Norbert Wiener’s Understated Legacy in the Age of AI
Norbert Wiener’s work had a lasting influence on AI research, but unfortunately, it is less known to the general public.
Norbert Wiener was a mathematician and philosopher who made several significant contributions to the development of artificial intelligence. In the 1940s and 1950s, Wiener was one of the leading figures in cybernetics, studying the similarities between biological and mechanical systems.
Wiener’s most crucial contribution to artificial intelligence was the development of cybernetics*, which created some of the theoretical foundations of modern artificial intelligence. Cybernetics dealt with the control and communication of machines and living organisms and was an interdisciplinary field that drew on insights from mathematics, engineering, biology, and psychology.
As Wiener astutely observed,
“We have changed the world more than we have changed our way of thinking, and the new way of thinking is still partly that of the preceding stage.”
In this, he predicted the trajectory of technology and the human propensity to under-appreciate the frameworks that fundamentally reshape our existence.
Wiener’s work on cybernetics was based on the idea that machines and living organisms can be viewed as information-processing systems that rely on feedback and control mechanisms to remain stable and adapt to changing conditions.
Norbert Wiener’s work on cybernetics and feedback laid some theoretical foundations for artificial intelligence. His insights into the similarities between biological and mechanical systems have significantly influenced its development, and his concepts of feedback and control remain fundamental to the development of modern intelligent machines.
I think Wiener would like this quote:
“Artificial Intelligence is highly interdisciplinary. Therefore, let’s approach it in a multidisciplinary & holistic way.” ~ Murat Durmus (Mindful AI)
Murat
*Cybernetics: Second Edition: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (Amazon)
More thought-provoking thoughts:
Mindful AI: Reflections on Artificial Intelligence
Thought-Provoking Quotes & Reflections on Artificial Intelligence
New Book Release: Beyond the Algorithm: An Attempt to Honor the Human Mind in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Wittgenstein Reloaded)
Deutsche Ausgabe: Jenseits des Algorithmus: Ein Versuch, den menschlichen Geist im Zeitalter der künstlichen Intelligenz zu würdigen (Wittgenstein Reloaded)
