Sunday Reruns

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

What the internet did to our brains.

Aug 31 •

The Medium Is the Medium

Jul 27 •

The Original Chatbot

On Joseph Weizenbaum and Eliza.

Jun 1 •

Either you're on or you're off.

Apr 20 •

What's gained and what's lost with automation.

Mar 2 •

In the Kingdom of the Bored, the One-Armed Bandit Is King

Loving the interface.

Feb 9 •

Smartphones Are Hot

They're also cool.

Jan 19 •

The Arc of Innovation Bends toward Decadence

Why our inventions seem so small.

Dec 15, 2024 •

The Love that Lays the Swale in Rows

Good tools enlarge the world. Bad ones diminish it.

Nov 24, 2024 •

Question Marks of the Mysterians

On unknowable unknowns.

Nov 10, 2024 •

What Is It Like to Be a Smartphone?

Large language models reflect our own idea of intelligence back to us. A true AI would be inscrutable.

Oct 27, 2024 •

Haystacks of Needles

Our problem isn't too much noise. It's too much signal.

Oct 20, 2024 •

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts