By Futurist Thomas Frey
Every few centuries, humanity invents something so transformative that it fundamentally alters the trajectory of civilization. The printing press didn’t just make books cheaper—it democratized knowledge, enabled the Reformation, sparked the Scientific Revolution, and created the foundation for modern democracy. The airplane didn’t just make travel faster—it compressed the world, enabled global trade at unprecedented scale, and changed warfare forever. The lightbulb didn’t just illuminate darkness—it extended productive hours, enabled 24/7 civilization, and powered the electrification of everything.
Now we’re creating artificial intelligence—non-human intelligence capable of reasoning, learning, creating, and potentially exceeding human cognitive capabilities. The question isn’t whether AI is important. The question is whether it ranks among history’s truly transformative inventions—the ones that divided human civilization into “before” and “after.”
I think it does. In fact, I think AI might be the most significant invention in human history. Here’s why—and why that should terrify and excite us in equal measure.
Continue reading… “Is AI Humanity’s Greatest Invention? Ranking Non-Human Intelligence Against History’s Transformative Breakthroughs”
