Here’s what we’ve been pondering throughout the month of October, in preparation for the big November reveal:
- Are robots catching us entirely unawares?
- Should we necessarily believe all the data we see?
Book Department
Gods and Robots:
Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology
by Adrienne Mayor
Princeton University Press, 2018
If there is one lesson history has taught us, it’s that our ancestors had already thought of–and invented–almost everything. Not convinced? Then read this book by Adrienne Mayor, research scholar in Classics and the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology Program at Stanford. She tells the story of how the Ancient Greeks approached artificial (augmented) life creatively, artistically, and even practically.
It all started with Talos, the powerful moving statue with veins filled with ichor (a.k.a. the blood of gods); then, history moved on to Daedalus, great architect, sculptor, and inventor, best known for being the builder of the famous Minotaur labyrinth in Crete. Enter Prometheus, who stole fire from the gods to give it to mankind, and Hephaestus, God of Fire, who fabricated wondrous automata in the shape of human beings with special abilities.
A boring book? No. A sobering story? Of course: this book is AI mythology on steroids. And the necessary conclusion is: Some of today’s most advanced innovations in robotics and AI were foreshadowed in ancient myth. If you prefer to listen, here is Adrienne Mayor herself telling the story.
Sci-fi aficionados might want to complement this read with movie classics like Metropolis, Jason and the Argonauts, and the magnificent Blade Runner.
The Data Detective:
Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics
by Tim Harford
Penguin Putnam Inc, 2022
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.” Whether it was Mark Twain or Benjamin Disraeli who said it, the important question remains: Does it really mean that numbers are deceiving and subject to personal interpretation? Enter economist Tim Harford, who wrote the “Dear Economist” the Financial Times eponymous column (2003 to 2011), in which he applied economic theory to solve readers’ problems.
Harford’s new book is a great guide to follow when we need to process information in the form of numbers. He explains the importance of recognizing the role of our own emotions when it comes to data consumption–and our need to be curious about the backstory of any data we reference.
“Good statistics are not smoke and mirrors; in fact, they help us see more clearly. Good statistics are like a telescope for an astronomer, a microscope for a bacteriologist, or an X-ray for a radiologist,” states Harford.
He wants us to ponder the fact that transparency–especially when it comes to big-data sources–is essential to understanding what may be missing from that data. We should learn to look for comparison and context; dig behind the figures and their origin; ask ourselves what–and who–is missing from the data we see. And how does that missing info impact our conclusions?
The book contains 10 essential and easy-to-follow rules, and in total, it makes for a fun and engrossing read, even if you’re numerically challenged.
Complement this read with Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz–a book that should really be considered a classic.
Some videos to go with all this: Tim Harford’s Ten Rules for Thinking Differently about Numbers and Seth Stephens-Davidowitz’s The Secrets in Our Google Searches