4 posts tagged with "History"

In 2019, Richard Sutton, one of the pioneers of reinforcement learning, wrote a short but impactful essay titled "The Bitter Lesson". The core argument is simple: history has repeatedly shown that leveraging more computation trumps human-designed domain knowledge in AI. Despite decades of attempts to encode expert rules and handcrafted heuristics into AI systems, raw computational power combined with scalable methods has consistently outperformed these approaches over time.

In 2007, Marc Andreessen—a pioneer of the early internet and creator of Mosaic—shared his thoughts on internet platforms in an article titled Three Kinds of Platforms You Meet on the Internet. He categorized platforms into three distinct levels based on their functionality and the opportunities they offered developers. As we explore these categories, we’ll also examine how the landscape has evolved and consider how Andreessen might frame his ideas today in light of technological advancements and platform economics.

History, as Will and Ariel Durant present it, is far more than a series of dates, events, and biographies. It is a living, breathing force that shapes societies, cultures, and civilizations. In their profound and concise book, The Lessons of History, the Durants distill decades of historical study into a philosophical examination of humanity's patterns, struggles, and achievements. This exploration provides timeless insights into the human condition and serves as a compass for navigating our present and future.

So, I recently got my hands on M. Mitchell Waldrop's Dream Machine, and let me tell you, it's one heck of a ride through computing history. This book doesn't just talk about the past—it dives deep into the collaborative efforts, ethical dilemmas, and the sheer brilliance that have shaped the digital world we live in today.