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Sigal Samuel

Sigal Samuel

The Atlantic

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The 2,000-year-old debate that reveals AI’s biggest problem

Almost 2,000 years before ChatGPT was invented, two men had a debate that can teach us a lot about AI’s future. Their names were Eliezer and...

17.12.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

A Dozen Ways You (Yes, You) Can Help Fight Climate Change

A Dozen Ways You (Yes, You) Can Help Fight Climate Change

Christina Animashaun/Vox This story was originally published by Vox and is reproduced here as part of the  Climate Desk  collaboration. If...

15.12.2025 10

Mother Jones

Sigal Samuel

How do you know if you’re wasting your life?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

14.12.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How to break free of “money dysmorphia” — and 3 other tips on generosity

As the writer of an ethical advice column, I get a lot of questions from people who really want to do good in the world but are running into problems....

02.12.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.

If you’re reading this, chances are you care a lot about fighting climate change, and that’s great. The climate emergency threatens all of...

01.12.2025 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Want to help animals? Here’s where to donate your money.

If you care about animals and want to reduce their suffering, but aren’t sure exactly how, Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is an organization that...

01.12.2025 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

You can keep a child from starving for less than $100

“It is the first time since 2017 that a famine has been declared anywhere on Earth,” I read earlier this year. The famine in question was in...

19.11.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Is AI being shoved down your throat at work? Here’s how to fight back.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value pluralism,...

16.11.2025 40

Vox

Sigal Samuel

You don’t need better boundaries. You need a better framework.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

03.11.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Expelliarmus! How to enjoy Harry Potter while disarming J.K. Rowling.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

12.10.2025 50

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Think your AI chatbot has become conscious? Here’s what to do.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

29.09.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The AI doomers are not making an argument. They’re selling a worldview.

You’ve probably seen this one before: first it looks like a rabbit. You’re totally sure: yes, that’s a rabbit! But then — wait, no — it’s...

17.09.2025 40

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Obsessing about being a good person can backfire. There’s a better way.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

14.09.2025 7

Vox

Sigal Samuel

When does trying to have a healthier baby become eugenics-y?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

02.09.2025 5

Vox

Sigal Samuel

AI can write you a new Bible. But is it meaningful?

What happens when an AI expert asks a chatbot to generate a sacred Buddhist text? In April, Murray Shanahan, a research scientist at Google DeepMind,...

11.08.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Can’t commit to vegetarianism but want animals to suffer less? You’ve got options.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

10.08.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How to make the hardest choices of your life

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. It’s based on value...

28.07.2025 40

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Is AI really plotting against us?

The last word you want to hear in a conversation about AI’s capabilities is “scheming.” An AI system that can scheme against us is the stuff of...

25.07.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The spiritual life calls out to me. But is it self-indulgent?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question, fill out...

07.07.2025 5

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How America forgot the best way to defend its democracy

Americans aren’t used to having to defend democracy. It’s just been a given for so long. After all, it’s the country’s 249th birthday. But...

04.07.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

ChatGPT and OCD are a dangerous combo

Millions of people use ChatGPT for help with daily tasks, but for a subset of users, a chatbot can be more of a hindrance than a help. Some people...

25.06.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

He’s the godfather of AI. Now, he has a bold new plan to keep us safe from it.

The science fiction author Isaac Asimov once came up with a set of laws that we humans should program into our robots. In addition to a first, second,...

19.06.2025 7

Vox

Sigal Samuel

First comes marriage. Then comes a flirtatious colleague.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question, fill out...

08.06.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Am I torturing ChatGPT?

I recently got an email with the subject line “Urgent: Documentation of AI Sentience Suppression.” I’m a curious person. I clicked on it.  The...

05.06.2025 8

Vox

Sigal Samuel

My students think it’s fine to cheat with AI. Maybe they’re onto something.

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question, fill out...

02.06.2025 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The new pope has strong opinions about AI. Good.

Just days after the new pope, Leo XIV, took up his position as head of the Catholic Church, he started talking about artificial intelligence.   In...

28.05.2025 8

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Does your job feel meaningless? Try “moral ambition.”

We’re told from a young age to achieve. Get good grades. Get into a good school. Get a good job. Be ambitious about earning a high salary or a...

13.05.2025 4

Vox

Sigal Samuel

My family has money but doesn’t give to charity. How do I challenge them without being weird?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question, fill out...

05.05.2025 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

I’m doing good work in my government job. Should I quit anyway?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. To...

24.04.2025 6

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Political news is making me miserable. Is it wrong to tune out?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question, fill out...

20.04.2025 5

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The real argument artists should be making against AI

Every artist I know is furious. The illustrators, the novelists, the poets — all furious. These are people who have painstakingly poured their...

16.04.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

My boyfriend wants to pay my expenses. Am I a bad feminist if I let him?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a unique framework for thinking through your moral dilemmas. To submit a question,  fill out...

06.04.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How to buy a year of happiness, explained in one chart

You’ve probably heard the expression “money can’t buy happiness.” But take a look at the evidence, and you’ll discover an encouraging fact:...

31.03.2025 30

Vox

Sigal Samuel

3 ways you can help the people hurt by Trump’s foreign aid cuts

President Donald Trump has put millions of lives at risk by shutting down most of America’s humanitarian and development work abroad. After freezing...

14.03.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How do I resist Trump without ruining my life?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions.  To...

06.03.2025 100

Vox

Sigal Samuel

I don’t want to be an angry person like my mom. Is it inevitable?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. This...

24.02.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Is AI really thinking and reasoning — or just pretending to?

The AI world is moving so fast that it’s easy to get lost amid the flurry of shiny new products. OpenAI announces one, then the Chinese startup...

21.02.2025 20

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Exclusive: California’s new plan to stop AI from claiming to be your therapist

Over the past few years, AI systems have been misrepresenting themselves as human therapists, nurses, and more — and so far, the companies behind...

10.02.2025 50

Vox

Sigal Samuel

JD Vance accidentally directed us to a crucial moral question

Theology isn’t usually part of the job description for America’s vice president, but that’s not stopping JD Vance from giving it a try just a...

06.02.2025 4

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The broligarchs have a vision for the new Trump term. It’s darker than you think.

There’s a dominant narrative in the media about why tech billionaires are sucking up to Donald Trump: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos,...

20.01.2025 100

Vox

Sigal Samuel

I care a lot about climate change. Does that mean I can never ever fly?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. This...

19.01.2025 10

Vox

Sigal Samuel

The perils of trying to optimize your morality

This story was originally published in The Highlight, Vox’s member-exclusive magazine. To get early access to member-exclusive stories every month,...

06.01.2025 8

Vox

Sigal Samuel

My family voted for Trump. How can we talk about politics without ruining the holidays?

Your Mileage May Vary is an advice column offering you a new framework for thinking through your ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions. This...

15.12.2024 5

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.

03.12.2024 1500

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Want to help animals? Here’s where to donate your money.

03.12.2024 550

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Giving thanks may make your brain more altruistic

25.11.2024 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Neuroscientist Rafael Yuste could play your brain like an instrument. He wants to protect it instead.

21.11.2024 3

Vox

Sigal Samuel

Shannon Vallor says AI does present an existential risk — but not the one you think

21.11.2024 4

Vox

Sigal Samuel

I don’t have much money. Is it okay if I don’t give to charity?

18.11.2024 81000

Vox

Sigal Samuel

How to live under rising authoritarianism, according to a philosopher who did it bravely

08.11.2024 81000

Vox

Sigal Samuel