William Williams

Cosmologist Stephen Hawking believes “the development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and product engineer of Tesla Motors, warns that AI might be one of the greatest threats facing our civilization. Bill Gates, the former CEO and founder of Microsoft Corporation even considers the danger of machines that could out-think humanity. Are these fears justified? Will AI be the doom of the human race?

Less than two years after he was appointed head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis made news by acknowledging the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide (2015). Armenians and their supporters welcomed the statement, but it angered Turkish leaders who reject using the label “genocide” to describe the murders of nearly two million Armenians from April 1915 until the end of World War I.

Every year around this time, Jewish people around the world celebrate Purim—a holiday commemorating the time when Persian King Ahasuerus (traditionally identified as Xerxes I), extended to the scattered descendants of Judah’s captivity the right to defend themselves against their enemies. It was a momentous day, when a mighty world ruler—hardly a Jew himself—intervened against one of his own advisor’s schemes, and prevented persecution of the beleaguered Jewish minority living in his kingdom.