The Illusion of Depth

Destiny! Destiny!! A few months ago I screened 84 Charing Cross Road , adapted from Helene Hanff's decades-long correspondence with the London-based bookseller, Frank Doelle.  The film starred the magnificent Anne Bancroft, who delivered a powerhouse performance in a role that could have been written just for her. That, at least, was the judgement of her husband, who purchased the movie rights and produced the film specifically as a gift for the wife he admired and adored. (It also earned Anne Bancroft a BAFTA award and became one of the defining performances of her career.) Anne Bancroft at the BAFTA ceremony with her husband, Mel, and their son, Max Anne Bancroft is unfortunately no longer with us, but her husband is about to celebrate his 100th birthday. Mel Brooks, this week's presentation is dedicated to you. Ovaltine...? You may recall that Helene and Frank (the real-life protagonists of 84 Charing Cross Road ) had bonded over their mutual love of English literature, alth...

Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together. Pope Leo XIV ; 15th of May, 2026 On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. As an evolutionary biologist, I say the following. If these creatures are not conscious, then what the hell is consciousness for? Richard Dawkins ; 2nd of May, 2026 When Dawkins met Claude: Could this AI be conscious? Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay To mould Me man? Did I solicit thee From darkness to promote me? Milton ; 1667 Paradise Lost A couple of weeks ago, the New York Times reported on a large-scale study that has recently been published by Georgetown University, examining essays submitted by some 370,000 students before and after the advent of ChatGPT (and presumably other AI ChatBots). It's not exactly a dramatic reveal to learn that students are increasingly relying on AI to wr...

First of all, a sincere apology to everyone.  As you have probably deduced by now, there will be no presentation on the 28th of May and I'm afraid I will need to cancel next week as well. I am so sorry about all the continuing uncertainty; it's incredibly unfair (and unprofessional) but most of you will be aware by now that I am dealing with some very difficult and painful family health matters. The irony is that A.I. (the subject of our current "film" series) is more relevant than ever before. As I write this, the new Pope has just issued his first papal "Encyclical", describing A.I. as a "modern Tower of Babel" (an interesting metaphor to choose, considering Large Language Models are literally made of language). Pope Leo apparently considers AI to be the defining threat of the modern age; more pressing than terrorism, famine; disease, religious fundamentalism, gender inequality, or even those old Catholic stand-bys: birth control and gay marriage...