Philosophy seems to be on a hiding to nothing. It has a 2,500-year history in the West and an extensive back-catalogue – of problems. There are questions about what exists, and what we know about it, such as: Do we have free will? Is there an external world? Does God exist? and so on. There are also questions of analysis and definition such as: What makes a sentence true? What makes an act just? What is causation? What is a person? This is a tiny sample.
Last week, both Microsoft and Google gave demos of their new artificial intelligence–powered search assistants. Microsoft’s Bing Chat sits inside its Bing search engine and Edge web browser, while Google’s Bard chatbot will do its thing on the same page where Google’s standard search results appear.
THE WEATHER HAS been all over the place lately, warm and spring-like on some days; overcast, windy and "unseasonably cool" on others. The days are getting longer and tonight, it was still light until around 9:30, with no where to go, P remarked.
THIS INSTALMENT of Style File features model Sara Ramén, who was born in Australia to a Swedish father and a French mother. She credits her heritage for her affinity with these cultures, despite growing up in Perth. Ramén began travelling on her own around the world as a model in her late-teens with Marilyn Agency and Storm Models, living many different places, including Paris, London and Sydney.
FUTURE SHOCK. It’s a term that was first coined by Alvin Toffler in 1970 to describe the psychological disorientation and stress that people experience due to rapid changes in technology, society, and culture. And with the rapid advancements in AI, it’s becoming more relevant than ever before.