AI Is Not Inevitable
10 days ago
- #AI
- #philosophy
- #technology
- Jacques Ellul's concept of 'technique' is about reducing activity to efficient means for a defined end, dominant in modernity.
- Ellul believed technique was inevitable and all-consuming, contrasting with arts and crafts movements that focus on craftsmanship.
- Andrew Feenberg offers a hopeful view that technology can be democratized by injecting human values, unlike Ellul's fatalism.
- Historical example: 19th-century factory efficiency was tempered by unions and laws enforcing child labor laws and safety standards.
- Feenberg suggests three ways to push back against 'technique': redefining efficiency, subversive rationalization, and integrating primary and secondary instrumentalization.
- Redefining efficiency: Donald Knuth's literate programming prioritizes human understanding over speed, a model Feenberg would apply to AI.
- Subversive rationalization: Users repurposed France's Minitel from bureaucratic efficiency to a social communication tool, showing how to misuse technology creatively.
- Primary vs. secondary instrumentalization: Feenberg advocates integrating social, aesthetic, and ethical contexts into technical designs to overcome 'technique.'
- Rejecting nostalgia and 'software arts and crafts' alone is insufficient; embedding human values into technology is key to shaping the future.