Tuesday roundup

The fear that artificial intelligence is going to render human activity obsolete is mostly based on hype:

CEOs dreaming of replacing their whiny, vacation-taking, sick-day-using human employees with a sleek fleet of never-complaining robots powered by artificial intelligence are going to be disappointed to learn AI is far behind the evolution of human development.

“The public thinks we know how to do far more than we do now,” Raymond Perrault, a scientist at SRI International, told the New York Times.

Artificial intelligence may be smart enough to learn the game of chess or fliphamburgers in a fast-food restaurant. But when it comes to common sense and decision-making skills, AI is way below the bar compared to adult human beings.

The “AI Index” released by Stanford University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, SRI International, and other research organizations shows artificial intelligence produced in the United States is no smarter than a five-year-old. And Yann LeCun, the head of AI for Facebook, said even the most advanced artificial intelligence systems are no sharper on the uptake than vermin.

Andrew McCarthy at NRO does some exhaustive drilling down on the matter of the Steele "dossier," the conversation between Lisa Page and Peter Strzok in Andrew McCable's office, and the general inclination of the FBI and the Justice Department to pass on looking into the ample evidence of Clinton-campaign misbehavior - the kind detailed in Comey's July 2016 announcement, right before he said he'd decline to recommend indictment - even as it regarded the "dossier" as an "insurance policy" in the event - heaven forfend! - that Madame Bleachbit lose the election and DJT win it.

Iraqi Christians are understandably gleeful about returning to their towns and cities, recently liberated from ISIS, but have new safety concerns, particularly the Shiite militias that have the official backing of the government. There's already some harassment going on. The Christians did have fine Christmas celebrations throughout the country, though. Santa Claus was sighted in Mosul. At the link, check out the photo of the 30-foot Christmas tree in Baghdad.

Beautiful and glorious: Nikki Haley announces a $235 million cut to the US budget for the UN.

From the final-stages-of-higher-education's-rot file:

Terms like ‘boys and girls’ are frowned upon. Why must the left exert control over such simple aspects of life?

Campus Reform reports:

College pronoun FAQ: regularly ask for others’ pronouns

A resource guide at Bard College encourages students, faculty, staff, and visitors, to avoid using “gender binary” language.

The Pronoun FAQ, found on the school’s Office for Gender Equity resource webpage, encourages community members to “avoid using gender binary language such as ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ ‘boys and girls.’” Instead, they are urged to use “‘everybody,’ ‘folks,’ or, ‘all people.”

The guide also states that simply asking another person about gender identity once is insufficient.

“If I ask someone their pronouns once, is that enough?” the guide asks. “No, the best practice is to ask regularly because gender identity is not always fixed and static, and some people may change their pronouns.”

The top of the Pronoun FAQ states that the document is meant “to help community members educate themselves so that we can grow and evolve as a community,” and lists a few common pronouns, including gender-neutral alternatives such as “ze,” “zim,” “zir,” “zirs,” and “zirself.”

The pronoun guide also seeks to educate readers on questions such as, “What are gendered pronouns?” and “what are non-gendered or non-binary pronouns?”

In a section dedicated to “Suggestions for Faculty,” the guide concedes that “[i]n large classes, faculty may be unable to learn every student’s name and pronouns.”

We'll be mining evidence of what a national treasure Antonin Scalia was for some time to come:

Scalia had advice for young Christians—“to learn early and remember long” that [quality] of ‘differentness’; to recognize that what is perfectly lawful, and perfectly permissible, for everyone else—even our very close non-Christian friends—is not necessarily lawful and permissible for us.” Further, “that the ways of Christ and the ways of the world—even the world of Main Street America—are not the same, and we should not expect them to be.” Scalia emphasized that “it is only if one has that sense of differentness ... that one has a chance of being strong enough to obey the teachings of Christ.”

The great justice was well aware of which realm had permanence and which one was merely a passing parade:

Scalia was so bold as to touch on what are called the “two kingdoms” in theological circles. He quoted what Jesus said to Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my followers would have fought that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” This thought, said the justice, pervades the Gospels and is in the early church. He recalled the famous observation of a second century church father writing to one Diognetus:

“Though residents at home in their own countries, their behavior is more like that of transients. They take their full part as citizens, but they also submit to everything as if they were aliens. For them, any foreign country is a homeland, any homeland is a foreign country.” 

House Republicans re singing a different tune from Senator McConnell's I-foresee-us-moving-on-from-Obamacare-repeal position.