What We Are Reading Today: ‘Thinking AI’ by John Maccormik

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Updated 30 November 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Thinking AI’ by John Maccormik

“Can machines think?” Ever since Alan Turing posed this question in an influential 1950 paper, it has been central to research in artificial intelligence. 

More than 75 years after Turing’s paper, we grapple with it every time we wonder if Watson was actually smarter than Jeopardy! champions, or if ChatGPT really knows what it’s talking about. 

In Thinking AI, computer scientist John MacCormick explores Turing’s question from a perspective informed by a detailed understanding of the way modern AI systems work.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

Updated 08 December 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Tectonic Geodynamics’

Authors: Thorsten Becker and Claudio Faccenna

Over the past half century, major achievements have been made in the study of Earth’s surface structure and kinematics and the internal dynamics of the lithosphere and mantle.

Many of these advances have relied on the integration of data and models from plate tectonics and geodynamics, yet traditional divisions persist in how these two disciplines are taught and practiced. 

This textbook bridges the gap, connecting geophysical and geological approaches to understand the physical processes that shape our planet’s evolution.