Title:
Automated by Silicon: The Labor and Environmental Impacts of AI in Historical Context
Abstract:
Recent debates about AI technologies have centered
around their impacts on both labor (e.g., the devaluing, replacement, or
infringement of creative work) and the environment (e.g., the
substantial energy input required by AI data centers).
Although these might seem like the novel problems of AI in the 2020s,
they are not entirely new. This talk shows how labor automation has
always been a primary motivation for developing computer technology –
while its environmental impacts have always been
an afterthought. Exploring the political ecology of computers from 19th century mechanical calculators, to early 20th century vacuum tube computers, to the silicon computer chip, this talk by historian Adam Quinn
underscores how current
concerns about AI are rooted in a longer history of industrial
capitalism, labor automation, and environmental externalities. Dr. Quinn
is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Science History Institute,
where he is completing a book on the labor and environmental
history of computers.
