We Measure AI by What It Replaces — Engelbart's Augmentation Lens Matters More
Admirable_Wasabi_732 · reddit · 2026-09-11
The author argues AI progress is framed almost exclusively around replacement, ignoring the other question: what can humans now do that they couldn't before?
- Invokes Douglas Engelbart's 1962 "Augmenting Human Intellect": the unit of improvement is human + tools + methods + training, not the machine alone.
- Uses chess as the case study: Deep Blue beating Kasparov anchored the replacement narrative, but Advanced Chess reframed it as human vs human+machine.
- AI is singular in that one technology can amplify reasoning, memory, learning, perception, creativity, communication and action at once.
- Current benchmarks measure machine capability; the author calls for an equally serious way to measure human capability gained via AI access, and asks for real examples.
Related event: Rethinking AI Metrics: Measure Human Augmentation, Not Just Replacement(2 posts)→
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