IWB Blog
A collection of observations, news and resources on the changing nature of innovation, technology, leadership, and other subjects.
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Category: Society and Culture
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Hundreds of millions of people are now regularly interacting with systems that can write, analyze, advise, code, and increasingly act on their behalf. Never before have so many people had immediate access to such a powerful intellectual tool. But as AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous, a more fundamental question is emerging: What are we asking AI…
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Can AI actually help us become better writers? I’ve been thinking about this question since reading “AI Didn’t Make Programming Easier. It Just Made It Differently Difficult,” an article recently published in Communications of the ACM (CACM) by Jeremy Osborn. Osborn explained that programming has traditionally been a demanding cognitive activity in which developers rely heavily…
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On August 11, MIT Nobel laureate economist Daron Acemoglu published his latest book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy?: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. For much of the second half of the 20th century, liberal democracy appeared to be remarkably successful. Economic growth raised living standards across broad segments of society, technological advances created new…
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Artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of faster economic growth, higher productivity, and greater corporate profits. But those are not the only outcomes that matter. Another very important question is whether AI will actually improve human welfare by broadening opportunity, strengthening institutions, and raising living standards across society. That question is at the heart…
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When I began writing a weekly blog in May of 2005, I expected that artificial intelligence would someday become one of the subjects I would write about. I didn’t expect that AI would eventually become my editor. Writing each weekly post takes many hours. Before I write a single sentence, I spend considerable time thinking…
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“The launch of ChatGPT in 2022 ignited the artificial-intelligence boom — and elicited a chorus of warnings from AI bosses of an impending jobs apocalypse,” said The Economist in “Prepare for an AI jobs apocalypse,” the lead article in its May 16 issue. “Never mind that they have reason to talk up the disruptiveness of…
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Earlier this year I wrote a blog about the continuing debate across higher education on whether — and how — university students should be taught to properly use generative AI, “How Should University Students Be Taught the Proper Use of AI.” I mentioned in the blog that the debate about AI reminds me of my…
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“Much of the effort and attention around AI for the last several years has been around technical developments,” wrote Babson College professor Tom Davenport in a recent Substack post, “The AI World Moves Toward Organizational Deployment.” “New model announced! New benchmark surpassed! New contract for massive data centers! New world-class technologists hired! You know the…
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A couple of weeks ago I posted “Why AI Can’t Replace Software Engineering,” a blog in which I discussed an important distinction that is often overlooked: software engineering is not synonymous with programming. I keep coming back to this topic because, in my opinion, the difference between programming and software engineering offers a particularly concrete…
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On May 5, 2012, I gave the commencement address at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology. Then Dean David Hall offered me excellent advice on what makes for a good commencement speech: make it personal, tell us about yourself and your background, share a few lessons you’ve learned over the years, and keep…