The original AI doomer: Norbert Wiener predicted machine dominance back in 1960
ylecun · x · 2026-09-25
Pessimists Archive revisits Norbert Wiener — the father of cybernetics and AI doomerism half a century before Hinton or Yudkowsky. His 1959 AAAS speech (published 1960 as 'Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation') invoked Samuel Butler's 1860s prediction that machines would out-evolve man, arguing 'complete subservience and complete intelligence do not go together' — the more efficient machines become, the nearer Butler's catastrophe. His warnings made headlines then, much like today's expert concerns. Yann LeCun's retweet frames it as a reminder that panic about AI long predates AI itself.
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