Computers, musical notation and the externalisation of knowledge
towards a comparative study in the history of information technology
pp. 101-125
in: Massimo Negrotti (ed), Understanding the artificial, Berlin, Springer, 1991Abstract
It's easy enough to state that computer technology has an important impact on our society and culture and that what we have seen so far is only the beginning. It's also easy to describe countless examples of computerisation of various private and public work processes. However, it is very difficult to give an account of what is happening from a more comprehensive perspective. The social sciences lack concepts and theories for understanding and describing this kind of cultural change. So, what's happening? Are we witnessing a cultural revolution or just a limited technological change? Is computerisation a historically unique phenomenon, or is it just a new form of something we have experienced before? In what sense is "artificial" intelligence (AI) a manifestation or expression of "natural" intelligence?