Guest Thinkers — February 16, 2011

Tomorrow is Wolfram|Alpha Homework Day

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Tomorrow is Wolfram|Alpha’s Homework Day. The company is inviting students to submit their homework problems to see if/how Wolfram Alpha can solve them. Should be interesting…

Will you or your students be participating?

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

The letters "AI" appear with a glitch effect in multicolored pixels against a black background.

The Present

AI skeptic Gary Marcus on AI’s moral and technical shortcomings

The cognitive scientist argues the current AI environment is failing us as consumers and a society. But it’s not too late to change course.

An open ancient book reveals two pages, intricately illustrated with a pentagram and hexagram, surrounded by handwritten text in a faded script that whispers secrets of necromancy.

The Past

The “Demon Method”: How necromancy once solved everyone’s problems

Grab a sword, a small plate, and a young child. We’ve got a demon to summon.

Starts With A Bang

The 16 stories that shaped physics and astronomy in 2024

There was a lot of hype and a lot of nonsense, but also some profoundly major advances. Here are the biggest ones you may have missed.

A collage featuring hands holding a plant, additional hands in sepia tone, a grid background, orange accents, and the text "Reclaim Meaning" with the number 4.

Thinking

How to reclaim meaning in a changing world

What if the barrier to a fulfilled life isn’t technology but culture?

The Future

Can humans purge the bots without sacrificing our privacy?

“Personhood” credentials could cleanse the internet of bots — but are the costs worth it?

Up Next

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Teacher layoffs: Should seniority rule?

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