For almost 12 years now we have been writing a column series for the journal TechTrends, exploring the intersection of technology, creativity, and learning. Recently, my colleagues and I have been diving deep into generative AI through conversations with scholars like Ethan Mollick and Chris Dede, discussions with school leaders, and analysis of social media conversations.

In this latest piece Nicole Oster, Danah Henriksen and I take a historical view of what we call “cultural technologies” – tools that fundamentally reshape how humans think, create, and communicate. Think of how writing allowed us to preserve knowledge across generations, or how television transformed public discourse into entertainment.

Drawing on thinkers like McLuhan and Postman, we explore how each new cultural technology, from cave paintings to ChatGPT, has profoundly influenced not just how we share information, but how we think and process knowledge. What makes generative AI unique is how it combines multiple characteristics of previous technologies – it’s interactive like social media, generative like writing, and adaptive like human conversation – while adding new capabilities we’re just beginning to understand.

Perhaps most importantly, we argue that navigating this new landscape requires more than just understanding the technology – it requires understanding ourselves. Our tendency to anthropomorphize AI, our cognitive biases, and our “Stone Age minds” all shape how we interact with these powerful new tools.

Complete citation and link to the article below:

Mishra, P., Oster, N., & Henriksen, D. (2024). To Thine Own Mind Be True: Understanding Cultural Technologies, From Cave Walls to ChatGPT. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-024-01011-7