[whiplash451]

Very good point. With one caveat, though. Even though I was not there, I imagine that debates about the wheel were less heated than those we’re having about AI. I think this is because the latter is much more abstract, too close from our own consciousness etc. Wheels never challenged our place in the universe.

[willyxdjazz]

Totally agree with you. It makes me think that the wheel is a tool—technologically simple yet incredibly powerful—that helps humans overcome their limitations. Similarly, predictive inference is also a tool that extends our cognitive capacity by connecting all human knowledge. This tool is built upon other tools, all designed with the fundamental purpose of facilitating and empowering humans. The refinement of these aids is such that sometimes it evokes a mix of awe and a certain unease, due to how closely and powerfully these tools can influence our world and decisions. It is natural for such intensity to generate suspicion because the assistance becomes extremely sophisticated and gives the illusion of something “intelligent.”