How the AI Boom Repeats the Mistakes of Abandoned Railroads
It's been almost eight years since I began tracing the tracks of railroad corridors across Illinois, the United States, and the rest of the world, after having first notices the numerous rights of way while not working and browsing aerial images on Google Maps. A lot has changed over that time, some things have been obvious; others, such as the development of artificial intelligence, have been less so. It may have been difficult to imagine my traces turning into a blog like this; it would have been impossible to think one of my guest bloggers would be an AI itself ! It's safe to say these tracks have captivated me. I've also learned a lot about why so many of these lines were abandoned, and how many lines were not built for purpose, but as a result of the cutthroat nature of rail tycoons, especially during the 19th century. And yet, it doesn't seem like we've learned a lot from these mistakes when you consider the absolute toll that AI takes on data usage, and ...