Author: Donald Sweeting
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Perspective: Behind the AI curtain at Anthropic
Earlier this month, I was invited to look behind the curtain. Not at Oz, but at Anthropic, one of the companies building some of the most powerful artificial intelligence systems in the world. Along with a small group of theologians, ethicists, pastor, and educators from various traditions, I was invited to San Francisco for a two-day summit…
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GUEST OPINION: The banality of modern-day commencement speeches
It’s that season again. Graduation exercises are now upon us, that scholastic rite of Spring happening all over the country. Once again, we’ll hear another torrent of cliched advice being rolled out by celebrity commencement speakers for the Class of 2026. Please tell me why this annual exercise has become so predictably banal? Why is…
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GUEST COLUMN: Don’t let our schools become software
The Chicago Tribune recently asked, in light of a new teacher-free AI school coming to Chicago and to big cities around the country: “What is lost from the traditional classroom?” The article suggested that what disappears is boredom, inefficiency, and lack of mastery. But that answer reveals the deepest problem with this new educational vision. It assumes that the…
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GUEST OPINION: Phoenix Declaration offers an alternative K-12 vision
During an intense national moment with much debate about the lack of success in public K-12 education and the extent of its reforms, the Heritage Foundation last week put forward the “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.” Heritage, flanked by a group of public officials, policy experts and leading educators, unveiled the statement at…
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GUEST COLUMN: Free speech on campus isn’t absolute
Fierce campus debates swirl around the Israel-Hamas war. One of them is a debate about the extent of free speech. Should there be restrictions on those protesting Israel’s military actions or its right to exist? Protesters’ voices vary, with some being pro-Palestinian and others pro-Hamas. Some are calling for a cease-fire, while others call for…
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GUEST COLUMN: Free speech on campus isn’t absolute
Fierce campus debates swirl around the Israel-Hamas war. One of them is a debate about the extent of free speech. Should there be any restrictions on those protesting Israel’s military actions or its right to exist? Protesters’ voices vary, with some being pro-Palestinian and others pro-Hamas. Some are calling for a ceasefire, while others call…
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PERSPECTIVE: A moral madness on campus
The response of American college and university campuses to the mass murder, burning, raping, beheading and abducting of Israelis by Hamas has left many of us with a deeply disturbing question: how? How could American university students celebrate, and many university presidents equivocate or just stay silent for so long, in response to the brutal…
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Choose your college wisely, now more than ever
This time of year is an exciting time for parents and students. Many have already received acceptance letters. Students and parents are having critical conversations. This is one of the biggest investments of time, money and effort they will ever make. What should they look for in a college or university? It’s time to choose.…
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GUEST COLUMN: Choose your college wisely, now more than ever
This time of year is an exciting time for parents and students. Many have already received acceptance letters. Students and parents are having critical conversations. This is one of the biggest investments of time, money and effort they will ever make. What should they look for in a college or university? It’s time to choose.…