optimists

Michael J. Totten / City Journal: A look at the AI revolution, reminiscent of the industrial revolution but unfolding over years rather than centuries, and the views of AI optimists and doomers — Machines can now talk with us in ways that aren't preprogrammed. They can draw pictures, write passable (if generic) … Michael J. Totten / City Journal: A look at the AI revolution, reminiscent of the industrial revolution but unfolding over years rather than centuries, and the views of AI…

Data scientist Hannah Ritchie has written a good-hearted, generous book that tries its very best to reassure us about the various environmental crises we face. Which, obviously, is much appreciated: God knows we need all the optimism we can get.Ritchie is lead researcher at the groundbreaking Our World in Data, a website run out of Oxford University. She begins by describing the moment of revelation she experienced when, after years of feeling helpless and anxious about the state of things, she discovered the Swedish…

Based on the level of talent assembled on either side of the camera, the critical acclaim the film received, the numbers it pulled in at the box office, and the awards season recognition it gathered, the fact The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn exists as a standalone blockbuster is a head-scratcher, especially when a sequel was all-but-promised. After all, we’re talking about a fast-paced adventure created using cutting-edge performance capture technology that was directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by…

Why is the Anglo-Saxon world so individualistic, and why has China leaned towards collectivism? Was it Adam Smith, or the Bill of Rights; communism and Mao? According to at least one economist, there might be an altogether more surprising explanation: the difference between wheat and rice. You see, it’s fairly straightforward for a lone farmer to sow wheat in soil and live off the harvest. Rice is a different affair: it requires extensive irrigation, which means cooperation across parcels of land, even centralised…