S3E36: How Humans Fear Their Own Creations - From Frankenstein to Artificial Intelligence

History Behind News Program

From Gutenberg to Frankenstein to the Luddites to Edison to Ford and to AI - this is our story of fearing human creations, and also our story of embracing the next and newest technology.

Dr. Robert Friedel of the University of Maryland rejects the generally accepted definition of "disruptive technologies" and explains how major innovations changed human history: from Gutdenberg's movable type printing press to artificial intelligence. In this episode, we uncover the history behind the following:

1. How to Define Technology as Disruptive
2. Gutenberg’s Printing Press – How It Changed Everything!
3. Electric Lighting
4. How from the Middle of the 19th Century, people's expectations changed - they began to expect technological changes.
5. The Luddites, who lost jobs to new technology and broke machines in protest.
6. How human culture changed from fear of new technologies to a culture of improvement.
7. From Frankenstein to Artificial Intelligence.
8. How Good Technologies Become Bad

Dr. Friedel is a professor in the Department of History at the University of Maryland. Prior to UMD, he was a historian at the Smithsonian Institution and at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. His research expertise is in technology, science, and environment. He has written several books on the history of technology, focusing largely on the nature of invention. His latest book is a wide-ranging survey of Western Technology since the Middle Ages, and it’s titled - A Culture of Improvement; Technology and the Western Millennium. Artificial Intelligence Threatens Hollywood Jobs This summer, actors and writers in the movie industry went on a massive strike because of their grievances about their compensation, the royalties they receive, and the use of AI – artificial intelligence.

As my podcast guest, Dr. Thomas Doherty explained, this recent strike is similar to the 1960 strike, in that in the 1950s - the years leading up to the big 1960 strike, technology changed everything. Back then, that new technology was TV.

The technology that is threatening Hollywood jobs now is streaming and artificial intelligence.

Prof. Doherty explains how the situation in this strike is much more dire than the one back in 1960. In the past, the new TV technology threatened Hollywood jobs and incomes. With artificial intelligence, however, the studios not only could potentially supplant writers, but they also own the actors' likeness. What that means is that with AI you don't just lose your job, you lose yourself!

Hollywood History podcast: https://bit.ly/HbN-S3E29s.

I hope you enjoy these episodes.

Adel

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