Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 39, No. 320.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
                      Hosted by DH-Cologne
                       www.dhhumanist.org
                Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org




        Date: 2026-02-06 10:39:21+00:00
        From: J.J. Naughton <jjn1@cam.ac.uk>
        Subject: Re: [Humanist] 39.316: thinking about and coping with AI

Dear Willard

Janet Abbate’s review of Susskind’s book is a perceptive dissection of the
internal contradictions that litter Susskind’s glib survey of the implications
of  ‘AI’.  Susskind is one of those ’thought leaders’  who has mastered the art
of skating quickly when traversing thin ice. Her concluding paragraph sums it up
nicely:

"This is a book full of contradictions: both distrustful and admiring of the
tech industry, both aware of AI’s shortcomings and uncritical of its promise to
“save humanity.” Susskind urges readers to think about how AI can best be used,
but he leaves little room for human agency. Nowhere is the reader urged to think
about how AI could be designed or deployed differently, or to imagine it
controlled by something other than giant, unaccountable corporations. Regulation
is the only form of human oversight seriously considered, and Susskind treats it
with deep ambivalence. In a field crowded with thoughtful treatments of AI,
Susskind may not be our best guide."

Best

John
…..
Professor John Naughton
Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy (mctd.ac.uk)
University of Cambridge
Director, Wolfson Press Fellowship Programme
e: jjn1@cam.ac.uk
w: memex.naughtons.org & https://observer.co.uk/contributor/john-naughton
@jjn1.bsky.social


-----

On 6 Feb 2026, at 10:23, Humanist <humanist@dhhumanist.org> wrote:


             Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 39, No. 316.
       Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
                     Hosted by DH-Cologne
               Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org


   [1]    From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
          Subject: more on AI (16)

   [2]    From: maurizio lana <maurizio.lana@uniupo.it>
          Subject: Re: [Humanist] 39.313: preparedness guidelines for use of AI
(105)


--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------------
       Date: 2026-02-05 11:27:16+00:00
       From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
       Subject: more on AI

Metascience has just published Janet Abbate's "How not to think of AI"
(vol. 35, article 1) reviewing Richard Susskind's 2025 book, How to
think about AI (OUP). For us highly sceptical types and those who have
insight beyond the Wizard's curtain, reading the review will occasion
much agreement, and perhaps not a little weariness that the
'enshittification' continues.

Comments welcome!

WM
--
Willard McCarty,
Professor emeritus, King's College London;
Editor, Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts,
  Sciences and Humanities (Berghahn); Humanist
[...]



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