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It’s a fun and transitional time of the year. Schools are wrapping up, the World Cup is in full swing, and summer is officially upon us. Bring on the tech news! This week’s brief covers: Pew Research finds that half of Americans use AI and only 16% find it useful for society, Snap sells their AR glasses for a small sum of $2,195, and Norway bans AI usage in their schools.
The story that sticks out the most to me is Norway’s ban of AI. Norway, with a population of 5.5MM, is quite literally on the world’s stage right now, fanatically rowing their way into the hearts of fans in the World Cup, and by keeping AI away from their children. As a techno optimist, I generally don’t like the fear-based positioning of, “let’s blanket ban something we don’t understand.” But, with the way AI has evolved at such an accelerated rate, conflated with the data I’m seeing on the critical thinking atrophy it is causing in our brains, I think they made the right call.
Strategically, tiering out students based on age and cognitive ability in the ban is even smarter, and it also allows the technology to be thoughtfully implemented in the future. What we cannot do, however, is put the genie back in the bottle once the cocktail of cognitive atrophy and technological dependency hit a fever pitch, which they are trending towards. So, row on, Norway! I am rooting for you, unless you meet Team USA in the Round of 16 at the World Cup, of which I will then hope for your imminent defeat.