In today's opinion articles, Western newspapers address the limits of politics and the responsibility of individuals and institutions from different angles: from the involvement of artists in public issues, to fears related to artificial intelligence, to restoring a historical experience in confronting extremism and hostility to immigrants in Britain.
Nisreen Malik addresses in The Guardian newspaper the recurring controversy over the interference of artists and celebrities in politics, considering that calls to separate art and politics ignore a long history of political activity by public figures.
Malik starts from the controversy that accompanied singer Ed Sheeran's tour, after rapper Macklemore was removed from it due to a pro-Palestinian speech, which prompted other artists to withdraw in solidarity with him. Sheeran told his fans that he wants his music to be about 'unity, not division'. But the writer believes that what happened does not prove the necessity of separating music from politics, but rather shows how difficult this separation is in political moments that dominate different areas of life.
She points out that the Gaza war caused divisions within the art world, Hollywood, and literary institutions, but she reminds that the intersection of culture and politics is not a new phenomenon. Artists and celebrities have participated in campaigns related to the Vietnam War, apartheid in South Africa, and Darfur, including Nina Simone, Marlon Brando, George Michael, and George Clooney.
According to Malik, public figures have the right to use the platforms available to them to express their convictions, just as others use demonstrations, donations, or communication with their political representatives. The influence of artists is particularly important because of the direct emotional relationship between them and their audience, which may influence public opinion outside traditional political channels.
The author believes that objection to the political activity of celebrities becomes more clear when their positions conflict with influential political or economic interests. Malik concludes that the extension of politics into culture may reflect the failure of political institutions to accommodate public anger.
A Washington Post op-ed discusses the influence of the philosophy of 'effective altruism' in the growing debate about the dangers of artificial intelligence. This philosophy, which has developed over the past two decades and attracted a number of workers in the technology sector, seeks to determine ethical priorities by calculating the magnitude of risks and the probability of their occurrence.
The writer believes that this approach contributed to giving the discussion about artificial intelligence a “resurrecting” character, focusing on scenarios such as the extinction of humans or their loss of control over technology. He warns against 'humanizing' artificial intelligence, that is, treating systems as if they possess independent, human-like motives and intentions, which may lead to weakening the responsibility of companies and developers for the products they put forward.
In The Independent, Danny Lee recalls the experience of his grandfather Phil Pereiten, a former Communist MP and one of the leaders of anti-fascist activity in East London, to read through it the contemporary anti-immigration protests in Britain. Lee believes that his grandfather would have found disturbing similarities between some of today's speeches and the 1930s, when the British Union of Fascists, led by Oswald Mosley, targeted Jews and immigrants, recalling the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.
