AKA Review— April 28, 2023

From The New York Times:
The Gravest Threats to Campus Speech Come From States, Not Students
By Christina Paxson
Brown University President Christina Paxson unpacks the current overheated debates over free speech on college campuses by comparing the limits of campus speech imposed by both the right and the left to other instances of censorship throughout history. She argues that legislating toward a future where the state decrees what ideas may be taught and debated upends a bedrock principle of this country and undercuts the mission of higher education: a place for controversial issues and emerging ideas to be taught, discussed, and debated. Read this article

From The New York Times:
The Moral Center Is Fighting Back on Elite College Campuses
By David French
New York Times columnist David French posits a center not in political terms but one representing the moral core of a nation—in the US, built around, "at a bare minimum, the promises of the Bill of Rights, including freedom of speech." That center finds itself under siege, with extremist attacks on free speech from the left and the right especially acute on college campuses. But in the recent responses of some of the most elite American campuses he finds signs that the center is fighting back with conviction. Read this article

From New York Magazine:
Pick a Practical Major, Like French
By Freddie deBoer
In this critique of the conventional wisdom of choosing a "practical major," the author unpacks how this well-intentioned guidance is too often used to blame graduates for economic conditions out of their control. Further, what defines a "practical major" is ambiguous and changes too quickly for students to react and can set students up for failure in the job market. Instead, he argues that "we should build a society where the educational path chosen early in life is less consequential for lifetime economic security, and where we’re all more free to study what we actually care about." Read this article

From The Economist:
The lessons from America’s astonishing economic record
Widespread anxiety about the U.S. economy obscures a stunning success story. America not only remains the world’s richest, most productive, and most innovative big economy, but by an impressive number of measures, it is leaving its peers further in the dust. America’s openness, flexible labor market, and commitment to immigration have historically contributed to its booming economy. In order to maintain its strong foothold, the U.S. should recommit to these values. Read this article

From Big Think:
Are conscious machines possible?
By Michael Wooldridge
In this engaging video, AI researcher and Oxford professor of computer science Mike Wooldridge examines the origins, history, current state, and possible future of AI, including a consideration of its limits. To answer the question of whether a machine can achieve consciousness, he compares how AI works to that of the human brain. Noting that scientists are continuing to work on understanding human consciousness, he concludes that while machine consciousness is possible, it will not be arriving any time soon. Watch this video