The end is AI: the August issue of The Spectator coming soon

Artificial intelligence can be an elusive topic for good journalism. Everybody wants to talk about it; nobody has much to say. Yet it is the biggest – and potentially scariest – subject of our time. We are hurtling towards potentially the biggest technological shift in history and nobody knows quite what to do about it. That’s why we have decided to make AI the focus of our August edition.

We believe it’s another gem. Inside, we have Marc Warner, CEO of the AI company Faculty, warning that we may be on the cusp of developing an alien intelligence far beyond our control. Rachel Tyrell (a pseudonym) looks at the furious race between tech moguls to reach the super-intelligence finish line. Michael Lind gives a more sanguine economists’ view of how governments should regulate AI, while Christopher Caldwell and Katherine Dee consider the impact of AI on humanity. Relatedly, Bridget Phetasy explores Dead Internet Theory (the idea that most online activity is now bots and algorithms talking to each other.) “Wow, everything is computer,” as Donald Trump once so wisely said.

The August issue contains a hyper-abundance of other great material, too. Adam Friedland, the comedian, writes a very entertaining Diary. Ben Domenech gives us a fascinating inside view of Texas’s takeover of Hollywood, Chris Mondics documents how mainline Protestantism has been eviscerated by woke ideology, and Charles Lipson asks: what’s the matter with Chicago? Kara Kennedy, our royal court correspondent, reveals the enduring (albeit now more secret) influence of Prince Jared (Kushner) on Trump 2.0. And Aidan McLaughlin dials into how the President still just loves speaking to reporters on the telephone.

In Books, John Mac Ghlionn says Mark Twain’s finest invention was himself, Christopher Sandford reviews Blake Bailey’s cancellation memoir and Alexander Larman discusses the enduring power of C.S. Lewis. In Arts, meanwhile, George Young speaks to the French sculptors creating a new Statue of Liberty.

Then, in the back pages, we have the usual feast of good Food and Drink articles, including Kelly Chapman’s invaluable advice on cocktails. Spectator chairman Charles Moore rides through Kyrgyzstan, and Peachy Keenan starts her California Life column with a terrific piece calling for regime change, no less, in the Golden State.

We strongly believe that, in the face of increasingly intelligent machines, it is more important than ever that human beings keep reading and thinking for themselves. The best way to do that, surely, is to take out a subscription to The Spectator.