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Tech News
A guest post by Karthik C. S., Amit Sahai, and Jie Xue examines how the rise of AI should prompt mathematicians to reconsider the purpose and value of their work. The authors contrast two philosophical views of mathematics—invention versus discovery—using an analogy to paleontology to argue that creative effort does not negate the independent existence of mathematical truth.
A Northwestern University marketing professor, Lan Nguyen Chaplin, writes in Nature about deciding to stop weighing student teaching evaluations after receiving harsh feedback calling her 'stingy' and 'arrogant.' She argues that prioritizing being liked by students can compromise academic rigor, and says she now focuses on challenging students rather than seeking their approval.
A new essay examines how news has shifted from reporting natural events to manufacturing 'pseudo-events'—staged happenings like press conferences, interviews, and ribbon cuttings—a concept drawn from Daniel J. Boorstin's 1962 book The Image. The piece traces how editors and audience boredom jointly determine what counts as newsworthy, arguing that importance in media is often circularly defined by what gets covered.
The writer, expecting his first child, reflects on Neil Postman's 1995 book The End of Education and historical predictions about technology replacing teachers, including Thomas Edison's 1913 claim that books would soon be obsolete. He revisits his own 2013 prediction that MOOCs would transform education and notes that institutions like Harvard, Yale, and Princeton have persisted for centuries despite shifting purposes.
In a LinkedIn essay, Clojure creator Rich Hickey contends that the word 'tool' is being applied too loosely to AI systems. He argues true tools are things wielded by hand with control and feedback, like hammers or saws, and that this hands-on use builds skill and understanding of the world. He contrasts this with LLMs, which he says lack the predictability, reliability and determinism that define genuine tools.
A philosophy-focused essay argues that mainstream tech culture favors a narrow strain of utilitarian thinking associated with Bay Area rationalists, while sidelining broader philosophical inquiry. The author instead explores classic questions about free will and existence, noting that strict scientific determinism—if true—would undercut the basis for morality and personal responsibility.
A Wall Street Journal report cites experts recommending anthropology, mathematics and philosophy as college majors better suited to an AI-driven job market than computer science, whose recent graduates face a 6.1% unemployment rate versus a 5.7% overall rate. The experts argue these fields build distinctly human skills—like understanding behavior and abstract reasoning—that AI cannot easily replicate, even as long-term demand for software developers remains strong.