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Nicholas Agar

Nicholas Agar

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Nicholas Agar is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, and the author of How to Be Human in the Digital Economy (MIT Press, 2019). 

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  1. Is AI a Climate Game-Changer?
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    Is AI a Climate Game-Changer?

    Sep 11, 2023 Nicholas Agar, et al. consider what role the technology could play in humanity's response to the climate crisis.

  2. Should Humanities Professors Be Automated?
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    Should Humanities Professors Be Automated?

    Sep 22, 2022 Nicholas Agar considers the implications of recent successes with AI-generated academic research and writing.

  3. Finding Purpose in the Humanities
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    Finding Purpose in the Humanities

    Dec 9, 2021 Nicholas Agar calls for educators to adapt to post-millennial reality by abolishing the traditional term paper.

  4. An Interview with Nicholas Agar
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    An Interview with Nicholas Agar

    May 26, 2020 Nicholas Agar emphasizes the importance of unchosen social interactions, warns that technology cannot replace them, and wonders whether COVID-19 is enough of a shock to improve the lives of poor people in the long term.

  5. The Horizon Bias in Human Innovation
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    The Horizon Bias in Human Innovation

    May 1, 2020 Nicholas Agar warns against allowing technological advances to inflate our expectations of forthcoming breakthroughs.

  1. castaneda89_ALFREDO ESTRELLAAFP via Getty Images_amlo sheinbaum ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP via Getty Images

    Can Claudia Sheinbaum Escape AMLO’s Shadow?

    Guillermo Ortiz asks whether Mexico’s new president will govern as a pragmatist or embrace her predecessor’s populism.
  2. op_reedlangen7_Jemal CountessGetty Images for Court Accountability_supreme court Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Court Accountability

    America’s Broken Constitution

    Nicholas Reed Langen

    For America to address the glaring flaws in its constitutional order, it will need to move to a system where judicial decisions are made not by “Democratic judges” or “Republican judges,” but just by judges. No other liberal democracy allows for such a corrosively politicized appointment process.

    sees the country’s politicized Supreme Court as the biggest obstacle to addressing many other problems.
  3. castaneda90_ FEDERICO PARRAAFP via Getty Images_venezuela FEDERICO PARRA/AFP via Getty Images

    The Cuban Contingent Protecting Maduro

    Jorge G. Castañeda explains why the sham Venezuelan presidential election has not triggered a repeat of the 1958 military coup.
  4. posner26_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_Google apple Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Is Antitrust Enforcement Broken?

    Though antitrust enforcement has been gaining momentum on both sides of the Atlantic, a handful of private actors still wield extraordinary market power – and thus power over ordinary people’s lives. With some calling for more radical action, and others warning that reining in firms’ market power would be unhelpful and even harmful, we asked PS commentators what needs to be done.

  5. buberl1_ Nicolas EconomouNurPhoto via Getty Images_european commission Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    Europe and the Polycrisis

    Thomas Buberl argues that safeguarding the EU’s future demands a fundamental institutional transformation by 2045.
  6. rodrik227_Si WeiVCG via Getty Images_china solar panels Si Wei/VCG via Getty Images

    The Beggar-Thy-Neighbor Test

    Dani Rodrik explains how to steer international economic-policy debates toward what really matters.
  7. velasco152_Getty Images_economic paradign Getty Images

    Who Needs a New Economic Paradigm?

    Andrés Velasco asks what’s behind the ambition, on both the left and right, to promote a transformative vision of the field.
  8. rogoff254_Getty Images_inequality Getty Images

    Is Capitalism Really the Cause of Global Inequality?

    Kenneth Rogoff thinks greater economic openness is key to tackling cross-country disparities and achieving sustainability.
  9. pavlova2_andreswdGetty Images_EUsustainabilitymoney andreswd/Getty Images

    The Key That Unlocks Cleantech Financing in Europe

    Craig Douglas urges EU leaders to borrow against future Emissions Trading System revenues to finance higher investment now.

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