Vision is the most important and prioritized sense that we have. We are constantly looking at the world around us, and quickly we identify and make sense of what it is that we see. Let’s just start with an example of that very fact. I’m going to show you a photograph of a person, just …
No matter who you are or where you live, I’m guessing that you have at least one relative that likes to forward those emails. You know the ones I’m talking about — the ones with dubious claims or conspiracy videos. And you’ve probably already muted them on Facebook for sharing social posts like this one. …
I’m an historian. And what I love about being an historian is it gives you perspective. Today, I’d like to bring that perspective to education in the United States. About the only thing people can agree on is that the most strategic time for a child to start learning is early. Over 50 years ago, …
Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast When we use the word “architect” or “designer,” what we usually mean is a professional, someone who gets paid, and we tend to assume that it’s those professionals who are going to be the ones to help us solve the really big, systemic design challenges that we face like …
I’m going to talk about hackers. And the image that comes to your mind when I say that word is probably not of Benjamin Franklin, but I’m going to explain to you why it should be. The image that comes to your mind is probably more likely of a pasty kid sitting in a basement …
I’m a teacher and a practitioner of civics in America. Now, I will kindly ask those of you who have just fallen asleep to please wake up. (Laughter) Why is it that the very word “civics” has such a soporific, even a narcoleptic effect on us? I think it’s because the very word signifies something …
It’s 1996 in Uvira in eastern Congo. This is Bukeni. Militia commanders walk into his village, knock on his neighbors’ doors and whisk their children away to training camps. Bukeni borrows a video camera from a local wedding photographer, he disguises as a journalist and he walks into the camps to negotiate the release of …
I want to talk about one of the big questions, perhaps the biggest question: How should we live together? How should a group of people, who perhaps live in a city or in the continent or even the whole globe, share and manage common resources? How should we make the rules that govern us? This …
Now, I’ve been making pictures for quite a long time, and normally speaking, a picture like this, for me, should be straightforward. I’m in southern Ethiopia. I’m with the Daasanach. There’s a big family, there’s a very beautiful tree, and I make these pictures with this very large, extremely cumbersome, very awkward technical plate film …
So when people voice fears of artificial intelligence, very often, they invoke images of humanoid robots run amok. You know? Terminator? You know, that might be something to consider, but that’s a distant threat. Or, we fret about digital surveillance with metaphors from the past. “1984,” George Orwell’s “1984,” it’s hitting the bestseller lists again. …