What makes a mechanism is the separation and extension of separate parts of our body as hand, arm, feet, in pen, hammer, wheel. And the mechanization of a task is done by segmentation of each part of an action in a series of uniform, repeatable, and movable parts. The exact opposite characterizes cybernation (or automation), which has been described as a way of thinking, as much as a way of doing. Instead of being concerned with separate machines, cybernation looks at the production problem as an integrated system of information handling.
Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man
While the business world remained skeptical of the AI, the field continued to enjoy its adoption by different sectors by focusing on specific industry-oriented problems. The AI scientists may have failed fulfilling the promise of human-like intelligence from the 1960s, but aided with increasing computer power and more scientific rigour, they started to work closely with their industry partners in the shadows.
As personal and business computing became more widespread, servers around the world started to accumulate an overwhelming amount of data. Deemed too large and/or complex to navigate with traditional means, such respositories of information were called "big data," and other industry players began to think about how they can be used for competitive advantage. Below are some of the reading materials that convey the spirit of this era.
Robots and the Illusion of Free Will
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg7Oq4suH_E
"Conversation with Judea Pearl, Rumelhart Prize Winner. Judea Pearl is a professor of computer science and the director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory at UCLA. He is known internationally for his contributions to artificial intelligence, human reasoning and philosophy of science."
Behind Artificial Intelligence, a Squadron of Bright Real People
https://archive.md/adqED
"What the legendary matches between supercomputer Deep Blue and chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov reveal about today’s artificial intelligence and machine learning fears."
Big Data: The Management Revolution
https://archive.md/ztdMp
"'You can’t manage what you don’t measure.' There’s much wisdom in that saying, which has been attributed to both W. Edwards Deming and Peter Drucker, and it explains why the recent explosion of digital data is so important."