Showing 1 - 10 of 18
AI and the future of education
Oped, Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, Published on 27/01/2026
» The rapid progress of large language models over the past two years has led some to argue that AI will soon make college education, especially in the liberal arts, obsolete. According to this view, young people would be better off skipping college and learning directly on the job.
Remember, remember the 5th of Nov
Roger Crutchley, Published on 03/11/2024
» The US presidential election on Tuesday just happens to coincide with the annual November 5 Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night) over in Britain. So it looks like we could be in for plenty of fireworks on both sides of the Pond.
Lonely sheep survives real cliffhanger
Roger Crutchley, Published on 12/11/2023
» Some rare good news last week was the rescue of the "world's loneliest sheep" from a rugged beach in northeastern Scotland. The sheep, a ewe named Fiona, had been stuck on the beach at the foot of a steep cliff in an isolated spot of the Moray Firth for the past two years without any woolly friends or non-woolly humans for company.
What can COP28 really achieve?
Oped, Geoffrey Heal, Published on 18/10/2023
» COP season is almost here. For the climate-conscious, the annual Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a fixture of the late-year calendar and an opportunity to take stock of our goals, needs, and achievements. We spend two weeks preoccupied with a distant event hoping that negotiators will make meaningful progress toward mitigating the climate threat. But to keep our expectations for COP28 realistic, we must understand what a COP can and cannot do.
Can democracy survive the polycrisis?
Oped, George Soros, Published on 16/06/2023
» We are living in troubled times. Too much is happening too fast. People are confused. The Columbia University economic historian Adam Tooze has, indeed, popularised a word for it. He calls it a "polycrisis".
Have we passed the point of no return with AI?
Oped, Gwynne Dyer, Published on 01/06/2023
» 'Sometimes I think it's as if aliens have landed and people haven't realised because they speak very good English," said Geoffrey Hinton, the 'godfather of AI' (Artificial Intelligence), who resigned from Google and now fears his godchildren will become "things more intelligent than us, taking control".
Relocate 'Bua Noi'
Oped, Postbag, Published on 27/10/2022
» Re: " 'Bua Noi' may finally make ape escape", (BP, Oct 22), and "Give 'Boi Noi' a better home", (Editorial, Oct 25).
Can't beat question time in the 'bear pit'
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 06/02/2022
» While normally steering well clear of British politics I admit to having enjoyed recent live TV sessions of the UK Parliament. The weekly Prime Minister's Question Time (PMQ) held on Wednesdays is far more entertaining than any soap opera. Witnessing the verbal jousting as the PM attempts to side-step a withering grilling is sheer theatre. It is almost like being the accused in the dock at a court hearing.
Blighted regime
Oped, Postbag, Published on 04/01/2022
» Re: "Card holders can now use any hospital", (BP, Jan 3). Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's characterisation of his ministry's new policy of allowing cardholders to access any hospital as a "New Year's gift" to cardholders is illustrative of one of Thai society's most toxically dysfunctional structural elements: namely the largely unchallenged acceptance in Thailand that a major role of government in a democratic polity should be to dole out largesse to its citizen-supplicants.
Becoming Long John Silver just for a day
News, Roger Crutchley, Published on 19/09/2021
» Important news. Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, on which everyone is encouraged to speak in the manner of a buccaneer, sea dog, corsair, picaroon or whatever you wish to call them. If you are desperate Captain Jack Sparrow impersonations will suffice.