12 BYTES

12 BYTES, How We Got Here, Where We Might Go Next, by Jeanette Winterson, Grove Atlantic 2023

The Loom With A View

    ...the next 25 years will take us into a world where intelligent machines and non-embodied AI are as much a part of everyday life as humans are.  Many of the separate strings we are developing now - the Internet of Things, blockchain, genomics, 3D printing, VR, smart homes, smart fabrics, smart implants, driverless cars, voice-activated AI         assistants -  will work together.  Google calls it ambient computing:  :  it's all around you.  Its inside you.  This future isn't about tools or operating systems; the future is about co-operating systems.  Jeanette Winterson

And you thought we had AI all figured out!  At least for manufacturing!  Ha!

Here is author Jeanette Winterson's wild and crazy take on a new "science" that turns out to be pretty scary all around!  Huhh, not sure that's what Babbage intended when he came out with this new brain.  Not unlike what happened with nuclear power - sure we had dreams of the atom paving the way for endless cheap and clean electricity sources - but look where that really took us.  And digital communications via a clunky cell phone were supposed to bring faster worldwide service, no switchboard operators or party lines - which it  did - but along the way we seem to be forgetting how to read and write by hand, as well as function and communicate socially in person.  Hmmmm.  Not exactly what we thought these marvels would bring us.  ..

So now Winterson takes on AI, along with other essay topics she loves - the machine age, the feminine, death, technology.  I sense that she sees the silent merge of human with Artificial Intelligence as machines develop independent thinking and their own institutions!  In her essay "The Future Isn't Female" she reminds us of the difficulty various women pioneers encounter when they beat male competitors - "Ada Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer, was seen as a fluke," as were numerous others.  

I can only say that this book, composed of related essays, is like nothing else I've read in the past five years.   ZONE ONE: The Past is a wonderful summary of the machines and innovators, known and not so well known, that got us here.  ZONE TWO:  What's Your Superpower?  challenges our beliefs around the universe and human life.  ZONE THREE:  Sex and Other Stories, is funny scary - you might want to hit this one first!  ZONE FOUR:  The Future gets pretty detailed.  Since we aren't, as Winterson tells us, very far from The Next Big Change, The Future, she presents it in great detail, not as much fun as her earlier essays, but important to get it all down.  And finally, must mention that there are photos, historic and entertaining photos, like SPOT my favorite robot dog from Boston Dynamics, as well as Eniac and female programming pioneers in this book, also a detailed Bibliography for further reference (although no Index).   Love the cover! 

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Patricia E. Moody

FORTUNE magazine  "Pioneering Woman in Mfg" 

IndustryWeek IdeaXchange Xpert

A Mill Girl at Blue Heron Journal, on-line resource for business thought-leaders and decision-makers,  patriciaemoody@gmail.com