One of sci-fi’s most difficult questions about AI is becoming real; The Washington Post, July 13, 2026

 Gerrit De Vynck, The Washington Post; One of sci-fi’s most difficult questions about AI is becoming real

"Since the days of Isaac Asimov in the 1950s, science fiction has tackled the question of whether artificial intelligences and the companies that create them can be held liable for crimes. With the rapid spread of AI chatbots and agents today, the debate has reached the real world.

Over the past year, lawsuits have been piling up against AI companies in courts across the United States and abroad, alleging that chatbots encouraged people to harm themselves or provided advice on how to commit crimes. Now, as the AI industry moves from selling chatbots to providing agents that can complete complex tasks autonomously over long periods of time, the question of who should be held responsible when something goes wrong is only becoming more urgent."

The Benign Zombies of Pluribus; The Hastings Center for Bioethics, December 22, 2025

 Jonathan D. Moreno, The Hastings Center for Bioethics; The Benign Zombies of Pluribus

"Whatever disagreements neuroethicists have, they all presuppose the annoying multiplicity of brains that somehow generate minds. Not so in Vince Galligan’s new streaming series Pluribus.

A coded message from deep space is the trigger for turning (nearly) all human beings into segments of a “hive mind,” a global super colony that the sociobiologist E.O. Wilson would have recognized from his work on ants. And wouldn’t you know it, those nerdy scientists hanging on every radio impulse from the universe in search of intelligent life provide the gateway to a radical loss of individuality. Thus the SETI geeks enter a long tradition of fictional scientists who unleash forces that quickly run out of control.

The results are mixed: No war, no violence, no racism or sexism.  Also, no personal uniqueness. Is it worth it?...

Like all such speculations Pluribus raises countless questions. How did this actually happen and why, if one member of the hive gets drunk, the whole hive doesn’t?"

What Happens to Trade Secrets in a World Where Professor X & Mind Reading Are Real?; Escapist Magazine, February 2, 2020

Adam Adler, Escapist Magazine; What Happens to Trade Secrets in a World Where Professor X & Mind Reading Are Real?

"When it comes to trade secrets, though, the law is straightforward — at least in theory: Secrecy is good. The more mechanisms one uses to protect their trade secret, the harder it will be for one’s adversary to challenge the legitimacy of the trade secret protections."