A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.

人工智能时代对文科教育的辩护

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

2026-05-21

1 小时 3 分钟
PDF

单集简介 ...

What’s really driving the humanities crisis in higher education? As enrollment and reading decline, I asked Jennifer Frey, a professor of philosophy, what it was like to run a liberal arts program that was gutted. I wanted to know whether she thinks the age of A.I. could bring back the kind of education she says is fundamental to human formation. 00:00 - Intro 2:08 - Why study the humanities? 5:00 - Do the humanities mean more morality? 15:00 - Shakespeare vs. John Grisham 24:07 - The Tulsa Honors College 34:43 - Left-wing critiques and specialization 44:10 - Is conservatism a friend to liberal arts? 56:32 - Why the humanities are crucial in the age A.I. (A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
更多

单集文稿 ...

  • You're never just one thing.

  • You're the boss.

  • Hey Google, when's my next meeting?

  • The athlete.

  • That class wrecks me.

  • And their mommy.

  • Everyone in?

  • The all new Mazda CX-5.

  • More to move every side of you.

  • Learn more at MazdaUSA.com.

  • Google is a trademark of Google LLC.

  • Sequence is shortened and simulated.

  • So what you hear people saying now, well, because AI is changing the workforce,

  • we now need the humanities for these soft skills that are now incredibly important.

  • I may have said that to myself, contemplating my own children's future.

  • Yes, this is the exactly the wrong case.

  • Jennifer Frey, welcome to Interesting Times.

  • Thank you so much for having me.

  • I'm thrilled to be here.

  • So I am, like you, I think, a book person.