I am visiting St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Pawtucket Rhode Island this weekend. They have asked me to transfer the observance of the Feast of St. Luke’s to this Sunday morning. As such this week’s sermon is out of sequence from the appointed lectionary. The sermon for this week’s regularly appointed Gospel can be viewed here: “In whose image are we made, and what does it matter?” But by focusing on the Feast of St. […]
News today that Apple and Meta announced Muse Spark Open, which is essentially a frontier AI model (the jagged edge of AI capability) running on a local desktop computer. As Mac Stories puts it: Muse Spark Open is at the bleeding edge of models that can be run locally on computers that can sit on your desk and don’t need more power than can be delivered from a wall outlet. The cost isn’t trivial, but […]
It is clear that we are facing the rise of a new and profoundly disruptive technology. It’s not clear if this is going to be similar to other major disruptions or if this is unique. I’m not convinced anyone is able to honestly answer that by the way. There has been a great deal written reacting to what people perceive the challenge to be, but I’m not aware of any broad, careful, reflective scholarly engagement […]
How can we make sense of Gospel lesson that if we read it closely, seems to be manifestly unfair? The parable that Jesus tells in the portion Matthew’s Gospel read this week speaks of a King, who having been humiliated by his subjects, commands that the everyday people, bystanders essentially, be marched into his feast. One person doesn’t behave as expected to this forced summons; whether by simple failure or as an act of rebellion. […]
I am beginning this week’s sermon post with an explanation, and then an apology. I’ve not posted a sermon here in a few months. Originally it was because I was on vacation this past August, and then that vacation transitioned into a month of frantic activity that meant I just didn’t have time or resources to film a sermon. (House of Bishops, AI Theology Task Force, diocesan events and conferences etc.) I had a call […]
A study at MIT has found that Generative AI tools are having a significant impact on the way students are learning. That’s not terribly surprising in of itself, but the report presents data and results that support the assertion and makes suggestions about what to do about it. Skipping to the end of the report, in summary: Adapt educational processes for an AI-aware world (Section 3.1) Campus-wide and as soon as possible, review what our […]
Today has been heavy, hard for many of my friends; weighty for the rest of us. We’re remembering a moment when this nation changed, when the world order changed and neither for the better – at least not that we can see with the light given us today. We took a long moment of silence and reflection in Morning Prayer as we gathered around the altar in diocesan house. We started spontaneously sharing stories; where […]
Om Malik died recently. He was a keen observer of the tech industry, insightful and thoughtful. He was also an insider in that area; maybe that’s what gives his writing such power. In his last published essay, on the meaning of the name “Mythos” that Anthropic has bestowed upon its best frontier model, he reflects on the ways that the company and its president Dario Amodei are using a constructive narrative to legitimize Generative AI. […]
It’s August and that means the best part of the summer is upon us. (I’m a big fan of the latter part of summer.) I’m going to be off for much of this month, and otherwise occupied with some weekend events for the rest. Rather than recycle some old sermons, I’m going to just ask your forbearance for the next four weeks or so. I hope wherever you are, you’re going to get a chance […]
We’re continuing our series on the people and the communities of the Episcopal Diocese. This latest one features my own story, and how I made the journey from one way to seeking God to another. You can find the full post here (and it includes our new Diocesan Vision Statement.) And here’s the video which is linked in the post above (hosted on Youtube):
