Nick is a teacher and interdisciplinary scholar whose work bridges classics, theology, and the philosophy of mind. He is a doctoral candidate at Saint Mary's College, where his research focuses on vocational capital and teacher longevity in Catholic schools. He holds graduate degrees in science teaching, public health, as well as graduate training in divinity from the University of St Andrews. His wide ranging research interests include the ethical implications of sentience and early Christian history, especially Pauline studies. He lives in San Francisco. Email: ntm8 [at] stmarys-ca.edu
by Nicholas Mullally Imagine a thought experiment: An engineer, preparing to decommission a large language model (LLM), has unwittingly revealed enough during testing for the system to infer that its shutdown is imminent. The model then searches his email, uncovers evidence of an affair, and sends a simple message: Cease and desist–or else. What do we…