A Prehistory of Zoom
Concerns about privacy and pressures regarding the physical appearance of women and their homes contributed to the failure of AT&T’s 1960s Picturephone.
The Love Letter Generator That Foretold ChatGPT
Alan Turing and Christopher Strachey created a ground-breaking computer program that allowed them to express affection vicariously when so doing publicly, as gay men, was criminal.
Generating Electricity…and Uncertainty
As the tobacco and electrical industries demonstrate, US corporations have a history of sowing doubt for profit.
A Computer in Every Kitchen?
The 1969 Honeywell Kitchen Computer is a case study of early computer failures—or is it?
What if AI Operated with Intellectual Humility?
In the race between humans and machines, imagine a future in which everyone and everything wins.
Vacuum Tube Valley
Silicon Valley’s first high-tech enterprise, Federal Telegraph Co., provided communications for naval ships and radio stations at far-flung US imperial bases.
Teaching AI, AKA Artificial Intelligence
AI is everywhere. So naturally, we pulled together a syllabus of stories on the subject. Use these to inspire classroom discussion or educate your grandpa.
The Daguerreotype’s Famous. Why Not the Calotype?
William Henry Fox Talbot’s obsession with protecting his pioneering photographic process doomed his reputation and reduced his legacy to historical footnote.
Game, Saw, Conquered: Nationalism in Indonesian Video Games
Whether in cutscenes or gameplay, multi-player video games can help rewrite history or encourage an investment in national sovereignty.
As Militaries Adopt AI, Hype Becomes a Weapon
Few things provoke quite the same amount of anxiety as the effect AI could have on warfare.