AI, Symbolic World, heatwaves, oh my!
Mary at ARC 2026
This week’s letter is several days after my usual Wednesday-ish publication, because ARC ate my week, in central London, during a record-breaking heatwave. It was intense! I joined Brendan McCord of Cosmos, the philanthropist Liv Boeree, and Anthropic’s Chloe Lubinski to discuss “Tech and Human Flourishing” on the main stage at ARC.
The video of our panel isn’t up yet, but the talk to which we responded was this very eye-opening primer, from Chloe, on what Claude actually is:
More reflections on this talk, and on the questions it raises for me, once I’ve had a chance to catch my breath. First take, for now: I’m more sure than ever that arguing the toss on machine “consciousness” is a distraction. What I took from Chloe’s talk, in addition to this, is that we should think a great deal more about mirrors, interpellation, and other recursive recognition-based social dynamics, in the context of AI.
More on this when my energy levels have recovered a little! Meanwhile, do take a look at her video, and let me know what you all think in the comments.
The other standout moment for me - one that I’ll be reflecting on for some time - was a most passionate counterpoint to the world according to Anthropic. This talk was delivered by Jonathan Pageau, of Symbolic World, on staying human in the age of the machine:
What do you think? Will we be devoured by the machine or extended and empowered by it? Why not both? Let me know what you think below.
Over this very intense week I also recorded FOUR episodes of Socrates Dialogues, the discussion series I’ve been honoured to record as a contributor to Socrates in the City. I was joined by philosopher Kathleen Stock, theologian Carl Trueman, and tech entrepreneur Mike Solana. And for the fourth I joined Eric Metaxas, to discuss my recent adventures in medieval memory technology.
Last year, I didn’t handle ARC well at all, and left after two days exhausted and with a flu that took me two weeks to shake. It turns out that when one’s preferred mode of existence is silence, solitude, and a room full of books, being transposed to a busy, exciting conference of thousands is a touch overwhelming. So this year, I was more realistic about how much public exposure is manageable for a country bumpkin like me, and made it all the way to the end relatively unscathed. Lessons learned!
It was such a thrilling week and I’m grateful for it all. I’m also relieved to be home, with my little family, and to be treading the usual forest walk this morning: a physical place, and an especially beloved and familiar one, which forms the visual backdrop for my memory meditations.
And taking this smiley golden girl to cool off in the stream:
Nothing spreads joy (and spare dog hair) like a Labrador. Happily, at least if you’re me, it’s possible to tidy an overstretched mind, simply by letting it do nothing very strenuous while you vacuum dog hair off the floor. An unintended gift from the dog, perhaps, but also one that keeps on giving (whether my mind is overstretched or not).
I hope your weekends are just as full of joy, and maybe less full of dog hair. Let me know what you think of Chloe’s and Jonathan’s words in the comments, and stay tuned for deeper reflections when I’ve caught my breath. X