Sunday Gathering: Useful Perspectives in the AI Age

Guest Teacher Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” Leo joins us for  the first time to share his expertise in computer science in a continuation of the series, Empire of Screens Part II.

AI discourse these days has gone from rapidly evolving to outright chaotic. Depending on who is speaking and when, AI may soon create so much abundance that jobs become optional and money loses relevance, or pose existential risks we barely know how to comprehend.

This week in Empire of Screens, we’ll explore three useful perspectives that may help us make sense of the confusion. We’ll look at AI as part of humanity’s long history of knowledge management, ask whether thinking of AI as an imperfect knowledge worker can teach us something useful, and consider what it takes to build more trustworthy systems around a technology that may never be perfectly reliable, much like the humans who use it. The goal is not to settle the big questions about AI, but to offer a few useful ways of thinking about knowledge, fallibility, verification, and trust as machines increasingly become part of how we know and work.

Music: Sarah VE                       Meditation: Beth Buelow