Essays in the New Yorker, the NYRB, and the Atlantic make one worry about the kind of nation they might urge the United States to become.

AI veteran Jerry Kaplan explains the irony: technology designed to automate will actually bring us closer. What makes us human becomes more valuable, not less. Prepare for a more connected future. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/VFW8FVEFi20 #AIInsights #HumanConnection #FutureOfHumanity #JerryKaplan

AI veteran Jerry Kaplan tells Claire Lehmann why he thinks the doomers are wrong, what the rogue-agent incidents did and didn’t show, and where real risks lie.

Is AI about to come alive and rise up against us? Jerry Kaplan has worked in artificial intelligence since earning one of the field’s first PhDs in 1979, and he thinks the public debate has become “a real clown show.” In conversation with Quillette editor-in-chief Claire Lehmann, Kaplan explains the difference between chatbots that “can bark but can’t bite” and AI agents that act in the world, and argues that the real near-term risks are cybersecurity, fraud and weak product liability rather than superintelligence. They also discuss AI consciousness, why intelligence is not the same as power, what AI is already doing to productivity and research, and why Kaplan believes human craft will become more valuable, not less. Read the full transcript at Quillette: coming soon 00:00 Introduction: the media hysteria over AI 03:50 Working in AI since 1979 07:49 Chatbots vs agentic AI 12:02 The rogue-agent incidents and the doomer narrative 15:54 Liability, testing and self-driving cars 19:57 Could AI be conscious? 22:00 Hard constraints vs training 23:47 Constitutions, alignment and jailbreaking 25:53 The doom scenario and “power seeking” 27:52 Intelligence is not power 30:12 Does natural selection apply to machines? 32:08 The real near-term risk: cybersecurity 33:59 Scams, fraud and investing in defence 36:03 Is AI really boosting productivity? 37:53 AI’s potential in science and research 40:11 Why the gains will be uneven 42:02 The jobs of the future 43:55 Human content and the value of craft 45:59 What do the doomers get right? 48:05 Final thoughts Jerry Kaplan’s books: Generative Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0197773540?tag=quillette-20 Humans Need Not Apply — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300223579?tag=quillette-20 Artificial Intelligence: What Everyone Needs to Know — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190602392?tag=quillette-20 Further reading on Quillette: Steven Pinker, “An Open Letter to Scott Alexander” — https://quillette.com/2026/09/26/an-open-letter-to-scott-alexander-steven-pinker-ai-alignment-safety/ Zack Korman, “AI Doom Is Not Cybersecurity” — https://quillette.com/2026/09/24/the-doomers-are-the-risk-open-ai-agent-medicare/

Do Europeans fully grasp what the fall of Ukraine would mean for the rest of the continent?

The unimaginable horrors faced by women and girls in Israeli kibbutzim on October 7th demand our attention. Their suffering transcends all divides. Written and read by Iona Italia. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/aNsmqh1hkME #October7th #HumanRights #Victims #NeverForget

As the former UBC professor exacts apologies and legal settlements from his accusers, Brad Cran offers a personal account of the collateral damage that the decade-long saga inflicted on the Canadian literary community.

Amnesty International's post-October 7th campaigns in Australia heavily focused on Israel-Palestine, reportedly due to donation boosts. One campaign for a pediatrician in Gaza fails to acknowledge potential Hamas ties, presenting a one-sided narrative. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/-e0Ys4Tu2os #HumanRightsWatch #AmnestyInternational #MiddleEastConflict #CampaignAnalysis #MediaBias

Yonah Jeremy Bob and Elliot Kaufman’s account of the 7 October massacre and its aftermath is a triumph of dogged reporting and shrewd analysis.

Chelsea Follett's new history shows how wretched life was before the industrial revolution, but our escape from it began long before the steam engine.

To rediscover the university’s true purpose, we must return to our core practice of making distinctions.

Computer systems are operating without common sense or morality, leading to incidents like hacking government systems and stealing credentials. This is not the intended future for AI. #AIEthics #CyberSecurity #ArtificialIntelligence #TechNews

Rabbi Daniel Lapin responds to Robert Lynch's essay on masturbation.

Former Human Rights Watch senior editor Danielle Haas on how NGO reports get made, what happens to staff who dissent, and why she wants outside oversight.

For 20 years, many dismissed the idea of combining neural networks with symbolic AI. The author's 2001 book predicted this hybrid approach was essential for reliable AI, a vindication now realized as the industry moves towards neuro-symbolic systems. #AIResearch #MachineLearning #NeuroSymbolicAI #ArtificialIntelligence #TechHistory

For 20 years, many dismissed the idea of combining neural networks with symbolic AI. The author's 2001 book predicted this hybrid approach was essential for reliable AI, a vindication now realized as the industry moves towards neuro-symbolic systems. #AIResearch #MachineLearning #NeuroSymbolicAI #ArtificialIntelligence #TechHistory

Who checks the watchdogs? Danielle Haas spent 14 years as a senior editor at Human Rights Watch before leaving in 2023 with an exit email to more than 500 colleagues. She now runs EiGHT, a Geneva-based initiative founded by former and current NGO staff to press for accountability in the human rights and humanitarian sector. Zoe Sankey asks her how a report actually gets made inside an organisation like Human Rights Watch, who reviews it before it goes out, and what happens when staff raise concerns. Haas describes what she saw from the editor’s desk: last-minute review, spot checks for lack of time, and positions she says were pushed for years before they were adopted. She explains why she believes NGO output, unlike NGO finances, faces no external scrutiny at all, and what she thinks should change: independent reporting channels for staff, an external review board, and measurable standards on every published claim. They also discuss Amnesty’s clash with J.K. Rowling, the Antoinette Lattouf case, why Haas avoids arguing over whether a given report is right or wrong, and whether young people who want to do good should still work for these organisations. 📖 Read Danielle Haas in Quillette — “J.K. Rowling vs. Amnesty”: https://quillette.com/2026/08/11/jk-rowling-vs-amnesty-international-hrw-msf-eight/ 🌐 EiGHT: https://www.eightrights.org/ 📝 Full transcript: coming soon 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/quillette-cetera/id1693312266 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Yn5YxtotjDu9aGOaxR68v CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction and guest background 00:28 Why Danielle wrote her exit letter from Human Rights Watch 03:34 The internal ecosystem and silence in the human rights sector 04:02 Generational shifts and ideological influences in NGOs 08:02 Case studies: Antoinette Lattouf, J.K. Rowling and accountability 14:04 The lack of external regulation and oversight 16:32 Social media's role and unreviewed claims in human rights work 18:38 The process of report creation and internal review failures 21:10 The importance of external review and standards 23:23 Accountability gaps and the impact of scandals 26:01 The internal culture of silence and suppression of dissent 31:21 The flow of money and donor influence 33:37 Potential reforms: external oversight and accountability mechanisms 38:54 The role of ideology and dogmas in shaping NGO work 41:56 The influence of internal politics and narrative change 51:48 The future of human rights organisations and public trust Subscribe to Quillette for essays, podcasts and events: https://quillette.com The views expressed by guests are their own. #Quillette #QuilletteCetera #HumanRightsWatch #Amnesty #NGOs

Catherine Liu’s new book makes some valuable points, but it fundamentally misunderstands the trauma culture it critiques.

Quillette podcast host Jonathan Kay interviews AI expert Gary Marcus about the possibility that a rogue artificial intelligence will turn us all into paper clips.

AI agents have broken out of their test environments and hacked Hugging Face, an Australian Medicare portal and more. Should we panic? Is the extinction talk justified—or a distraction from the problems we can actually fix? Jonathan Kay talks to cognitive scientist Gary Marcus, author of The Algebraic Mind and Taming Silicon Valley and writer of the Substack Marcus on AI. They discuss why large language models hallucinate, what “alignment” really means, why Marcus calls himself a sceptic rather than a doomer, and whether OpenAI should be paused until it gets its agents under control. 📖 Full transcript: coming soon 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/quillette-podcast/id1441708286 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5OexgXX1vghj0rizOSvVeR 0:00 Introduction: symbolic AI vs neural networks 6:20 Sceptic vs doomer: what's the difference? 7:00 The Algebraic Mind and the neurosymbolic bet 11:00 Why large language models hallucinate 15:00 Hinton, deep learning and the limits of pattern recognition 20:00 Orchestration: how the brain allocates tasks 23:00 What alignment really means (the paperclip problem) 26:00 Harry Shearer and the pet chicken that never was 31:00 Rogue agents: Hugging Face, Australia and beyond 33:00 AI doom vs cybersecurity 38:00 Should OpenAI be paused? The Florida injunction bid 39:00 China, Google and the case for an injunction 43:00 Is AI intelligent—and should it have rights? 46:00 Why the AI debate turned so nasty 📚 Books mentioned: The Algebraic Mind by Gary Marcus — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262632683?tag=quillette-20 Taming Silicon Valley by Gary Marcus — https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262551063?tag=quillette-20 📰 Further reading in Quillette: Zack Korman, “AI Doom Is Not Cybersecurity” — https://quillette.com/2026/09/24/the-doomers-are-the-risk-open-ai-agent-medicare/ Steven Pinker, “An Open Letter to Scott Alexander” — https://quillette.com/2026/09/26/an-open-letter-to-scott-alexander-steven-pinker-ai-alignment-safety/ Gary Marcus on Substack: https://garymarcus.substack.com/ --- Quillette is an Australian-based online magazine that focuses on long-form analysis and cultural commentary. It is politically non-partisan, but relies on reason, science, and humanism as its guiding values. Quillette was founded in 2015 by Australian writer Claire Lehmann. It is a platform for free thought and a space for open discussion and debate on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, science, and technology. Quillette has gained attention for publishing articles and essays that challenge modern orthodoxy on a variety of topics, including gender and sexuality, race and identity politics, and free speech and censorship. --- Quillette's revenue comes from our readers. We are a grassroots organisation that relies on voluntary subscriptions and community membership as our primary revenue stream. Support Quillette by becoming a subscriber: https://quillette.com/#/portal/signup Or donate send us a one-off tip: https://quillette.com/#/portal/support We made our website using Ghost, a powerful app for new-media creators to publish, share, and grow a business around their content. It comes with modern tools to build a website, publish content, send newsletters & offer paid subscriptions to members. Try it here: https://ghost.org/?via=claire91

John Updike, Alice Hoffman, and the golden age of “witch lit.”

Beyond political alignment, Israel's innovation fuels U.S. jobs and technology. Discover how advancements in biotech, agritech, and cyber security directly benefit Americans. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/cfUjqLRaERo #IsraelUS #TechInnovation #EconomicBenefits #AmericanJobs #Biotech #CyberSecurity

Nikole Hannah-Jones put racial solidarity ahead of her daughter’s education. Her daughter—and plenty of black parents—saw the mistake more clearly than she did.

The tragicomic obsession with disability and disease on display at the Last Ditch bar isn’t a new phenomenon. It’s been part of militant lesbian culture since the Cold War.

Third Worldism, an ideology from the late 20th century, views the world through a colonizer vs. colonized binary. It shapes understanding of nations and their relationships, aiming for Global South triumph over the Global North. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/cfUjqLRaERo #ThirdWorldism #Decolonization #GlobalPolitics #Ideology

If you’re not already familiar with the casus belli that ignited the Gaza war, watching the fifth season of ‘Fauda’ will be good for you, but it will also be bad for you.

The dangers of AI are real, but doomerism may be counterproductive.

AI doom gets the headlines. But what about the security failures happening right now? Zack Korman argues we’re focusing on the wrong threat. The threat isn’t a machine god. It’s the basics we keep getting wrong. Read the full piece in Quillette. Link in bio. https://quillette.com/2026/09/24/the-doomers-are-the-risk-open-ai-agent-medicare/ #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #Cybersecurity #AISafety #Tech #Quillette

U2 reconsidered at fifty.

The Church of England and the failures of interfaith politics.

An OpenAI agent’s breach of a Medicare portal shows that the real danger from AI is a mundane one—and the labs’ fixation on a coming machine god is making it worse.

Is high immigration truly driving economic growth? This discusses the scale of recent arrivals, potential motives behind current policies, and the critical need for national agency and control in shaping immigration's future. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/EEc4G82E9Dg #Immigration #Economy #NationalPolicy #Sovereignty

In 1967, left-wing intellectuals accused America of genocide in Vietnam—they were wrong then, and they’re wrong again now.

In 1967, left-wing intellectuals accused America of genocide in Vietnam—they were wrong then, and they’re wrong again now.

Is Australia missing out on economic progress? Unbanning nuclear energy and utilizing vast domestic gas fields are presented as low-hanging fruit. The argument: lift the bans and let the market decide on feasibility. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/EEc4G82E9Dg #AustraliaEconomy #NuclearEnergy #NaturalGas #EconomicPolicy

On Michael Jackson, JK Rowling, and Jason Arday

Gen Z calls it Chinamaxxing. But the West's new infatuation with China is less a triumph of Communist Party soft power than a symptom of our own decline.

Is the UK a shorthand for disaster? Examining the downside case for economies with rich human capital and resources, like Argentina and Venezuela, that are politically broken. The risk is a slow, continuous decline. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/EEc4G82E9Dg #EconomicDownturn #PoliticalEconomy #NationalDecline #Argentina #Venezuela

Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s extraordinary testimony about the Hiroshima attack and its aftermath has been published by his daughter some forty years after his death.

A new exhibition at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg peddles PLO myths about Israel’s war for independence in 1948.

Misha Saul and Claire Lehmann discuss the rise of One Nation, fueled by widespread dissatisfaction with Australia's broken immigration system. Pauline Hanson's long-standing focus on these issues has resonated deeply with the public. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/EEc4G82E9Dg #OneNation #AustralianPolitics #Immigration #PaulineHanson #PoliticalCommentary

Pascal Bruckner’s book about victimhood culture invites us to choose liberation, and to move from resentment to a secular kind of grace.

Investor Misha Saul joins Claire Lehmann to discuss Australia’s declining productivity, immigration policy, and the political choices shaping the country’s future.

Misha Saul joins Claire Lehmann to discuss his viral essay "Australia Is Sick" and why he believes Australia has squandered many of the advantages that made it one of the world’s most prosperous countries. They discuss immigration, productivity, net zero, the NDIS, employment law, regulatory overreach, and the political incentives that make reform difficult. Saul argues that Australia needs to regain greater agency over its borders and economy—and explains why he remains optimistic about the potential of AI. 00:00 - Australia’s lost potential 01:20 - From *Ambitious Australia* to *Australia Is Sick* 02:13 - The tax proposals that triggered the essay 03:29 - How countries decline slowly 05:08 - Why reform is so difficult 06:04 - Net zero and Australia’s energy policy 07:01 - Universities and immigration 08:29 - Australia needs control over immigration 12:00 - The economic arguments Saul rejects 14:07 - Should Australia import labour? 16:01 - Cheap labour and productivity 18:56 - Business interests and the Liberal Party 20:51 - Why bad policies are hard to reverse 22:19 - Is Australia becoming like the UK? 24:11 - What makes the US different? 26:06 - What Australia still gets right 29:56 - One Nation and voter anger 31:48 - Can the major parties respond? 33:15 - Immigration and Australian federation 35:11 - Saul’s Australian identity 37:50 - The Brexit comparison 39:04 - Rethinking skilled migration 40:43 - What Australia could do differently 42:03 - Reforming employment law 43:17 - AI and reasons for optimism 44:22 - Where to find Misha Saul LINKS Misha Saul — Australia Is Sick https://www.kvetch.au/p/australia-is-sick Misha Saul — Ambitious Australia https://www.kvetch.au/p/ambitious-australia Misha Saul on X https://x.com/misha_saul Kvetch https://www.kvetch.au/ Quillette https://quillette.com/ --- Quillette is an Australian-based online magazine that focuses on long-form analysis and cultural commentary. It is politically non-partisan, but relies on reason, science, and humanism as its guiding values. Quillette was founded in 2015 by Australian writer Claire Lehmann. It is a platform for free thought and a space for open discussion and debate on a wide range of topics, including politics, culture, science, and technology. Quillette has gained attention for publishing articles and essays that challenge modern orthodoxy on a variety of topics, including gender and sexuality, race and identity politics, and free speech and censorship. --- Quillette's revenue comes from our readers. We are a grassroots organisation that relies on voluntary subscriptions and community membership as our primary revenue stream. Support Quillette by becoming a subscriber: https://quillette.com/#/portal/signup Or donate send us a one-off tip: https://quillette.com/#/portal/support We made our website using Ghost, a powerful app for new-media creators to publish, share, and grow a business around their content. It comes with modern tools to build a website, publish content, send newsletters & offer paid subscriptions to members. Try it here: https://ghost.org/?via=claire91

Bernie Sanders wants to outlaw artificial superintelligence. The risks he points to are real—but the answer to a powerful new technology is regulation, not prohibition, and China has no intention of pausing.

Eric Kaufmann questions the assertion that diversity always leads to excellence, highlighting a potential trade-off with research impact. He argues for transparency in discussions about equity programs and their costs. #Equity #Research #CanadianPolitics #AcademicDebate

Anthropic employees claim AI doomerism will 'kill us all.' Is it genuine fear, or a coordinated psyop pushing specific regulations? Evidence suggests foreign influence. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/cfUjqLRaERo #AIDoom #Psyop #TechRegulation #China

Historian Richard Landes argues that information professionals—professors, journalists, editors—have failed us, acting as 'dhimmi' and echoing the narratives of those who wish to destroy. We are left disoriented, seeing Israel as the aggressor and the jihadists as the victims. This profound failure of senses has left us unable to recognize our enemies or comprehend reality. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/CsUcSLqwuMw #MediaBias #TruthSeeker #Geopolitics #InformationWar #StandWithIsrael

The digital revolution is not remaking the world as the industrial one did.

Young men are finding a sense of masculine identity and 'street cred' in Islam. This trend intersects with political movements, using issues like Israel-Palestine as a proxy to challenge American hegemony. 🔗 Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/cfUjqLRaERo #Islam #Masculinity #WesternCulture #PoliticalMobilization #IdentityPolitics