Peter Biles

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The U.K. Government Reposts Censorious Tweet

_{The rising authoritarianism in western societies is becoming more evident}_{Peter Biles
August 9, 2024}

In light of the violent protests and now counter-protests raging across the England and elsewhere in the United Kingdom (UK), the UK government reposted an announcement on X that those posting online content promoting “hatred” or “violence” could be criminally prosecuted. Here’s the post: Think before you post. https://t.co/sgqCErb4AC— GOV.UK (@GOVUK) August 8, 2024 Not only can citizens face prosecution by posting inciteful content (although the video makes no mention about what that really is), but they can also get nabbed for simply reposting it from someone else. The pushback on X was swift, with critics calling the post a blatant instance of government overreach and comparing the measure to something we would expect in authoritarian …

Revisiting Neil Postman’s Laws of Technology

_{How can we judge technology realistically?}_{Peter Biles
August 6, 2024}

Without guiding principles, technology can progress while our moral maturity stays the same or even backtracks.

Our Tech Use Crosses the Line When We Trust It Too Much

_{Don't be like Michael Scott and let AI drive your car into a lake}_{Peter Biles
August 5, 2024}

I've never driven my car into a lake screaming "the machine knows!" like Michael Scott did but the temptation to use technology like this loom in everyday life.

Study: AI is Actually Causing People to Work More

_{AI can hamper more than help in the workplace}_{Peter Biles
July 31, 2024}

Full-time employees, challenged to incorporate AI more fundamentally into their schedule and skillsets, are not seeing the promised productivity yields.

AI: The Future of Friendship?

_{Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment.}_{Peter Biles
July 30, 2024}

Odd visions of dystopia keep popping up in real life in our current social moment. An upcoming device simply called “friend” is now being advertised. Per the product description, the “friend” is a Bluetooth disk that hangs around a person’s neck and “listens” to the user. It then has the capacity to make conversation by “texting” you at random times of the day, like a human friend might do. The website includes a “frequently asked questions” portion, which is where you can discover what the product is and what it can do. Here’s a bizarre response to the question: “what does ‘always listening’ mean”: When connected via bluetooth, your friend is always listening and forming their …

Growing Up on the Internet is Like Growing Up on Mars

_{We need to come back to Earth}_{Peter Biles
July 26, 2024}

Not only is the online world making us angry and sad. It's also causing our character to atrophy.

Musk Wants to Use AI to Understand the Universe. Will it Work?

_{Could AI ever aid our quest to fully understand the universe?}_{Peter Biles
July 24, 2024}

Jordan Peterson and Elon Musk sat down this week for an extensive conversation ranging from technology, AI, politics, and even religion and questions of the metaphysical. These two prominent figures are active on Musk’s X, and frequently call out infringements on free speech and other authoritarian measures they see as a danger. In one interesting point in the interview, Musk described how he diverged in his views from his friend Larry Page on AI safety. Page evidently believes that we will “upload our minds to the computer,” to which Peterson said, “There’s not much difference between that and the death of humanity.” Musk nonetheless is the developer of his own AI system and believes that AI can aid humanity’s perennial quest for …

Study: Writing by Hand is Good for the Brain. What Does that Say About ChatGPT?

_{Nothing can replace pen and paper}_{Peter Biles
July 22, 2024}

It might be time to get the pens and notebooks back out and shut off the keyboard for a while. Just pretend you’re back in the first grade and don’t have a minicomputer in your back pocket. Writing by hand can help stimulate the whole brain and stave off cognitive decline, according to a study by Van der Weel and Van der Meer (2024), as reported by Pamela B. Rutledge in Psychology Today. Using a more personal note, she writes, I’ve never been one to keep a journal, but I now wonder if the exclusive use of computers and the lack of handwriting practice is doing my brain a disservice by decreasing the activity of cortico-subcortical components of the writing network (Longcamp et al., 2016). My reliance on computers has certainly not done any favors for the …

We Shouldn’t Let AI Steal Art and Entertainment

_{This is an opportunity for artists and writers to create excellent work that champions the uniqueness of human creativity}_{Peter Biles
July 19, 2024}

It’s no secret that new forms of AI threaten the integrity of the arts and entertainment industry. Actors might be deep faked. Artists’ original work can be scraped by word prompts, and writers could be “replaced” by large language models that only seem to be getting more adept at copycatting human language. One of the reasons it’s tempting for Hollywood producers to use AI seems to go beyond simply cutting costs. It makes sense massive companies want to capitalize on a tool that will get them unpaid labor. But in a way, entertainment, including books and movies, have become apportioned to popular demand. Which means they tend to be more formulaic and geared towards marketability instead of genuine quality. I wrote about this issue here regarding the new …

Ban the Phones and Bring Back the Books

_{It's time for the book, a time-tested vehicle of delight and instruction, to make a comeback in the classroom}_{Peter Biles
July 16, 2024}

This summer, several states have proposed banning smartphones in public schools or introducing programs that will limit kids’ phone use during school hours. So far New York, Indiana, Ohio, California, and Oklahoma have proposed bans or restrictions, showing rare bipartisan concern over the issue. The impetus for this movement came in May when Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders sent a letter to every fellow governor in the United States with a complimentary copy of The Anxious Generation, a new book by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. Haidt shows how starting in the early 2010s kids’ mental health steeply declined. The main culprit? The smartphone, which soon became an ensnaring substitute for “real life.” Gen Z, those born after 1995, were the first to grow up in …

AI is Becoming a Tool of Mass Persuasion

_{Some worry that AI could be a powerful tool used to wield influence over users}_{Peter Biles
July 12, 2024}

Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are more “conversational” technologies, directly addressing users, so their persuasive power is more overt.

“I’m Not There Yet”

_{Scott Galloway opens up about the writing process}_{Peter Biles
July 10, 2024}

Scott Galloway is one of the most successful writers on the planet, at least by monetary metrics. He’s also a remarkably talented presenter and appears consistently on top channels to talk about business, masculinity, finance, and relationships. In a new interview with David Perell, who founded the writing organization “Write of Passage,” Galloway said that he thinks he’s a “good writer” but not a “great” one yet. It might surprise us given that Galloway is around sixty and is a successful author, but he went on to explain how practice is key when reaching any type of mastery of a skill. Writing is no different. He described his recent encounter with a Stephen King novel, admiring the vividness of the prose, and admitted that it made …

Famous Actress Wonders About AI, TV Culture, and Humanity

_{AI isn't like the printing press, Rashida Jones laments}_{Peter Biles
July 8, 2024}

We no longer talk about mainstream entertainment swallowing art. Now, distraction is swallowing both entertainment and art.

Here Are Some Good Pieces to Read Over the Long Weekend

_{Reflections on love and freedom from two gifted writers}_{Peter Biles
July 4, 2024}

Happy Independence Day to all the American readers, which, presumably, is most of you! Condolences and best wishes to our British friends as they deal with a large-scale election tomorrow. Many people will be enjoying a particularly long weekend full of hot dogs, fireworks, and summer heat, but one can always use the spare time to catch up on some reading. Here are just a couple of links that I’ve found worthwhile over the last couple days. The first comes from novelist Tara Isabella Burton, who writes a candid piece on overcoming smartphone addiction in Plough. Like many of us, Burton both wrestles with spending too much time on screens but has also made resolutions to overcome her dependency again and again. This time, though, she has made some simple but powerful changes …

A Quiet Place: Two Moments That Stick Out

_{Characters in the dystopian thriller find solace in the transcendent}_{Peter Biles
July 1, 2024}

Those who can connect with a source of meaning beyond the material pain of the world are the ones who will stay alive in body and spirit.

Coldplay, Pop Music, and AI Mimicry

_{Musicians are being pressured into the pop music mania}_{Peter Biles
June 28, 2024}

Coldplay is my favorite band. Some make fun of me for this, but their discography, ranging from the raw immediacy of Rush of Blood to the Head (2002) to the synthetic coldness of Ghost Stories (2014) is too wide ranging, beautifully rendered, and personally resonant for me to dismiss. That said, something’s happened to the music industry that has even alt-rockers in its grip, including Coldplay. The super-band’s latest single, “feelslikeimfallinginlove,” is a far cry from their roots. While some bands maturate with age, Coldplay has simplified and infantilized; frontman Chris Martin was writing much more interesting, compelling lyrics at age twenty-five than forty-five. The new single is a simple pop song, youthful, exuberant, without much musical complexity …

Roger Scruton on AI and the Human Soul

_{Is something missing in the discussion on AI and human exceptionalism? Back in the 1980s, Roger Scruton thought so}_{Peter Biles
June 26, 2024}

Will we start to regard each other as little more than complicated data centers if we lose the concept of the soul entirely?

Zuck and Co Are Under Fire (Again)

_{Meta targeted teens, according to internal company emails}_{Peter Biles
June 24, 2024}

Is there any company out there who has hurt young people more than Mark Zuckerberg’s gargantuan Meta empire? A host of lawsuits and a damning report from the New York Times tells us that the massive parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp willingly pursued its addictive business model despite the evident damage its products were doing to users, particularly kids. Who remembers when Facebook launched and its promises of a more connected world? Who remembers the optimists hailing the internet as the next step in human connectivity? A mere twenty years later and the technology lords are facing an overdue reckoning. Natasha Singer writes, The state lawsuits against Meta reflect mounting concerns that teenagers and children on social media can be sexually …

Inside Out 2: Anxiety Takes Over

_{New animated film explores the internal anxieties of a teenage girl}_{Peter Biles
June 21, 2024}

It's a fun and at times quite insightful and tender film, and its nod to banning phones is rare to see in modern cinema.

Kingsnorth: How to Stay Sane in the Deepfake World

_{A lesson for modern people from the desert monks of antiquity}_{Peter Biles
June 20, 2024}

We might have to get caught up in the online freneticism again at some point, but returning to physical and spiritual reality, is a good practice to cultivate.