Generative Futures
David Edgerton on Historical Analogies, Technology, and AI
Jun 9, 202650 minS0
<p>David Edgerton is Professor of History at Kings College London. His book Shock of the Old challenged the way we think about innovation, arguing that we systematically overvalue the new and ignore the old (including maintenance). He has also written importantly on the British ‘warfare state’ and his book The Rise and Fall of the British Nation argues Britain became a fundamentally national economy from 1940-1985.</p><p>In this conversation we discussed the uses of history in understanding AI and society, why the word ‘technology’ might mislead more than clarify and what a detailed material understanding of our world mi...
