Author: TheConversation

By William J. Kinsella, Professor Emeritus of Communication, North Carolina State University Christopher Nolan’s film “Oppenheimer” has focused new attention on the legacies of the Manhattan Project – the World War II program to develop nuclear weapons. As the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, approach, it is a timely moment to look further at dilemmas wrought by the creation of the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project spawned a trinity of interconnected legacies. It initiated a global arms race that threatens the survival of humanity and the planet as we...

By Emily Midkiff, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Leadership, and Professional Practice, University of North Dakota Science fiction can lead people to be more cautious about the potential consequences of innovations. It can help people think critically about the ethics of science. Researchers have also found that sci-fi serves as a positive influence on how people view science. Science fiction scholar Istvan Csicsery-Ronay calls this “science-fictional habits of mind.” Scientists and engineers have reported that their childhood encounters with science fiction framed their thinking about the sciences. Thinking critically about science and technology is an important part of education in...

By Ravi Sen, Associate Professor of Information and Operations Management, Texas A&M University Google, Microsoft, and others boast that generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT will make searching the internet better than ever for users. For example, rather than having to wade through a sea of URLs, users will be able to just get an answer combed from the entire internet. There are also some concerns with the rise of AI-fueled search engines, such as the opacity over where information comes from, the potential for “hallucinated” answers and copyright issues. But one other consequence is that I believe it...

By Joseph L. Kimmel, Part-Time Faculty Member (Theology Department), Boston College Jesus has been portrayed in many different ways: from a prophet who alerts his audience to the world’s imminent end to a philosopher who reflects on the nature of life. But no one has called Jesus an internet guru – that is, until now. In his latest role as an “AI Jesus,” Jesus stands, rather awkwardly, as a white man, dressed in a hooded brown-and-white robe, available 24/7 to answer any and all questions on his Twitch channel, ask_jesus. Questions posed to this chatbot Jesus can range from...

By Amelia Tseng, Assistant Professor in Spanish and Linguistics, American University A young Latina mother I was interviewing once laughed uncomfortably as she described her sons’ embarrassment when put on the spot by older Latinos. They would speak to her sons in Spanish, before quickly adding in the same language, “How awful! You don’t understand me in Spanish?” Her sons would then sheepishly reply – in Spanish – “Yes, I understand. But I don’t speak it.” Despite our different backgrounds, her story hit close to home. I grew up in Arizona as the child of Chinese immigrants, learning to...