We’ve got some fun stuff this week, starting Alek Golijanin’s interactions with the AI on X. As an aside, what do we call tweets now that it’s no longer twitter? One candidate I’ve heard is “X-crements”, which, while likely appropriate, is a little too long to roll off the tongue (and now that I say that, I’ll try to somehow bleach my mind’s eye from the mental image it’s conjured). The idea of people spending time having an AI roast them intrigues the heck out of me. Then coupling that with the idea that a conversation can teach it a new way of communicating makes me understand why some people may feel AI’s have some sort of consciousness.
Of course, some might look at that in despair saying it’s divorcing us from actual humanity, and maybe that’s so, but so long as people are happy and have the resources they need, is that really so bad? I’ve met several people in my life that serve to argue it may not be. After all, who is to say what real connection really is.
Also this week, Marie Well takes a look at offshore accounts and comes to a startling conclusion. We all like to think that the days of the west colonizing other nations has come to a close, I expect, but maybe all that’s changed is the sophistication of how we do it. Go with her to open up Pandora’s Box, and see what I mean.
Finally, we round out the features with a look at how you may be able to improve your writing by limiting yourself. Jessica Macleod explores the idea of self-imposed constraints being useful to helping you get started or move past a block you may feel while writing your essays.
But, of course, we don’t let up there. We also have an article that explores one writer’s routine for how she uses AI to help her learn and direct her activities, a new music review, and a look at how humanity attaches so much meaning to objects and symbols.
Plus of course events, scholarships, and other stuff to keep you amused during your study breaks.
Meanwhile, as mentioned last week, the federal government has put limits on international students in Ontario, with the side effect that suddenly those universities are going to be going into a funding crisis, since the additional money international students brought was serving to mask the dearth of public funding. What will happen now isn’t quite known, but it’s expected that those universities will find themselves having to lay off people and close several programs. And with Ontario’s current budget state, and Premier Ford’s fairly well-known antipathy toward post-secondary in general, I would not be surprised if Ontario loses one or two of the universities altogether.
A little less acknowledged effect will be that many of the international students who are there are also working to help pay for their education and living expenses while in the province. This means there will likely be sudden labour shortages in the types of jobs students tend to take, along with both more rental space available and with some renters having to find new room-mates, and quickly. All in all, it sounds like it’s going to be an interesting time for Ontario post-secondary students. As in the type of interesting that often fills history books with lessons we need to learn.
Enjoy the read!
