The Week Magazine June 9, 2023

The AI vs. human score this week was roughly 1-1. A tie, sort of. On the one hand, the poor lawyer who decided to rely on AI to write a brief in the case of a man hit by an airline serving cart was laughed out of court and now must defend his law license (see Business news, p.32). On the other, a blue-ribbon group of tech leaders said that the growth of AI poses the risk of “extinction” for humanity (see The U.S. at a glance, p.7). Between these two poles—“let’s dunk on the stupid computers” and “here come the robot overlords”—lies our likely future. I’m betting against humanity’s imminent demise. For one thing, it’s been a longtime Silicon Valley obsession—the theory that we haven’t met space aliens because…

What happened Hard-right Republicans rebelled this week over a deal House Speaker Kevin McCarthy struck with President Biden to end the debt-limit standoff, but as The Week went to press the deal was poised to clear the House just in time to avert a catastrophic default. “Not one Republican should vote for this bill,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), one of many members of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus angered by the agreement’s relatively modest spending cuts. “Trillions and trillions of dollars in debt for crumbs,” said caucus chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.). But despite their opposition, the bill passed the House Rules Committee, clearing the way for a House vote, and with large numbers of Democrats expected to join a majority of Republicans in backing the bill, opponents conceded they…

What happened After voting overwhelmingly to impeach Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a key Donald Trump ally, Texas lawmakers set a trial date this week for no later than August. The Texas House of Representatives brought 20 counts of impeachment, including multiple charges of bribery, obstruction of justice, and disregard of official duty. The charges stemmed from an investigation a Republican-controlled committee had been conducting in secret since March. Paxton was already facing securities fraud charges dating to 2015, when he first became AG, but most of the impeachment counts involve his dealings with Nate Paul, an Austin real estate developer and political donor. The allegations include that the attorney general intervened in legal cases to benefit Paul and that in exchange, Paul gave a job to the woman…

Rejeanne Fairhead, a 96-year-old Canadian, last week became the fastest woman over 95 to run a 5K race. Fairhead jogged the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend in 51 minutes and 9 seconds, 5 minutes less than Betty Lindberg, who set the previous record in the 95- to 99-year-old category last year. With temperatures over 82 degrees, the nonagenarian kept herself hydrated with a sports drink and kept her son close to warn her about potential potholes. “I’ve been telling everybody, to me, age is just a number. You know, if you feel good, do something,” she said. When a fire broke out around 4 a.m. in her living room, Claudia Jimenez pulled her two daughters into her bedroom and started screaming for help. Joe Hollins, a homeless man, heard the yelling…

Was this the week the Republican establishment’s “grand plan to deny Donald Trump the nomination fell apart?” asked Jonathan Martin in Politico. After Ron DeSantis’ “muffed launch” dealt another blow to his struggling campaign (see Talking Points, p.17), there is suddenly no obvious rival for anti-Trump Republicans to rally around. In fact, with Sen. Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, Mike Pence, and many other Republican candidates jumping into the race, 2024 is starting to look like a replay of 2016, when opposition to Trump was diluted among a total of 17 candidates. That let Trump win the nomination with just 45 percent of the primary vote. It could happen again. If Trump does win the GOP nomination, said Josh Dawsey in The Washington Post, he will run on…

Good week for: Hole digging, after the state of Colorado, exasperated with hikers defecating on the state’s scenic trails, began giving away free waste-burial kits. The kits—a trowel and “biodegradable wipe tablets”—are part of the state’s “Doo Colorado Right” campaign. Normalcy, with news that the TSA screened 2.74 million air travelers on the Friday before Memorial Day, making it the busiest day of air travel since the epic disruption of the pandemic. Oceanfront property, with an announcement from the General Services Administration that it is giving away 10 free lighthouses, which in the GPS era are no longer needed to keep ships from running aground. The structures, a GSA spokesman noted, are “often located in prominent locations that offer breathtaking views.” Bad week for: Going overboard, with the news that…