Walter Isaacson: Ada Lovelace Answered the Big Questions About AI Back in 1843
lazowska · x · 2026-10-06
Walter Isaacson's NYT opinion piece argues that Ada Lovelace's vision of human-machine partnership remains the right framework for the AI era:
- Historical anchor: In 1843, Lovelace wrote 20,000 words of notes on Babbage's analytical machine, marking the birth of the digital revolution and showing how humans and technology can collaborate to produce beautiful results.
- "Poetical science": The only legitimate child of Lord Byron, she inherited a rebellious artistic spirit tempered by math tutoring. She saw math as a poetic language describing the universe's harmonies, fusing artistic imagination with a fascination for numbers.
- Thesis: As we decide the role of humans in the age of AI, Lovelace's approach to human-machine partnership still offers the right answer.
Isaacson is the author of The Innovators and host of the podcast The Builders. A 10-minute audio version accompanies the piece.
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