Every child will have an AI tutor that is infinitely patient, infinitely compassionate, infinitely knowledgeable, infinitely helpful.” These are the words of the web pioneer Marc Adreessen, writing about how “AI Will Save the World.” Such optimistic claims are not new. The rise of the world wide web came with predictions that it would be…
The book of Genesis opens with the creation account describing a beautiful world of sea, earth, sky, plants, fish, birds and other animals. But tucked away in the midst of this story is a curious verse which seems out of place. The verse is Genesis 2:12, which parenthetically mentions that “The gold of that land…
This fall I will be released from regular teaching duties to take a sabbatical stretching from September till December. When I worked in industry as an engineer with only two or three weeks of vacation each year, I recall thinking that sabbaticals seemed extravagant and excessive. Why do certain people get the privilege of four…
This year marks 20 years since I became a full-time professor in Christian higher education. At the time I discerned a call to teaching, I was in my early thirties and working as an engineer. To be qualified, I had to first complete my doctoral degree. My wife and I, together with our three children,…
What follows is an excerpt of a conversation I had with Kelly Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College. He is the author of the recent book, You’re Only Human, about “how your limits reflect God’s design and why that’s good news.” Schuurman: Kelly, what were some of the motivations for you to write…
Nearly 20 years ago, when I was completing a PhD in computer vision, I was drawn to an AI technique called “machine learning” for recognizing different images. I recall being astounded at the profound elegance of “training” a computer with example images and then observing how well it could identify new images. My early experiences…
Last month marked the 40th anniversary of Redeemer University. I can still recall the original campus of Redeemer College on Beach Boulevard and high school visits to the townhouses that served as the first dorms. Sometime later, I recall a brief encounter with Rev. DeBolster who, in his thick Dutch accent, advocated for me to…
I recently replaced my old analog watch with a new digital one. It came with several nifty features such as a step counter, Bluetooth link, heart rate monitor and a video game, among other things. It didn’t take long for this watch to subtly shift some of my daily practices. Author and media critic Neil…
What follows is a conversation I had with Felicia Wu Song, Professor of Sociology at Westmont College about her recent book, Restless Devices. DCS: What motivated you to write Restless Devices? FWS: Over the past few years, more and more of us have felt overwhelmed and exhausted by the digital demands in our lives. And…
A recent article in The Atlantic was titled “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid.” In this article, author Jonathan Haidt uses the tower of Babel story as a metaphor for how social media has shaped the current context such that people are “disoriented, unable to speak the same language…
Imagine being able to teleport anywhere, change your appearance, ride a dragon or build your own fantasy home. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook (now named “Meta”), recently announced the creation of “the metaverse,” an immersive virtual world in which you can do all these things. Zuckerberg’s vision is not new. Immersive online video games like…
The recently released Netflix movie Don’t Look Up is a satirical film featuring a star-studded cast of actors. It’s a gripping story about a comet heading for earth as a metaphor for climate change, but it also provides a profound commentary on American politics, entertainment, and social media. Leonardo DiCaprio plays an astronomer named Dr….
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