Michael Horn traces how every new communication technology, from writing to the printing press to video games, sparked panic about ruining our minds. Plato feared writing would destroy memory. Each time, the technology won out anyway. Today's AI and social media will reshape how we learn and connect, but we'll adapt rather than go backward.
Every time a new technology changes how we think or communicate, people panic. Today, it's social media and AI. But here's the thing. We've been here before. Plato worried that the written word would destroy memory. As he quoted Socrates. The church feared the printing press. Critics said radio would make us passive, TV would rot our brains, and video games would make us violent and depressed. Each time there were trade offs, but the there also have been some pretty incredible gains from all those technologies. And each time, regardless of how we felt about it, the disruptive innovation won. So yes, there's no question AI is going to change how we learn, connect, create. But if history is any guide, we will adapt. We just might not know how right now, but chances are we're not going to want to go back.
