Let the Machines In
The author reflects on the irony of using statistical prediction machines to shape the future, drawing connections between computation and human intelligence. It explores the historical aspiration to mechanize thought and the current state of AI development.
Why it matters
It offers a thoughtful perspective from an AI industry insider on the philosophical implications of predictive AI models.
“From each art practiced in its time I derive a knowledge which compensates me in part for pleasures lost. I have supposed, and in my better moments think so still, that it would be possible in this manner to participate in the existence of everyone; such sympathy would be one of the least revocable kinds of immortality.” Marguerite Yourcenar, Memories of Hadrian
“ It’s very difficult to make predictions, especially about the future ” reads an adage often attributed to Niels Bohr. I quote it often as a tongue-in-cheek way to commiserate about the difficulties of working in a line of business where attempting to predict the future is a daily task (I run an AI company).
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