Latest news with #moralcourage
Forbes
5 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
From Hitler's Bunker To AI Boardrooms: Why Moral Courage Matters
black numbers (figures) 1944 on a marble slab. Eighty-one years ago today, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg walked into Adolf Hitler's Wolf's Lair bunker with a briefcase containing enough explosives to change the course of history. The assassination attempt failed, but Stauffenberg's courage in the face of overwhelming evil offers puzzling lessons for our current moment — particularly as we navigate the transformative power of artificial intelligence. The parallels are uncomfortable, and useful to examine. Then, as now, individual acts of moral courage were essential to preserving human agency in the face of systems that seemed beyond individual control. High-ranking German officials recognized what many contemporaries refused to see: that passive compliance with destructive systems was itself a moral choice. Today, AI systems are being deployed across society at new speed, often without adequate consideration of their long-term implications. Many of us assume that someone else — tech companies, governments, international bodies — will ensure AI serves human flourishing. This assumption is dangerous. AI development is not a natural phenomenon happening to us; it is a series of human choices that requires active human agency, not passive acceptance. The Necessity Of Hybrid Intelligence Stauffenberg and his conspirators understood that opposing tyranny required more than good intentions — it demanded strategic thinking, careful planning, and the ability to work within existing systems while fundamentally challenging them. They needed what we might today call hybrid intelligence: combining human moral reasoning with systematic analysis and coordinated action. The biggest performance improvements come when humans and smart machines work together, enhancing each other's strengths. This principle applies not just to productivity but to the fundamental challenge of keeping AI aligned with human values. We cannot simply delegate AI governance to technologists any more than the German resistance could delegate their moral choices to military hierarchies. Consider practical examples of where hybrid intelligence is essential today: Double Literacy: The Foundation Of Agency The German resistance succeeded in part because its members possessed both military expertise and moral clarity. They could operate effectively within existing power structures while maintaining independent judgment about right and wrong. Today's equivalent is double literacy — combining algorithmic literacy with human literacy. Algorithmic literacy means understanding AI's capabilities and constraints — how machine learning systems are trained, what data they use, and where they typically fail. Human literacy encompasses our understanding of aspirations, emotions, thoughts, and sensations across scales — from individuals to communities, countries, and the planet. Leaders don't need to become programmers, but they need both forms of literacy to deploy AI effectively and ethically. Practical double literacy looks like: Every Small Action Matters Stauffenberg and other members of the conspiracy were arrested and executed on the same day. The immediate failure of the July 20 plot might suggest that individual actions are meaningless against overwhelming systemic forces. But this interpretation misses the deeper impact of moral courage. The resistance's willingness to act, even against impossible odds, preserved human dignity in the darkest possible circumstances. It demonstrated that systems of oppression require human compliance to function, and that individual refusal to comply — however small — matters morally and strategically. Similarly, in the AI age, every decision to maintain human agency in the face of algorithmic convenience is significant. When a teacher insists on personally reviewing AI-generated lesson plans rather than using them blindly, when a manager refuses to outsource hiring decisions entirely to screening algorithms, when a citizen demands transparency in algorithmic decision-making by local government — these actions preserve human agency in small but crucial ways. The key is recognizing that these are not merely personal preferences but civic responsibilities. Just as the German resistance understood their actions in terms of duty to future generations, we must understand our choices about AI as fundamentally political acts that will shape the society we leave behind. Practical Takeaway: The A-Frame For Civil Courage Drawing from both Stauffenberg's example and current research on human-AI collaboration, here is a practical framework for exercising civil courage in our hybrid world: Awareness: Develop technical literacy about AI systems you encounter. Ask questions like: Who trained this system? What data was used? What are its documented limitations? How are errors detected and corrected? Stay informed about AI developments through credible sources rather than relying on marketing materials or sensationalized reporting. Appreciation: Recognize both the genuine benefits and the real risks of AI systems. Avoid both uncritical enthusiasm and reflexive opposition. Understand that the question is not whether AI is good or bad, but how to ensure human values guide its development and deployment. Appreciate the complexity of these challenges while maintaining confidence in human agency. Acceptance: Accept responsibility for active engagement rather than passive consumption. This means moving beyond complaints about "what they are doing with AI" to focus on "what we can do to shape AI." Accept that perfect solutions are not required for meaningful action — incremental progress in maintaining human agency is valuable. Accountability: Take concrete action within your sphere of influence. If you're a parent, engage meaningfully with how AI is used in your children's education. If you're an employee, participate actively in discussions about AI tools in your workplace rather than simply adapting to whatever is implemented. If you're a citizen, contact representatives about AI regulation and vote for candidates who demonstrate serious engagement with these issues. For professionals working directly with AI systems, accountability means insisting on transparency and human oversight. For everyone else, it means refusing to treat AI as a force of nature and instead recognizing it as a set of human choices that can be influenced by sustained civic engagement. The lesson of July 20, 1944, is not that individual action always succeeds in its immediate goals, but that it always matters morally and often matters practically in ways we cannot foresee. Stauffenberg's briefcase bomb failed to kill Hitler, but the example of the German resistance helped shape post-war democratic institutions and continues to inspire moral courage today. As we face the challenge of ensuring AI serves human flourishing rather than undermining it, we need the same combination of technical competence and moral clarity that characterized the July 20 conspirators. The systems we build and accept today will shape the world for generations. Like Stauffenberg, we have a choice: to act with courage in defense of human dignity, or to remain passive in the face of forces that seem beyond our control but are, ultimately, the product of human decisions. The future of AI is not predetermined. It will be shaped by the choices we make — each of us, in small acts of courage, every day.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Diane Foley, mother of slain journalist James Foley, urges Marquette grads to live with 'moral courage'
Even in death, Diane Foley told Marquette University graduates, her late son challenges her on how to live. "No matter what we choose to do, each of us has the choice every day to speak out instead of being silent, to hope instead of giving up, to show mercy instead of resentment," she said at Marquette's 144th undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 10, held at Fiserv Forum. Her son, slain journalist James Foley, was a 1996 graduate of Marquette University and a combat journalist who was kidnapped in 2012 while covering the Syrian Civil War. Moral courage is how her son inspired her, and it is what the Marquette graduates can strive towards. "Moral courage lives deep within us," Diane Foley said. James Foley was publicly murdered by ISIS for being an American journalist in Syria in 2014. His beheading was filmed and disseminated on social media. "Imagine that," said Thomas Durkin, program director for the James W. Foley Foundation and research coordinator for the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking, who introduced Diane Foley at the commencement ceremony. "A parent's worst nightmare shared for all the world to see," he said. After her son's kidnapping, Diane Foley said she fueled her anger at the government for repeatedly stating that Jim was the highest priority but not negotiating for his release. But she soon started asking herself what Jim would have wanted. "Jim was challenging me," she said. She told graduates that she realized Jim "would have stepped up for others." Just three weeks after her son's death, her family started the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation to advocate for American hostages and wrongful detainees held abroad. "I had a deep desire to somehow keep Jim's goodness and moral courage alive," she said. Because of the foundation, 160 American hostages and wrongfully detained individuals have been reunited with their families, she said. "Each of those hostages who've returned home is its own miracle," she said. "Every single person matters." Diane Foley described her son as having a "deep curiosity about our world, its history and other cultures." It was evident when he would take a book to read during Red Sox games, she said. James Foley graduated from Marquette University in 1996 with degrees in Spanish and history and joined Teach for America, teaching teenagers in Phoenix. While studying creative writing at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, he volunteered at the local care center, helping unwed mothers get their high school credentials while helping them share their stories. He also studied journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago while teaching English at the Cook County Jail. "Jim was also an ordinary person with hopes and dreams like you and I. Until tested," she said. "When tested, our ordinary son became truly extraordinary." And you, too, she advised the graduates, "can become extraordinary." She challenged the graduates to "find your purpose" as the students can bring hope to the world, she said. "What gives you joy and purpose?" Foley challenged the Marquette University graduates. "What matters to you?" Cathy Kozlowicz can be reached at 262-361-9132 or Follow her on X at @kozlowicz_cathy. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Diane Foley, mother of James Foley, speaks at 2025 Marquette commencement
