Digital Public Square

One of the hidden blessings of 2020 has been the ability to rethink our routines and habits. Some have picked up new hobbies while others have decided to rethink how they approach technology, news, and social media. Early in the pandemic, I decided to try intentionally to get my news from sources outside of social media as a way to combat the constant churning of my social media feeds which are of...

In June 2019, there was a Twitter backlash against the Black Hat security conference and its decision to confirm Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tx.) as a keynote speaker. Black Hat is a technology event series founded in 1997. Many within the national security and cybersecurity fields, along with many long-time attendees, voiced their disgust that Black Hat would choose to highlight Hurd given his pro-life con...

A friend recently tweeted that she believes ethics to be an impossibility. As she unpacked what she meant, I realized this attitude toward ethics is shared by many, especially in our digital age. With the rise of sophisticated modern technologies—such as artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition, bioengineering, and social media—our society will increasingly question what’s moral or immoral...

Elon Musk has become a household name in the last few years. From the rise and popularity of the all electric vehicles at Tesla to the commercialization of space travel through SpaceX, Musk is a man on a mission to revolutionize our society. According to Forbes , Musk is worth over $86.1 billion dollars, making him one of the most wealthy and recognizable names in the world. A few years ago I read...

Amid the cultural upheaval of COVID-19 and what has turned out to be one of the most eventful years in modern history, a dehumanizing and predatory perversion of technology has been spreading in the darkness of our communities: pornography. While the out-of-sight nature of pornography makes it is easier to shrug off its insidiousness, especially given the social unrest of the moment, the rise in p...

We live in a “smart-everything” world. We have artificial intelligence (AI) at our fingertips for nearly every part of our day. From AI-based wearable technology to phones, tablets, computers, and even appliances, nearly every aspect of our lives is being tracked, recorded, and processed by some form of algorithmic technology. And there are incredible advantages to these technologies. We now have...

On Sunday, the country of Belarus held a national election where President Alexander Lukashenko won in a landslide victory,  claiming  an implausible 80% of the vote. Over the last few days, the nation has experienced mass protests over the controversial election, and the opposition leader, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, has  fled  to neighboring Lithuania for safety. Tikhanovskaya became the opposition...

Over the last few weeks, there has been a cultural firestorm over the viral video sharing app TikTok and a potential ban in the United States. TikTok’s usage surged during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns with millions of users finding reprieve during this difficult season of isolation and social distancing. My colleague Conrad Close and I  recently wrote  about this application that has taken the...

It's easy for anyone to get caught up in the hype surrounding new technologies. A new innovation often debuts with some helpful benefits and great new features, all of which wow us and lead us to believe that we are on the cusp of something truly revolutionary. Promises are made, and there are countless predictions about what is to come next. But soon after the press conferences fade and the...

This week Trillia Newbell, author, speaker, and commentator on World Radio, joins me to talk about parenting our kids in this technological day. We discuss Moxie, a forthcoming robot companion for children, from the company Embodied. We consider some of the implications of personifying technology in this way and the need for wisdom in teaching our children about interacting with technology. We div...

This is the second in a new series of interviews on the WeeklyTech Podcast, where a couple times a month we will highlight an interview with leading cultural and thought leaders about the role technology plays in our society.  This week Jay Kim, a pastor at Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California, joins me to talk about his new book, Analog Church . We discuss how his book speaks to this cu...

When you read or hear about artificial intelligence (AI), you probably have one of two reactions: fear of the unknown or some level of disregard because of other seemingly more pressing issues. Both reactions are understandable. AI seems like a far off, futuristic technology that doesn’t yet affect daily life. In reality, though, AI is around us all the time and, for all its tangible benefits, maj...

A book’s publication date is often set as an author signs the contract, and it usually feels far away and distant. But sometimes you read a book that reminds you that God is sovereignly orchestrating the entire universe, including book launches, because one is so perfectly timed that not even a publisher could have planned for the moment. That is true with Jay Kim’s new book, Analog Church: Why We...

Imagine a society where a criminal could be tracked down almost immediately by police and taken into custody, all by using his face as identification. Or a world where you no longer need to carry your ID card, insurance information, or even your credit or debit cards because you could pay for your meal using facial recognition, as many do today in the eastern city of Hangzhou, China. While all thi...

By now, you’ve probably heard of the rapidly growing social media app called TikTok that is taking the United States and the world by storm. It’s hard to describe just how influential and far-reaching TikTok has become so quickly. In less than two years since it was released, it has been downloaded over 2 billion times. In just the last quarter, TikTok was downloaded 315 million times —the best qu...

This week Dr. John Lennox, a world renown author and Oxford professor, joins host Jason Thacker to talk about his new book, 2 084: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity . They discuss artificial intelligence, the origin of the science, as well as the ethical and moral implications of technology. They also dive into the relationship between faith and science and realize that a Christia...

As stay-at-home orders went into effect throughout our nation in March, I was encouraged to see many pastors take to social media. They sent video updates to their people about the shift to online services and digital discipleship. They were using the tools they had at their disposal in order to bring calming and encouraging words to many who were scared and confused. Soon, many of us would find o...

According to a 2019 report from NPR and Edison Research, about 53 million Americans own a smart speaker assistant. The consulting firm Ovum predicts that by 2021, there will be more than 7.5 billion of these digital assistants used throughout the world, which is nearly the same number of people living today. If you don’t own one of these AI empowered smart speakers, I bet that your neighbor or co-...

Last fall, my wife was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and had just recently finished her chemotherapy treatments. Because her immune system has been severely weakened, the COVID-19 threat to her health is potentially lethal. We decided to isolate well before the stay-at-home directives from state and local governments. By now we’re all familiar with one of the key ethical dilemmas that’s arisen...

Amid all of the cultural conversations surrounding the role of technology in our society, Facebook has been at the top of the headlines. From issues over privacy and a recently announced crypto-currency, public opinion of the platform has shifted in recent years. But Facebook has also been working behind the scenes to collect feedback and put together an external oversight board to advise and guid...

As my wife and I parent our two young sons, we see a world that is increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence (AI). Our boys will not just grow up with dreams of robot maids and space toys, they will grow up alongside AI-empowered devices like our Apple HomePod and even better AI yet to come. Seemingly every day I see ads for new personalized robots powered by AI. For example, a new home robot...

There isn’t much that Americans seem to agree on these days. Even as COVID-19 brought some national unity, we are beginning to see the fraying of American society once again. Political, social, economic, and religious issues have sorted us into tribes and tribes of tribes. It is difficult to keep up to date on the number of differing viewpoints and interest groups. But there is one concern that se...

I am excited to announce the new WeeklyTech podcast that will release each Monday morning alongside the WeeklyTech newsletter . This new ERLC podcast is dedicated to educating and equipping you to navigate the issues surrounding technology with the hope of the gospel. Each week we will focus on one big story that we will dig into and see how Christians can think wisely about it. Then the Rundown w...