A Brief History of (predominantly Artificial) Intelligence
02/28/24 • 34 min
Today, we're speaking to Kester Brewin, an author who works for the delightfully named Institute for the Future of Work here in London. He’s just about to release a new book called God-like: a 500 year history of Artificial Intelligence in myths, machines and monsters. It's a book which charts the ideas that underpin everything – from ChatGPT and Dall.E to the recently-released Sora – back to their roots. Is there something quasi-theological about the way we discuss the possible implications of these radical new technologies? Don’t think of this as a history of Artificial Intelligence, per se, but a history of the impulse that has led us, inexorably, towards AI.
The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast, written and presented by Nick Hilton.
The theme music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State.
The artwork is by Tom Humberstone.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today, we're speaking to Kester Brewin, an author who works for the delightfully named Institute for the Future of Work here in London. He’s just about to release a new book called God-like: a 500 year history of Artificial Intelligence in myths, machines and monsters. It's a book which charts the ideas that underpin everything – from ChatGPT and Dall.E to the recently-released Sora – back to their roots. Is there something quasi-theological about the way we discuss the possible implications of these radical new technologies? Don’t think of this as a history of Artificial Intelligence, per se, but a history of the impulse that has led us, inexorably, towards AI.
The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast, written and presented by Nick Hilton.
The theme music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State.
The artwork is by Tom Humberstone.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
The Age of Enshittification
'Enshittification' is a word coined by the Canadian writer and technologist Cory Doctorow to describe, to filch Wikipedia’s definition, “the pattern of decreasing quality of online platforms that function as two-sided markets”. This is the tension behind much of Big Tech. How do businesses extract value without destroying the identity that they built, and, as a result, alienating their userbase? Doctorow coined the term enshittification in 2022, and it feels to me like it has captured a moment of social media in full maturity. After more than a decade of mass uptake – whether that’s a microblogging platform like Twitter, a network like Facebook, or even streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, which owe much to the social revolution – there is a cooling off of the desire to endlessly solicit new users. A million dollars isn’t cool. You know what’s cool? A viable revenue stream.
Cory Doctorow's new book, The Internet Con, is available wherever you could reasonably expect to purchase books (or online).
The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast, written and presented by Nick Hilton.
The theme music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State.
The artwork is by Tom Humberstone.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
The Uncertainty Paradox
The impact that technology has on psychology is a new field of research, and one where the multi-decade studies required to give definitive answers are still many years away. One of the other fields being covered is the area of certainty. Is the internet making people to certain about the opinions? Too close-minded to the possibility that they might be wrong, or might have more to learn? And to what extent is the internet responsible for a crisis in over-confidence? Or is it simply another manifestation of a totally natural mammalian tendency towards confidence?
These are difficult questions to answer, not least because they scratch at the core question that should be vexing technologists. Is technology good for the human brain? Or is technology simply the result of a human brain that’s screwed up in all the ways that technology is? Which came first, chicken or egg; technological nonsense-boosting or the scattershot human brain?
To answer all this, I’m joined by Maggie Jackson, author of Distracted: Reclaiming Our Focus in a World of Lost Attention, and the more recent Uncertain: The Wisdom and Wonder of Being Unsure. It’s the latter book we talk about mainly, and because we recorded this interview a few weeks ago, I’ve largely forgotten what we spoke about. Maybe the content of this episode is the greatest uncertainty of all. Anyway, I’ll be listening and hopefully you will too.
The Ned Ludd Radio Hour is a Podot podcast.
Written and presented by Nick Hilton.
The theme music is 'Internet Song' by Apes of the State
The artwork is by Tom Humberstone.
NEDLUDDLIVES.COM
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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