Derek Thompson
speaker
10,341 appearances
55 recordings
13 series
first heard Apr 2017
last heard 11 Sep
Derek Thompson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 36 in all, peaking in Mar 2026 with 6.
Appearances
It's September.
voice-verified
And millions of students are back on college campus.
voice-verified
This is an interesting time for higher education.
voice-verified
In surveys, trust in America's colleges and universities is near record lows.
voice-verified
The value of college is in question as tuition costs have soared in the last few decades, while the so-called college premium, that is the expected benefit from getting a diploma, has flatlined and even possibly declined in the last few years.
voice-verified
The unemployment rate of young college grads seems to be rising.
voice-verified
Meanwhile, artificial intelligence has unleashed a torrent of cheating on campus.
voice-verified
It's created chaos in the job application process as large language models allow students to apply for hundreds of jobs with applications that are often written by and read by large language models, which at the corporate level filter for keywords, thus dehumanizing the entire process of moving from the college to the labor force.
voice-verified
As higher education searches for its reason for being in this new age, some people say college should just be for fun, for hanging out, you know, like a country club that happens to hold lectures.
voice-verified
But even that identity is in crisis.
voice-verified
The Atlantic has reported that loneliness and isolation are rising on campus and partying has declined, possibly related to our episode from a few weeks ago about how young people do not drink anymore.
voice-verified
So to sum all this up, the costs of college are rising, the perceived benefits are declining, and nobody knows what to do about this infernal technology that can write full papers in one dumb prompt.
voice-verified
Into this maelstrom.
voice-verified
David Deming, the Dean of Harvard College, sent a missive.
voice-verified
Two weeks ago, in an email to students, he said he was embracing a policy of so-called quote, AI encouragement.
voice-verified
Encouragement.
voice-verified
The notion that Harvard would encourage the use of AI sent shudders through the faculty and student body.
voice-verified
Shudders that resounded across the country, with many professors and writers announcing that arguably America's most famous university was launching an attack on academic integrity itself.
voice-verified
Today's guest is David Deming.
voice-verified
We talk about his email.
voice-verified
Showing 1–20 of 10,341 · page 1 of 518
Next →