Pandaemonium 1660-1886

I’m bringing this one into the library with a twist. First of all, I just bought it and have yet to read it, but I’ll tell you why I think it’s important in a bit. Secondly, it’s only affordable on Kindle because it’s an old book and the used versions cost a lot. So, if you can’t do Kindle you’re out of luck.

Now, here’s why I bought it. There’s a really good article in the September issue of The Atlantic, Inside the Revolution at OpenAI. It’s scary and fascinating all at the same time. The article’s author, Ross Anderson, interviews Sam Altman, the 38-year-old CEO of OpenAI. That’s right. 38. This is one of the books in Altman’s collection of works on various technological revolutions. and the one in questions was a doozy. Imagine a world with no steam engines then here they come. That’s what’s happening to us with AI.

So, it seems a good idea to see how previous generations felt about such a seismic shift. And if you think you’re immune, forget it. There’s a paper by a Princeton professor that maps the jobs most likely to be affected— management analysts, lawyers, professors, teachers, judges, financial advisers, real-estate brokers, loan officers, psychologists, and human-resources and public-relations professionals. They all require human abilities, such as written comprehension, deductive reasoning, fluency of ideas, and perceptual speed. Areas where AI is likely to excel. So, when we’re done reading, let’s have a discussion. This could be fun.