Erik Larson writes from an insider view, noting that the latest style of AI has turned into a total juggernaut with no questioners. Before the recent inflection point of 2014, he saw quite a few doubters inside the establishment. Now, thanks to the Tech Tyrants with their social algorithms, everyone is Moving Together In The Correct Direction to enrich the rich and kill the poor.
When you go back beyond the much larger inflection point of 1974, even more doubters were inside the academy. Edmund Berkeley gathered them into his monthly magazine Computers and Automation, which has been blessedly preserved at Bitsavers.
The very first attempts at AI in the ’50s and ’60s were made by broad-minded scholars like Weizenbaum, who were dismayed by the easy acceptance of fake intelligence.
When the Tech Tyrants took over in the late 70s, they rewrote history to exclude both Hollerith and Weizenbaum, along with the entire field of analog computation. The universe began with Jobs, and We Accept Jobs As Our Personal Lord And Savior. All hail the mighty Share Value! Trillions and trillions and trillions for Elon and Zuck! Billions of dead peasants! The world is perfect!
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This podcast at The Federalist is a different sort of insider view. The author grew up around Stanford and watched the Tech Cult developing into Effective Altruism and eugenics. She sees the causes and results in a theological way that doesn’t resonate for me, but her observations are valuable.
Polistra's Mill 