Tools that run tools

I know an old lady who swallowed a fly

As hominids evolved, our feet, legs and bodies adapted for walking upright.

Arms, hands, fingers and thumbs were freed to manipulate the world.

We chipped flint, sharpened it. With tools we extended our fingers and thumbs.

We combined tools with handles. Then we built machines. Then computers.

At each stage we gained power, speed, efficiency.

Our tools became complex systems.

The gap between our hands and the work surface grew.

The catastrophic potential of errors increased.

Now AI controls computers which orchestrate machines to operate tools that manipulate the world. And we just tell it what to do.

I don’t have a conclusion. Maybe go make something with your hands?

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This post was inspired by a chapter in Edward Tenner’s fantastic book Why Things Bite Back: Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. I first read this book over 25 years ago, and have returned to it often since.