Thursday, May 05, 2016

Augmented Minds (AI: a Rocket for the Mind)

Steve Jobs on Why Computers Are Like a Bicycle for the Mind (1990) – Brain Pickings

Steve Jobs, "Computers are like a bicycle for our minds." - Michael Lawrence Films - YouTube

Bicycle for the Mind - YouTube


How the bicycle beats evolution and why Steve Jobs was so taken with this fact | Bike Boom

“I read a study that measured the efficiency of locomotion for various species on the planet. The condor used the least energy to move a kilometer. And, humans came in with a rather unimpressive showing, about a third of the way down the list. It was not too proud a showing for the crown of creation. So, that didn’t look so good. But, then somebody at Scientific American had the insight to test the efficiency of locomotion for a man on a bicycle. And, a man on a bicycle, a human on a bicycle, blew the condor away, completely off the top of the charts. And that’s what a computer is to me. What a computer is to me is it’s the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with, and it’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
- Steve Jobs


Chart from Scientific American, 1973

What if we extend the metaphor and include other "tools for the mind" humans created?

While a computer is like a bicycle for the mind,
a computer connected to a network is like taking a car vs running,
and when connected to internet that is like taking an airplane,
and with "cloud AI" it becomes like a "rocket for the mind"

The efficiency may not be optimal, but you can get to destinations much faster.



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