Jonathan Lear links Crow chief Plenty Coups to AI criticism in new essay

Philosopher Jonathan Lear's recent essay revisits his 2006 book *Radical Hope*, focusing on the last Crow chief, Plenty Coups. Lear recounts how Plenty Coups, who lived through the U.S. government's 1884 reservation confinement, told his life story to writer Frank B. Linderman. The essay highlights Plenty Coups' lament that after the buffalo disappeared, "the hearts of my people fell to the ground and they could not lift them up again," illustrating a cultural rupture.

Lear extends this historical reflection to contemporary concerns about artificial intelligence. He argues that critiques of AI often address material impacts—job loss, environmental costs, inequality—while overlooking how large language models may erode the very concepts and practices that enable coherent ethical debate. By juxtaposing Heidegger's notion that "language is the house of being" with the Crow experience, Lear warns that AI could undermine the foundations of cultural and moral discourse.