wise words from Graeme Souness
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Image: Josh Hild