Inventions are never divorced from the problems the inventors were trying to solve. Both inventors and their creations are shaped by their cultures and individual environments. It’s not a surprise that seemingly identical inventions pop up almost simultaneously around the world. The ideas “come to mind” at the same moments in human history, driven by similar cultural pressures and similar problems. Language, agriculture, stone tools, paper, books, calculus, electricity, and even lightbulbs roll over human populations like waves. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. And inventions build on each other — one doesn’t really need agriculture until hunting and gathering becomes unsustainable; one can’t develop metal weapons prior to discovering how to smelt; one doesn’t need writing until the population gets large enough that transactions need to be recorded (yes, the first “stories” were spreadsheets); ); one can’t have lightbulbs until there’s electricity to power them. We live in an age characterized by an accelerated pace of discovery. One can no longer superficially know all there is to know, not to mention mastering it. And, arguably, one of the most civilization-changing discoveries is upon us — artificial intelligence. Whether or not the algorithms we call AIs are truly conscious…

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