The History of Technology - Part Two

Excerpt from MY CONVERSATIONS WITH AI: 100 Questions by Tadia Rice

The History of Technology Part Two

Although artificial Intelligence (AI) is the basis for a twenty-first-century technological revolution, our African ancestors can claim the roots of technology advancement.? West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa all provide critical evidence that about 3 million years ago our Paleolithic Stone Age progenitors created technological developments of major importance – simple stone choppers and pounders.? More advances would follow with great empires like the Kingdom of Kush that moved technology forward with its gold mines and agriculture. By 700 BC Ancient Greek poets?Homer and Hesiod termed a spoken word for manual craft or cunning skill as tekhnologia (a combination of the Greek words 'tékhnē' meaning 'craft, art' and '-λογ?α' meaning 'study').? By the early 20th century the term referenced a range of means, processes, and ideas, along with tools and machines.? Today, Encyclop?dia Britannica defines technology as, “the means or activity by which man seeks to change or manipulate his environment.”

I asked several AI chatbots to define technology.

ANSWER Claude 3.5 Sonnet: The practical application of scientific knowledge to solve problems or achieve specific goals. It encompasses a wide range of tools, methods, and systems created by humans to make tasks easier, more efficient, or possible.

ANSWER Microsoft Copilot: Technology?refers to the?practical application of knowledge, especially in specific areas like engineering or medicine.?It encompasses both tangible tools (such as machines) and intangible ones (like software).? Essentially, technology involves using scientific understanding to achieve practical goals in a reproducible way.

ANSWER Chat GPT: Technology refers to the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. It encompasses a wide range of techniques, tools, systems, and methods used to solve problems or achieve goals. Technology often involves the development and use of devices, machines, and processes that are powered by energy and have a specific purpose, such as communication, transportation, manufacturing, and more. It evolves continuously as new discoveries are made and innovations are developed to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and convenience in various aspects of human life.

?Similar but different.

Read more next week when I discuss the development of anthropomorphic AI