This is a talk I presented at Chesterton Academy of Ottawa earlier this year.

YouTube version: https://youtu.be/ETaRAauDxS0

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Timestamps:
00:00 - Coming up
00:51 - Intro music
01:05 - Chesterton Academy introduction
03:28 - Jonathan begins: art, AI, education, and the Pope’s encyclical
05:53 - Why AI is not human intelligence
08:18 - AI lacks embodied understanding
10:47 - Money, efficiency, power, and the values behind AI
13:07 - The Moloch trap and the AI arms race
15:32 - AI’s impact on work and education
17:01 - The anti-human vision of technocracy
18:40 - What education is really for
21:05 - Why learn art in the age of AI?
23:50 - Little Red Riding Hood promotion
24:46 - Remember, celebrate, and create
25:57 - Remembering our stories and traditions
29:36 - Celebrate what is good
33:16 - Create in service of remembrance and celebration
37:11 - Sincerity after irony and cynicism
39:32 - Fairy tales, icons, and Christian visual language
42:58 - Graphic novels, saints, and medieval storytelling
44:28 - The challenge and opportunity of our time
46:27 - Q: Is pessimism about AI justified?
48:32 - Q: How can remembrance, celebration, and creation be transmitted practically in schools and families?
53:23 - Q: Should schools return to oral exams and oral presentations because of AI?
55:52 - Q: How much can we participate in or use AI without falling into the trap?
58:31 - Q: What does cave art reveal about the relationship between man and art? Is art the signature of man?
01:03:02 - Q: What is the difference between inventing something new and creating?
01:07:20 - Q: Do strict rules in art stifle creativity? Why do people say beauty is subjective?
01:10:04 - Q: How can we recover a true remembrance of the Middle Ages rather than seeing them as dark or backward?
01:14:55 - Q: What is the difference between reading traditional stories and watching movies for entertainment?
01:19:02 - Q: Why was beauty dismissed from art, and why is our built environment so ugly?
01:21:07 - Q: What is your favorite piece of art in your home?
01:23:28 - Q: Can AI be used as a Socratic interlocutor in education?
01:26:36 - Q: What is the value of teaching classical languages like Latin and ancient Greek?
01:27:45 - Q: How should young artists balance pursuing art with the need to make money?
01:30:50 - Q: What is the importance of boredom, rest, silence, and imagination?
01:33:15 - Q: Is re-enchantment, post-irony, and sincerity possible in an intentional way?
01:37:08 - Q: How can different traditions unite against AI without losing their distinctiveness?
01:41:39 - Q: How do we discern beauty in imperfect work, especially in a performative society focused on excellence?
01:44:02 - Q: Where do you think AI is going, especially in education and culture?

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