ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

IDEAS

Where The Wisdom Of Crowds Falls Short

Our recent research suggests that while group deliberation can indeed increase the accuracy of forecasts, it can lead you astray when it comes to making a final decision. - Harvard Business Review

Where We Are Now In Teaching Machines To Learn

High hopes for the imminent arrival of general AI have been there from the very beginning, and the successes of machine learning keep them high. - The New Atlantis

How Expertise Is Being Redefined

I believe there exists a modicum of groupthink in an established expert community; solidarity in opinions may be seen as desirable among some in the scientific community, sometimes at the expense of intellectual debates and scientific discourse. - Future

Artificial Intelligence Will Likely Be More Tool Than Human Replacer

Though a wide range of A.I. technologies have improved by leaps and bounds over the past decade, even the most impressive systems have ended up complementing human workers rather than replacing them. - The New York Times

“Culture Wars” Are The Wrong Frame For Where We Are Now

Conventional wisdom has it that cultural divisions now matter most, and that plenty of people feel they have nothing in common with liberal, supposedly “globalist” elites. Yet that idea is far from the truth. - New Statesman

The Death Of Funny?

Could you sing this song at your nonprofit, apropos of nothing? Even with all the caveats in the world ahead of actually singing it? Can anyone sing this song outside the confines of an arts presentation? In that presentation, would trigger warnings be required? - Alan Harrison

Our Technology Has Gotten Ahead Of Our Ability To Control It

Emergent technologies have gained far-reaching power over our politics, our economy, and our lives, and no consensus exists on what—if anything—to do about it. - The Atlantic

Has The Creepy Insect Trope Had Its Day?

Climate science shows we desperately need insects to keep the planet in any kind of balance. Horror films have disagreed - but it might be time for a change. - The Guardian (UK)

The Evidence Is Clear For Supporting The Arts To Support Public Health

"The arts can be especially beneficial for public health in five key areas: collective trauma, racism, mental health, social exclusion and isolation, and chronic disease." - The Nation's Health

Does The Art World Still Have A Sense Of Humor?

Red tape and regulations have largely put paid to a congenial and very possibly no-less-profitable art world, as has the workload in oppressed, ever-leaner organisations dominated by accountants or hit by government cuts. - Apollo

How Digital Tech Will Kill Nation States (A History)

If we want to figure out how network technologies like Internet and Blockchain will change the world, we need to understand how the nature of previous technologies determined the emergence of new political systems. - Uncharted Territories

Did That Robot Look At Me Funny?

It has long been known that making eye contact with a robot can be an unsettling experience. Scientists even have a name for the queasy feeling: the "uncanny valley". - Reuters

How Do We Get Beyond A Rush To Judgment?

The modern online public sphere, a place of rapid conclusions, rigid ideological prisms, and arguments of 280 characters, favors neither nuance nor ambiguity. - The Atlantic

Nation-building Abroad? We’re Not Very Good At It At Home Either

"I know something about this rhetorical vagary because it involves nominally the same efforts America supposedly applies to strengthen its own communities that are “vulnerable,” “underserved,” “traditionally overlooked” — you choose the euphemism for poor." - Medium

You’re Right — Things Are Worse Now Than They Were 60 Years Ago

Sixty years after Kennedy’s speech to Congress, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone willing to make the case that accomplishing hard tasks, solving hard problems, and committing to collective action are particular ambitions or ideals or strengths of American democracy. - The Walrus

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