The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump signs order designed to give government early look at powerful AI models (WaPo)
“President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that would provide the government with an early look at powerful new artificial intelligence models, giving officials a chance to brace the economy for security risks. Trump had been expected to sign an order on the issue last month but reversed course following last-minute lobbying by tech industry executives.
“The order the president signed Tuesday is largely the same as an earlier draft obtained by The Washington Post, but it narrows the government’s preview to up to 30 days rather than 90 days. Participation in the system by artificial intelligence companies would be voluntary, according to the order, but leading firms are expected to take part. The order comes after Anthropic, the maker of chatbot Claude, developed a model called Mythos that has been shown to be effective at finding security weaknesses in computer code and hacking into networks.”
Are you familiar with Amara’s Law? This refers to how we tend to overestimate the short-term impact of new tech and underestimate the long-term impact because hype inflates expectations, leading to disappointment and, in turn, skepticism. For example, there was a dot-com bubble at the advent of the internet age, with many companies and entities seeking to capitalize on the hype surrounding the internet. While many companies' valuations were off, few predicted how transformative the internet would become in people's lives. Essentially, it was both a bubble and anything but a long-term bust…
In Foreign Affairs, Ben Buchanan and Tantum Collins, 2 former national security officials, advanced the idea of a Grand Bargain, recognizing the role and contributions of the tech sector and the government in this new frontier. “Further progress now depends on resources and capabilities that only the government can provide or facilitate: the energy to power ever-larger data centers, a pipeline of international talent, and effective defenses against sophisticated foreign espionage efforts. The U.S. government, for its part, will need the cooperation of the private sector to integrate AI into the national security apparatus and to make sure the technology does not undermine democracy across the world.” They conclude: “The tech sector can help the state make sense of and deploy AI. The state can help the tech sector continue to grow in a way that advances everyone’s interests.”
Beware of the Idols of the Valley, according to Yuval Levin. Drawing on the repeated warnings about idolatry throughout the Old Testament, Levin notes that AI does more than tempt us to dehumanize others; it can also function as an idol for ourselves. “These various idolatries offer us shortcuts that promise the benefit without the work: Just turn yourself into a tool and you will be more productive without more effort… AI, at least used a certain way, offers us shortcuts around formative work, matching outputs with inputs without the need for the interceding effort of mind, heart, and soul. If all you care about are the outputs, not the form of your mind, heart, and soul, then the offer is awfully hard to resist.” While the government is seeking to protect us from AI, we must also be on guard ourselves… (1 Pet. 5, Ex. 20)
5. Trump administration abandons $1.8 billion payout fund after revolt by GOP (ABC News)
“Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said Tuesday that the Justice Department would abandon plans for a $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who claim they were unfairly investigated. His declaration was an attempt to end an unusual standoff between the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers who have refused to fund immigration enforcement agencies over concerns about the payout fund. Dissolving the fund — before it could begin disbursing payments — allows the Trump administration to assuage lawmakers’ concerns that taxpayer money might be used to compensate people who attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“The fund was created in exchange for Trump agreeing to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS as well as two civil claims for $230 million related to the Russia collusion investigation he faced during his first term in office and the 2022 search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. A federal judge in Virginia on Friday ordered a temporary freeze on any payments coming from the fund as she considers arguments in a lawsuit brought by a former Jan. 6 prosecutor to block the fund permanently.”
A Tale of 2 Feedbacks…. The Senate provided feedback behind the scenes to the administration, and they acted on it. Meanwhile, CBS anchor Scott Pelley decided to give feedback to network leadership in a public meeting, and he was fired after it.
In their book Thanks for the Feedback, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen highlight why it is so difficult to receive feedback: “Identity is the story we tell ourselves about who we are and what the future holds for us, and when critical feedback is incoming, that story is under attack.” However, if “we're serious about growth and improvement, we have no choice but to get good at learning from just about anyone.”
There are 3 important principles relative to giving feedback, according to Adam Grant: ask, clarity, and candor. First, before you give it, ask if they want to receive it. Research has found that openness to tough feedback increases by at least 40 percent by prefacing it with just 19 words: “I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them.” Concerning clarity, be clear that you care about their success. Kim Scott put it like this: “People accept being challenged directly if you show that you care personally.” Finally there is candor, which refers to the need to be both candid in what you say and thoughtful in how you say it.
From a stubborn donkey to a gentle couple (Num. 22, 2 Tim. 1), God uses a variety of means to direct our path toward his glory and our good. However, as GS Bhogal notes: “Criticism suffers from inflation; the more one criticizes, the less their criticisms are worth.” GK Chesterton put it well: “What embitters the world is not excess of criticism, but an absence of self-criticism.”
4. Russia Is Showing Signs of Weakness in Ukraine. So It Hits Harder. (NY Times)
“The display of force that Russia rained on Ukraine early Tuesday, with hundreds of drones and missiles, cannot mask the increasing signs of Moscow’s weakness in the four-year war. Russia’s frontline advance in Ukraine has slowed almost to a halt. It has stepped up coerced mobilization in occupied eastern Ukraine as its domestic recruitment efforts have fallen short. Domestic discontent is growing. Europe is providing new support to Ukraine. And peace talks brokered by the United States have all but ended. All this adds up to a loss of momentum by Russia, analysts say.
“Ukraine’s position is much, much more formidable now than just a year ago,” Franz-Stefan Gady, a military analyst based in Vienna, said in an interview on Tuesday. Some analysts say they believe that Russia’s recently stepped-up strikes are an attempt to reclaim an advantage in potential peace talks and to re-engage the Trump administration, which has become more focused on the war in Iran than the one in Ukraine.”
While the Russian military budget has grown, its advances have begun to shrink. Reports indicate that the Kremlin’s military budget has grown to more than half of its public expenditure, reaching 10 percent of GDP. This growing budget collides with falling energy revenues due to sanctions, forcing them to draw on their gold reserves. In the midst of all of this, Russia recorded a net loss of territory it controls in Ukraine — in part the result of replacing its wounded and fallen with hastily trained recruits. Since the beginning of this year, Russia has been losing around 35,000 troops per month, outpacing its declining capacity for recruitment.
Ukraine was once merely a recipient of Western aid; now it is a co-creator of it. Necessity, once again, was the mother of innovation in Kyiv, as Ukrainian forces struggled to defend their homeland against inexpensive yet effective Russian drones (roughly $30,000). Instead of relying on Patriot interceptor missiles (approx. $4mm), Ukraine developed its own low-cost alternative, priced between $1,000 and $2,500. Just last month, roughly 70 percent of incoming Russian drones were intercepted, saving countless lives. And now, Ukraine is working closely with the US as Pentagon leadership seeks to deploy these defensive mechanisms in Iran.
The Transfiguration windows were transfigured by a Russian bomb… Recently, CT highlighted how a church in Ukraine was targeted by Russian missiles, causing its ceiling to collapse and most of the windows to be blown out, including stained-glass windows featuring the Transfiguration. However, in the corner stood an untouched mirror with the words “He is alive.” As the pastor noted, the present is grim, but the future remains filled with hope. (Heb. 6, 1 Pet. 1)
Cultural News
3. A sleep-time ‘sweet spot’ is linked to healthy aging, study finds (WaPo)
“However, the new research, published in the journal Nature, does suggest that there’s a sleep “sweet spot” between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep a night. People who hit that amount had better functioning of the immune system, brain and heart, as well as other organs, when measured on the molecular level. “Too little sleep is bad and too much sleep is bad,” said Mark Lachs, co-chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, who wasn’t involved in the study. “It is a Goldilocks kind of phenomenon.”
“One pattern that emerged in the data is that women seem to need a bit more sleep than men to function best. For example, in one of the brain clocks the researchers looked at, men seemed to do best with 7.7 hours on average, while women’s brains aged the least with 7.82 hours per night.”
The Lion Sleeps Tonight, but do you? Americans average 6.6 hours of sleep per night, though they consider 7.1 hours ideal. In a typical month, they report just 10 "perfect" nights of sleep, closely followed by 8 bad nights. While some vie for REM by 8pm, roughly 25 percent go to bed during the 10 p.m. hour (the most popular bedtime). 35 percent get in bed before 10 p.m., while 37 percent do so after 11 p.m.
In his book Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker writes that “sleep is the greatest legal performance-enhancing drug that most people are probably neglecting.” A lack of sleep costs most nations about 2 percent of their GDP, which in America equates to $411 billion. In REM sleep, some parts of the brain become 30 percent more active. Our brain replays memory sequences we learn while awake, but approximately 20 times faster.
In the Scriptures, we read about a God who appreciates order, providing a rhythmic pattern for life (1 Cor. 14:33, Gen. 1). He doesn’t sleep, but he asks us to rest, knowing he is watching over us and has great care for us. Rest stops us but also reminds us of the One who sustains us (Mark 2:27, 1 Pet. 5:7, Ps. 73:26).
News You Can Use
2. Luke Skywalker on Jerry Springer is peak AI
Watch it here. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.” (Ex. 20:12)
1. Mom Chores vs Dad Chores
Watch it here. “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” (Eph. 6:1)
