One of the most important problems that I fear with AI (and one I rarely see mentioned) is the ability of AI to control what is presented as FACTUAL information in both the academic and public spheres. Teaching critical thinking skills will become next to impossible when "factual" information that informs decisions and opinions is controlled by whomever generates the "facts" that are presented by AI and embraced by various sources. Actual "facts" will be what the AI determnes to be true. The supposed science fiction of "1984" is turning intto reality of 2023.
Disregard for facts and fact-based arguments isn’t an attitude found exclusively in rightwing circles. It gained purchase on the left in the heyday of post-modernism. This was particularly acute among Michel Foucault’s fan club. For the po-mos, language is reality and language is interpretation and interpretation is subjective so reality is subjective and . . . It’s an infinite loop heading nowhere. Ask Tom about his experiences with the anthropology workshop discussing Foucault’s *Discipline and Punish.* He had a good retort.
One of the most important problems that I fear with AI (and one I rarely see mentioned) is the ability of AI to control what is presented as FACTUAL information in both the academic and public spheres. Teaching critical thinking skills will become next to impossible when "factual" information that informs decisions and opinions is controlled by whomever generates the "facts" that are presented by AI and embraced by various sources. Actual "facts" will be what the AI determnes to be true. The supposed science fiction of "1984" is turning intto reality of 2023.
Disregard for facts and fact-based arguments isn’t an attitude found exclusively in rightwing circles. It gained purchase on the left in the heyday of post-modernism. This was particularly acute among Michel Foucault’s fan club. For the po-mos, language is reality and language is interpretation and interpretation is subjective so reality is subjective and . . . It’s an infinite loop heading nowhere. Ask Tom about his experiences with the anthropology workshop discussing Foucault’s *Discipline and Punish.* He had a good retort.