• Take the time to get it right: capturing aurora borealis

    There’s still time to get it right. But we have to take the time to get it right, even as we push ourselves to the risky edge. That’s the allegorical lesson learned as we move into a new year — and as I headed to Alaska to capture lightning in a bottle. It was a…

  • The gift of peripheral vision: what we need to learn now about AI

    Doing time at a leading global university doesn’t exactly render you powerless. Still, as I have long advised my students: it is precisely this temporary removal from the game that matters most. To tarry a while on the periphery is to see what’s really going on. I can’t think of a more urgent time to…

  • Power shift and the paradox of trust #OrangeIstheNewBike

    In my daily life, I’m respected for what I say and how I say it more than for any of my physical attributes. Whey I ride my bike, I’m stripped of that status. I’m largely powerless — and at best, self-powered. Recently, I submitted myself to the kindness of strangers in Los Angeles, eschewing ride…

  • “Starfields” not black holes: how we should harness tech’s next Big Bang

    It’s crucial that we the public force a conversation about the changes that are coming to how we work, what we learn and who we trust. All these technologies should serve us, with a focus on healthy, impactful human interaction. We should demand transparency and accountability from them as they’re being developed — be it…