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Machine Yearning:
From God to Aliens to Chatbots – The Metaphysics of Loneliness

Peter Jukes considers the profound isolation of a species that has gone from looking for intelligence in outer space to finding it in chatbots

Earth, seen from the far side of the Moon, by Artemis II this month Photo: Nasa

For those of us old enough to remember the Apollo missions, the sight of Artemis II blasting off towards the Moon may have brought back something a bit more complicated than Space Age tristesse or déjà vu.

Yes, we’ve been here before. But it reminds us of how far we’ve travelled in the past 50 years. 

It was always complicated – idealism clashing with realism.

The AI Revolution is Arriving Faster than Anyone Anticipated

Much of the debate about artificial intelligence in financial markets, until recently, centred on whether the new technology could ever live up to the expectations built into soaring stock prices. Few are doubting AI’s potential now.
Simon Nixon

It’s Alive! Or Is It?

The latest addition to this deathless corpus is Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! starring recent Oscar winner Jessie Buckley as a fiercely feminist version of the monster’s putative consort.
Jake Arnott