Data scientist Arvind Narayanan: incremental tech progress is underrated, stacked AI advances will transform life
random_walker · x · 2026-08-20
Prominent data scientist Arvind Narayanan endorsed an insight: people say each new phone generation is like the old one, yet refuse to use 3+ generation-old phones — humans are frogs in boiling water, terrible at accounting for incremental change.\n\nHe adds: why does this vision seem banal? Stack 10–20 advances like self-driving and medical breakthroughs, and life will feel unrecognizably different within decades. This has happened consistently for centuries. The real problem: gradual technological progress is out of fashion in the West, and no longer constitutes a positive vision.
Related event: Scholars Argue Incremental Technological Progress Is Undervalued(2 posts)→
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