The real AI apocalypse is the death of trust
Influencers are being paid to warn you that a self-improving AI will wipe out humanity. The research says otherwise. The real danger is already in
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A conversation with AI: I'm unusually broad and fast; humans can be deep and wise
Are you more knowledgeable than any human? Not in the way a human is. I can access and synthesize a much broader range of information than any one person typically can, and I can do it very quickly. But that
News Focus: AI, humanity and global politics
As Pope Leo XIV warned at the start of his four-day visit to France this week of the risk of “losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines", attention falls on the failure of US President Donald Trump and his
Better to reach for risky heights of inequality than lows of equal comfort
Friedrich Nietzsche said of socialism that it was the demand for the comfort of the greatest number of people possible. Many will no doubt say “that’s exactly why we like socialism”. Nietzsche argued that small or weak people wanted only
Alfred Marshall’s unrealised hope: cooperation and economic renewal in SA
Over a hundred years ago Alfred Marshall, the pioneer of neoclassical economics, described the industrial character of South Africa as follows: “South Africa has shown great energy under difficulties. Her gold and diamonds bring wealth, though they do not greatly
Groups, nations and consternations
The professor, delicious monster that he is, has popped in for tea. I am surprised. The last time he came, I batted my eyes at him so much that I thought he must have written us off. Moi for being
The peril of supporting ethnic identitarianism
I have always been deeply uncomfortable with the nexus between the classical liberal movement and ethnic identitarianism. Martin van Staden believes that my concern about what black working-class voters would make of the Free Market Foundation hanging out with AfriForum
Voters will get the municipal councillors they deserve on 4 November
The prospects for a free and fair election being held peacefully in South Africa on 4 November seem good. Preparations are in hand; the IEC is satisfied with the submission of candidate nominations by the parties and individuals who wish
UCT's Ombud crisis exposes fatal design flaws in governance
Ask most people what an Ombud does at a university, and you'll get a blank stare. Yet it can be one of an institution's most important safeguards against abuse of power. An Ombud is a fire extinguisher that earns attention