AI Ethics + Humane Homes

Plus, help design a sticker and a bingo board

I’m in transit for the next two weeks! If you’re in SF for The Curve, say hello!

When I’m back, I have two talks in DC. First, on October 5th, I’m speaking about religion and AI on a panel with Andy Crouch and Sara Tillinger Wolkenfeld.

Then, on October 6th, I’m on a family policy panel at the “For the Good of the Public” summit sponsored by the Center for Christianity and Public Life.

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Tomorrow is the one year birthday of The Dignity of Dependence! To celebrate, I’m aiming to run a new round of Mutual Dependence Bingo in November, and I’d like to offer a special bonus for people who leave a review on Goodreads or Amazon in October.

In May, I had a special sticker/magnet design for people who got a copy for their mom (or someone else in May). This was a lot of fun, and I’ve been bringing them to book events, too.

I’d love to know:

• If there’s a (very!) brief quote from the book you’d like to see on a sticker

• If there’s something you want to nominate as a square for mutual dependence bingo

One thing I’ve been busy with of late is running debates for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. I’ve taped three, and two are up so far. (The forthcoming one is on whether America is an oligarchy with Sohrab Ahmari and Reason magazine’s Robby Soave. I’ve included short clips from the debates so far, so you can get a sense of them.

First up is a debate on AI ethics between Dean Ball (at OpenAI) and Zac Porcu (an Eastern Orthodox theologian). The clip below focuses on whether AI could reason about ethical rules in the way it does about mathematical ones (and whether that’s how we reason about ethics).

Second is a debate between Dan McCarthy and Christopher Caldwell, both Trump supporters (at least once) on whether Trump killed Trumpism. The clip below features McCarthy making a provocative case for Trump’s incorruptibility.

I love getting to moderate debates because I see my role as an advocate for the audience. The two debaters will each steer toward what feel like their strongest points, but it’s my job to pull them both to whatever is at the heart of why they disagree. That’s what will help the listener to decide where he or she should land.

Finally, just because it’s lovely, I wanted to share this article on the foster home community that actor Christian Bale is funding.

Children in foster care sometimes live in group homes if they haven’t found placement with a family. When they are placed with a family, they usually move to where that family already lives. Together California upends that model by having both the parents and their foster children (and up to two children those parents already have) move together into the village, where they will be joined by 11 other foster families.

One of the parents in each family will devote themselves fully to managing the household and will be compensated for that work by the nonprofit. […]

There are also two studio apartments, reserved for children about to age out of foster care and potentially facing life on their own. The studios may also be used by birth parents undergoing the first stages of reuniting with their children.

The article is a mix of cheering and infuriating, because it’s such sane, humane design… and it’s the first set up of this kind. Nothing else is as grounded in what families actually need to flourish.

I’m looking forward to follow up reporting as families move in and the community grows (and goes through growing pains).

Now remember your homework!

What’s a (very!) brief quote from The Dignity of Dependence that you’d like to see on a sticker?

What would you nominate as a square for mutual dependence bingo?