How dumb is AI?

TL;DR -- The title may be self-explanatory. Hype has reigned for a while now. Let's correct that. 

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This is the 2nd post of a series and looks at some articles from the recent IEEE Spectrum. First, what is the IEEE? It's the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers, now known by its acronym, which is over 100 years old. An old motto reminded everyone that for all of the technology events of the 20th century, some member of the IEEE was there. That is due to the pervasive influence of power generation and management. With the computer, the tie is even stronger. 

So, the IEEE has had its ups and downs, as does any groups of humans. But, their collection of articles in the Spectrum of October of 2021 was phenomenally on the mark. We will pick a few articles for this post but will look at all of them eventually in our technology focus. The image on the right is from their cover showing a robot (nicely configured) and the headline: Why is AI so dumb? 

Now, AI has been around for more than 1/2 of a century and was almost named as a lark by John McCarthy. It is famous for having generated lots of interest during its life in a cycle of boom and bust. We are currently in a boom where AI is all over. Companies are piling on the heap of people trying to use. We see some success. 

Mostly, though, we can say that it's far from expectation's ideal in terms of real modes of gain. Hence, the interest of the TGS, Inc. Every group needs some focus. We are taking technology in the perspective of people with 400 years of history under their belt. We have already started to look at these long threads of cultural experience and discussing how we need such in today's world. Expect that effort to continue. 

In particular, we can look at historic fact. Genealogists have used the computer from the beginning. Then, we saw the genetic analysis project gain footing and ground. On the other hand, there are many open questions yet unanswered. In fact, they have not even been asked. When you see commercial outfits piling on something, watch out. AI is like that; so, too, can be genealogy efforts; as well, we can look at the whole of the industry, given enough time. 

But, back to the Spectrum. There were several articles, such as the one looking at AI history. There we see that two views predominated: symbolic and connectionist. Of late, the press has favored the latter which got out of bed finally due to increases in computational prowess. We worked in this, hence the interest. Prior to that, the symbolic approach made some headway. IEEE had a brief history. There are more in-depth looks that we can purview. Specifically, the most recent work has been on tying these two approaches together. That is, as smart people have always done, the work will continue, in the spotlight or out of it. 

Unfortunately, the spotlight perturbs things greatly. One might think that turning the damn thing off is how to go, except for those who want to act and play reality rather than do hard science and engineering. So, in that guise, lets look at three of the articles. 

• An Inconvenient Truth About AI - IEEE calls this the third wave. In each one, the advances were noticeable. This time, we saw the AI win games thought to be too difficult for computers. Everywhere almost, we see AI systems handling customer queries for better or for worse. There are other examples of the good and the bad. Briefly, this technology is not ready for big-time replacement of humans and their talents. So, why the hype? This will need discussion. 
• 7 Revealing Ways AIs Fail - Some of the attributes are discussed, such as brittleness, inherent bias, lack of common sense, and failure to handle mathematics as we would expect. In this latest round, huge stacks of data that came from the computer's existence allowed a focus on AI training itself. Some success got people to thinking of autonomous modes which did not really pan out as expected. But, typical to human endeavors, it took a while for the realizations to hit home. We all know the little engine that could. Just how little is the AI engine? Pun. 
• Deep Learning's Diminishing Returns - One ignored factor has been that these new approaches are expensive in several ways. There is the hardware and then the energy. Then, there was the complexity that was latent. Scaling up is not an option. This AI thrust was leveraged by the general economic boost of the past decade. Profligate ways of business became almost the vogue which is not sustainable. As problems of the technology got more visible, the costs and their issues got attention. So, there is 'deep' here; the whole thing is in a morass with no real plan for extrication. The business and social aspects of AI will be an interesting bit of study. Even magic has its price. 

How does this topic relate to the TGS, Inc.? Technology, going forward, will be only more complicated and with troublesome ramifications on people. The U.S.? Has led in technology for a long while. Too, technology involves people across the board. Now, our interest can and will be several. Consider though, the U.S. history over the past 400 years has some meaning and significance, in terms of technology and society. This post looks at one topic of very many from a viewpoint that is not very well known publicly. There is a lack of places to go to find proper information. This is a general problem whose severity is only now becoming known. But, these issues could have been foreseen. Were. Again, our focus is going forward in a mode that lift people out of the various mires, some of which are historic in scope, others are being created every day, some times by technological errors. 

As an aside, something needing attention deals with truth and what it is. We will help with this discussion, especially from a position that takes note of the need for truth engineering. Technology is core to the issues of truth, though the issues have been in human culture for as long as we can recall. The smaller world created by technology is more of an exacerbating influence than that of any type of mitigation.  

Remarks: Modified: 12/03/2021

10/30/2021 -- Add the TL;DR.  

12/03/2021 -- After some research, this seems in order. Will use this to set a basis: Practical issues of AI. 

WWTD?

TL;DR -- What would Thomas do?

 
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At the five year mark, we were reviewing the work done so far, especially with respect to technology's influence on how one works, what one can do, what means are there to present information, and so forth. With 'what?' as the chief component of the query. We gathered some thoughts in this post (WDTT?) which was a copy of WWJD, somewhat. Using Thomas for discussing the old and the new, and for setting some notion of understanding, technology was a proper focus (it touches everything).

We have had a few posts with this theme (latest one, Technology as imperative; search on technology). We have a technology blog which has been lagging of late but will be back in business soon. What does technology deal with?

Think back to Thomas' time and, then, think of today. Huge differences, though we the same people, more or less. As the above look was 'what' which is a common theme, technology demands that we look at 'how' in detail of varying sorts depending upon the mode and role. That is one focus of ours, since we want to contribute to the related spaces in an interesting way. How is this? We'll get to that.

Oh yes, that will bring up 'why?' and similar queries. So, this theme will recur, albeit the technology blog and the our portal will cover the more specific issues. 

Remarks: Modified: 04/05/2025

09/26/2020 -- Add image for the portal (TGSoc.org). 

04/05/2025 -- Add "OpEd" label. Will explain. 

How great?

TL;DR -- We stop to look at the country's grandeur. Technology might provide overlays. None of these can be adequate to an actual visit. But, too, no amount of technology will diminish the grandeur. We have to add, in total, as one ponders the rise on the horizon of those spinning wheels. 

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In the context of culture and technology, we will have lots of information to convey and topics to discuss. In terms of culture, we have 400 years to consider from the view of those here before the arrival of the Europeans and all that happened after from the start until now. In terms of the latter, we have the wide range of domains to explore many of which are represented by academe but a whole lot more are more related to life. 

Just the past two months has seen posts on the 1st Congressional Congress, a modern Gardner descendant who has worked in field biology, something called ChatGPT which will be on the news for a while, and a lot more.  

This post is a pause to reflect. One topic would be about how great is the U.S. Some might think, the American Dream? No. Though, there are many aspects of the topic that will be regularly covered. The U.S. facility for technology? Such as, Artificial Intelligence (AI)? No.  Though, we will use AIn't and expect a downturn of sorts within the next 18 months, if not sooner. We will be more specific. 

No, we are talking the grandeur of the country whose interior took over 100 years to be explored. Then, it was carved up and settled. We have posts on these themes going back to the beginning. And, this focus will continue. Right now, let's just ponder three maps. The first sets the stage. Then, two come from the same site and are representative of the ever-present grandeur plus technology's attempt to control. 

Sterling Carto

From Sterling Carto, this map shows the elevation in color of the U.S. from the low purples (sea level) in the east to the high whites (13K feet), namely the moutainous west One can zoom into regions where rivers are shown which has been a common topic for our posts. 

In this map from Sterling Carto, we can use the lines down the middle to show an almost uniform rise from east to west, starting from the green just west of the Mississippi River through the yellow and red to the brownish. Our post on "U.S. Hills and Valleys" used a similar elevation map to show the 3.6K rise across Kansas. 

Source:GISGeography.com

Now we go to GISGeography whose maps are used world-wide. GIS is technology applied in interesting ways. The site can be used to learn about the subject, sufficient enough to use it for work. Our focus is on the U.S. and its being. We like that technology, such as AI, arises. Yet, the underlying reality ought to have continual respect and appreciation. 

Same theme. We show an elevation map and one with some features side-by-side. In this case, the yellow stream up and down shows the transition required going from, say, New England out to the southwest, say, using the Santa Fe Trail. 

Source:GISGeography.com

See this reference page (What is Geographic Information Systems (GIS)?) which goes into details of mapping and into how the computational systems have evolved to support this. 

We have been computing for some time. It is nice to see the latest advances due to technology changes that came from the efforts of many. No worry. We will go into detail there by addressing the subject from the view of the descendants of Thomas Gardner and others at Cape Ann. Too, though, American memes will be a central theme. But, we have a lot more to cover, as well, All of this from both the family view plus the more general one needed for the scholarship requirements related to our research. 

Remarks: Modified: 02/10/2023

02/10/2023 --

Perspective, a necessity

TL;DR -- Ipswich has been a topic from time to time. It had shipwrights. Of course, different size of vessels were handled. There were no biggies like Boston (MA) or Bath (ME) or Norfolk (VA). Other examples of industry and technology can be used. But, Ipswich led the way to the expansion across the interior that we saw for over a century. We will be looking at that, as after all, New England has a long reach. Ipswich has done well for itself. 

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As technology runs toward the future, we always get to states where we get locked in. We cannot go back. Technology is great, except for when it doesn't work. If the problem is solvable, then we have a glitch and a correction. If the problem is systemic or not resolvable within a reasonable timeframe and costs, we have adjustments rise as imperatives. Learning drives technology; unlearning drives recovery from technology's failures. 

The U.S. is about the best example that we have for several reasons. We have already addressed technology as being our main focus. We have 400 years of data to ponder, in this regard. But, just those pieces of evidence from the past 250 years is worthy of study, too. And, commemorative moments, such as we are having now which will last decades are a time to reflect and learn from the past. We are surely in a different mode than the generation of the recognition of the 300ths. 

Today, we are featuring Ipswich which does not come to bear until later, but it does involve Essex County. Reminder, Cape Ann (Gloucester) has their moments in 2023.  It was from Ipswich that a group went west. Gen. Rufus Putnam (Wikipedia, WikiTree) was one of the leaders of the effort. Let's look at some particulars. 

Historic Ipswich is a website that has been quite a motherlode of information. Of course, we are interested due to the many families in the heritage who had Ipswich connections. For one, Rev John Wise has an interesting bunch of  events in his life that we can learn from. We have been looking at shipbuilding in little Ipswich as well as similar work in the County (see Newbury Essex County MA).

The website has looked at Putnam's effort: Ipswich to Marietta, December 1787. First, they show the result of contention between the States with regard to this unsettled land to the west. We mentioned that in the last post about Family Search and their great support for research. Then, the post has the photo of a plaque that notes the endeavor. What? That got our attention, as we have been looking at the western expansion and its frontier century, including lost generations that plague genealogists who have no imagination. Why say that? These people were. Some were newcomers, true. Many were representative of the long reach of New England. Along with technology (and its specifics), our interest deals with identifying the examples of that reach plus the evidence now of its continuing existence. 

Then, the post looks at an effort in 1937 to redo the trek while documenting the effort. For one thing, they provide the map that gives details of the geography. That was great to see as we have looked at the west and its rivers and its great expanse and the carving that was inevitable. Lots of this was with a focus on St. Louis, the gateway. Putnam kept a journal. There were other reports written. In short, it was a great find that was more special since it involves little Ipswich (influence a huge multiple of its size). 

Now, let's look at perspective. Technology makes people lazy; oh, managers will say that it increases productivity. In terms of the former, heard of AI? It's a huge scam which we will show as we go along. Yes, balancing mathematics with knowledge with respect to culture that the broad history of U.S. allows. After all, we are a nation of immigrants. Luckily, we have two broad scopes, related to the colonial times versus later. Too, we have cultural associations with the old countries, for the most part. The list goes on and on. So, expect this theme to be recurrent. BTW, that which is being touted as AI is merely fancy math being exploited by computational prowess that came via modeling founded on (guess what?) mathematical modeling and the detailed work over the centuries. Yes, we will to touch upon all of that. 

For the time being, we will present the following map with some commentary afterwards. 

This graphic shows a map from the prior post which has one view of the partitioning before the carving that was involved in establishing the States. 

1) deals with the Michigan Territory (again, the prior post) that we just offhandedly dismissed as practice for the carving. Our only excuse was that we were dealing with the broad expanses beyond the Mississippi River, but that was not correctly assumed. We have to step back given that the focus of DAR/SAR is the upcoming 250th of the U.S. Besides, we have to give generations credit. This deals with the fifth and the sixth where the latter is the first of those that were heavily in the lost side of things. 

After all, people moved and did so quickly, once the way was set. Say, thanks to the likes of Daniel Boone and Jedediah Strong Smith. The former was doing his exploration prior to the Revolution. The latter was directly connected with St. Louis and its influence. We will go into that deeply. 

A point to make is this: that trek from Ipswich was difficult. Hence, there were real reasons why it took months. In fact, it was practice for the challenges of going even further which was all the way across the continent. On the right is a modern image with routes and times. Even today, travel is difficult. Try driving diagonally across West Virginia. It's fun; but, don't expect to make record time (except, perhaps, max time which is open). Those mountains run further north. By the time that they would use the Ohio, they had already trekked some distance. 

We will take the time to go into this further, since it does set the stage for later developments out west. 

2)  This view trails the other by only a couple of decades. Missouri, the starting point, was a State in 1821. By then, most of the issues related to the green area had been resolved. But, it was 1804 when Lewis & Clark did their venture from D.C. through St. Louis to the west coast. At that time, mountain men (trappers, explorers) and American Indians were mostly in the area. Except, that had been activity from the west coast in (New Spain), some of which got away from the coast. Too, the northern explorers had been more adventurous than those of New England. Boone in the south went further west than did those up north. Lots to discuss. 

Taking the same approach, notice that we are now in the middle of the country covering only a fraction of the area. Here, the issue is that folks would have followed a similar path down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and then St. Louis and finally the Missouri River west. But, that was on to a starting point. There were several trails. This example uses that which went to Santa Fe in New Spain. One thing to note is that Santa Fe was the terminus of another trail that came up from the south. Too, there were trails out of the east through Texas to consider. 

But, taking that one small portion which involved about four hours of driving now, it took three weeks for a wagon train to cover that area with a daily grind of a few miles. Notice, too, that we are talking the plains portion which is supposedly flat. It isn't. You can still hurt yourself by falling off of a cliff at various places.  

In all of this travelling, rivers were both a barrier and a boon. In these graphics, they are not shown with any clarity, but, even recently, we have seen examples of traffic snarl ups due to bridge damage. One time, we were across the river from where we wanted to go. Okay. There was no ferry. This is a form of technology to note. So, the solution, since we didn't have a helicopter that would pick up the car and deliver us to our destination, was to backtrack to where we could follow a road that went over the river and then get back to where we needed to go which was a stone's throw (well now, as it was broad). 

During the times before bridge technology really advanced, one waited out water. Incidentally, here in the west, there are uncountable number of places where high water will stop traffic. And, in many others, the water comes up to the edge of the road. One hopes that the road engineers did a good job with the base. And, that's not mentioning storms such as we will be seeing with winter setting in. It does not even have to be like the recent dump on Buffalo, NY. A few inches can be catastrophic. 

 Oh yes, real examples. There is a method to that madness. AI and other computer has gone off the rail since a proper basis was lost. Yes indeed. We have seen so many examples of modeling gone wild (like the kids at spring break) due to a lack of grounding which comes about for several reasons. One of these is a lack of respect for the need. Some of that might be generational; a lot of it has to due with the computer being too new for us to really have a grasp of how truth engineering is necessary. Too, what John von Neumann wrought will bitt us until we learn several lessons that have been pending for a long time. 

You know, we are looking at the U.S. and its growth. But, at the same time, the world of thought was changing. There and here. Say, for the latter, Charles Sanders Peirce. But, parallel to the U.S. and its experiences, the world was changing, too. There is not end to that type of analysis. 

Remarks: Modified: 06/08/2023

12/16/2022 -- Rutland VT is hosting the Smithsonian's roving display:  The Smithsonian comes to Rutland. They are reading and discussing McCoullough's book The Pioneers as Rutland is on the pathway west. 

06/08/2023 -- Updated the URL for the Historic Ipswich post. It was originally dated in 2019. The 2022 update removed the older post. One of the technical concerns is that source linked by an URL can disappear or have some other issue, like the information changing drastically. Or, as we might wish not happen, contain undesirable information. In this case, an easy fix. 

Technology as imperative

There are two entries in our Devlog dated yesterday and today that are reminders of a reorg in process. We use that for technical notes along with our technology-focused blog which is moving from WordPress[dot]com to be under the TGSoc[dot]org site. As we do this, we're looking at the main site, too (ThomasGardnerSociety[dot]org). This site started in 2010 under the 'apx' regimen of MicroSoft using their OfficeLive approach which was quite nice. We have documented that move with respect to research and decisions in the context of general technical discussions that pertain to technology and its influences.

TGS site over the years

What the graphic shows is our look over the years as we have improved upon a minimal basis. That is, we did not buy into any of the commercial thrusts. Why? Many reasons. Too, we have watched the state of the art with respect to the Open Source efforts. You know what? We avoided that, to date, but are seeing signs that are encouraging.

What? Say, old, experienced eye versus the over-enthusiasm of the youth. Turns out, my contrary way has not been solitary. I watched a video of a meeting at Google which got my old heart palpitating. The message was right on. Or as I just heard a FBI guy say, two days ago, the more complex something is the more it is prone to being misused. We all know that.

In any case, we have requirements that need to be brought together. The original focus was to cover 100 years of research which is since the time of Dr. Frank. And, to look closely at his and his peers efforts in the entirety. Modern means involve the computer (now? augmentation - we were doing that two and more decades ago). There have been enough mis-starts for us to learn. Too, we can show how to address issues and make steady progress, albeit at times things might seem like they are more in disarray than is actually the case.

Who walks into a newly framed house and sees what the end product will look like? Well, we have the modern gal now (Waco) who shows simulation. Not possible without the computer.

So, we are dealing with more than genealogy. History will be redone with newer looks using all sorts of media. In terms of family trees, it was nice to see 'wiki' applied (WikiTree). But, the NEHGS now has their own method which we will be trying and writing about.

Lots to do. Any help would be appreciated.

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Note: With regard to technology, I went looking for material on the ancestry of Sidney Perley (Sidney's Antiquarian, How close is close? II, Lucie following Sidney, Essex County, South (east and central) Essex County, and more). There was a little on rootsweb (at ancestry). However, WikiTree has a Profile on him. He has colonial New England roots. So, that link represents two types of technology that will be in focus. The first deals with presentation which was print for a long time. Various types of on-line presentation methods have evolved with new ones all of the time. I was pleased to see a good one re-emerge after a little absence. The second technology focus will be genealogy and its related history. We have used WikiTree enough to be impressed by its power and the ease with which an expert can work. One can get out of the mouse or touch mode, for instance. But, other technologies? Well, consider genetics. However, we will see more, perhaps, those dealing with the likes of paleoichnology (see note  07/15/2015) will come to fore sooner than we might expect. In any case, our intent right now is to demonstrate a minimal basis with a few extensions of note. Then, we'll be prepared to talk the future in a mode that is necessary. BTW, the NEHGS now has a tree tool, ancesTREES.

Remarks: Modified: 06/30/2019

06/02/2019 - Profile of Sidney on WikiTree.

06/02/2019 -- Current location of the new site (Technology blog). Formatting is not final. Too, we need to update pointers to the old site (at WordPress[dot]com). One benefit will be no ads. We will need to do tuning and other technical admin work while we try to determine requirements and performance specs.

06/30/2019 -- While looking at the Pageant of Salem from 100 years ago, I was noticing the names and went to search. Of course, WikiTree came up. And, there was a pointer to some material being hosted by TNG which looked interesting. Here is one example (Kloosterman), which keeps a blog dealing with their effort.

To date, mainly

TL;DR -- This post looks at two major themes: origins and technology. There will be others to look at later. The issue of origins came about due to additional digitization of records which is an advance in several technologies. Going forward, technological improvement will be more generally available and useful to the point of being problematic since the matter of complication always lurks.  

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Right now, as we pull Gardner's Beacon, Vol. XIII, No. 1 together, we are looking at themes from this year's work and at major themes from the beginning. We have two huge changes coming. One deals with origins which has been a puzzle. This year we have need information to process which requires that we rework the story. The other category needing attention is our future focus in a world of increasing technology. Of course, the principal portions will deal with family and country. But, there is also culture and the roles of the U.S. Included here will be technology. 

With regard to origins, we applied a rule that we saw early: those here need to focus on U.S. records and do it right; that related to the other side of the big water is the responsibility of those there. With technology now, we can broaden our scope. In fact, we need to in order to fill in the pieces that have puzzled for centuries. Sherborn records have been quite helpful albeit shaking the foundation. Gardner research will step up to helping with the work and related discussions. We have used the WikiTree Magna Carta project as an example. However, ancestry's work on images is to be acknowledged. 

In terms of the second point, we have the colonial times to research, including New Spain: Hernando de Soto, for example. Then, there is the time of the colonies leading up to the Revolution whose remembrance is coming up in 2026 (247th of the U.S.). Along with the development of the country, we can look at education (Harvard and its Leaders, for example). 

After the Revolution, we have subjects like the frontier and lost generations to research. This came up while researching applicant heritages for DAR/SAR. Research now will have heavy computer assistance that will continue to get better over time. Noticable prowess that increases is one piece of evidence, such as we saw the the November of 2022 release of ChatGPT.  

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One of our recent posts has gone up the list of reads to be second overall since the beginning which was back in 2010. We went to look at the numbers by time and confirmed the report. The image shows the first five posts on the list (see the menu area on the right of the blog). The most popular is still about the marriage of Thomas and Margaret (2014). Since then, we have seen the baptism of all of the children come to the fore due to digitization. The second item is this post: A(rtificial) I(ntelligence) researched properly (2021). The occasion was the usual review that we have done with respect to choices along the way with respect to how we handle and manage technology. The thing to note is that the post was over a year before the arrival of ChatGPT. Later, posts cover the topic of the generative approach. We will use the term xNN/LLM as we discuss this further. Then, we have the one from yearend of 2011 where were going back over the activity of the year. The 2013 post (Plus or minus the arrival) was from our research dealing with origins. Turns out that this topic is still on the plate. Then, early on, we looked at Gardners of various types. That was in 2010. Again, this is a recurring theme.  

Remarks: Modified: 08/22/2023

08/22/2023 -- Added image and verbiage about technology, especially AI. 

Current challenge

TL;DR -- We have mentioned technology. The modern world is full of hyped situations, it seems, on a close observation. Somewhat exacerbated by the uncertainties of the times (COVID)? Even prior to the last two years, attention was attracted to claims that were motivated by computer prowess. Companies made choices along that line. There are opinions all around about how technology will influence the future. That will not abate and will be an important of daily decisions and discovery as we go forward. In a sense, it's obligatory to be informed. What does that mean? And, how might 400 years of experience contribute to the necessary reviews and alternative determinations? 

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Autodidacts? Anyone? Or, from another angle, the American experiment? Is its moment now? 

As the story goes, during a period of the plague, Newton spent his time of isolation to play with light beams and to think of falling apples. And, views changed. 

For the past two years, we have been diving into the basis of AI having heard the clamor that seemed non-ceasing. At the same time, we have been assaying the general basis of computing which is the main mode that enables AI's current dancing. But, people are important, too. 

The other day, we watched a video given last spring via Zoom for a conference held by the Stanford Law School on "Future Law." Alan Kay was the speaker. We did a post (Grand Challenge). Alan was at the famous Xerox PARC Lab and invented the Smalltalk language. Too, he has been a professor at California Universities and involved with AI (artificial intelligence). 

We have already pointed to the importance of technology and knowledge going forward. Can a private, small-dimensioned organization contribute to studies and analysis in a manner that brings benefit? That is a discussion that we will be having. In a manner, the plans for the TGS portal run along the lines mentioned by Alan with respect to a research platform. 

Again, with respect to AI needing to respect people, Alan mentioned that the current hype which relates to a particular form of is like the tail doing the wagging. Alan lists a few researchers who are (have been) working in other than the current mode. We could name a lot more. 

Be that as it may, the HBR has been contributing to the discussion for several years now. In 2019, they published a comment by a researcher who suggested that we quit calling every bit of progress AI. Their special issue for Winter 2021 is on the subject of How AI is Changing Work. The topics covered are: Competing with AI; Adopting AI; The future of jobs; Working with machines; Keeping AI from going wrong. For each of these, there is an executive summary. 

Earlier, we had a post titled "How Dumb is AI?" which was courtesy of the IEEE (formerly, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers). IEEE has it fingers in every piece of technology. Earlier, electricity was the focus; now, computation is huge. Recently, we looked at the IEEE.org website and saw no reference to  AI. Today, there was one that pointed to a webinar scheduled for later in January. 

At the same time, another group involved with computing is the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) which as been around about as long as has the computer. Their site has a few more hits on AI but not as many as there were a few months ago. However, their focus is largely research and not commercial exploitation. The ACM has sponsored a special interest group on AI for decades (SIGAI). 

The point of the post deals with technology as a whole of which computing will be a large part which inevitably leads to issues of intelligence, thereby giving life to artificial intelligence. Our next post (Challenges of technology) deals with the growing presence on the web of content which has been increasing since HTTP came on the scene. We looked at this due to the subject relating to our interest in the great interior of the U.S. which was populated over a long century of frontier experience. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/17/2022

01/04/2022 -- Stanford has a group that talks Singularity. We will look at that more closely. Not to be snarky, but to increase the philosophical view. Academia cannot do this. 

01/17/2022 -- Added newer image. 

Gairdner Foundation

TL;DR -- Themes become memes and endure. Technology assists, in ways we do not even think about. But, will. For good or bad, we have to look at matters related to progress and change. Looking back can provide a framework which offers types of insights that we need to hone. With respect to medical research, the Gairdner Awards foundation is an example of successful handling of a particular focus. We will be looking more at that. 

--

We have mentioned this organization a couple of times in the blog but ran into their work almost in the beginning. Early on, we had lots of questions about the name and the families and started to look at All things Gardner. 'Gairdner' is obviously close to 'Gardner' and other variants of the name. This family is from Scotland. What caught out attention, though, was their work in supporting medical research. From the start, we have had research as a focus. Initially, there was a lot to do to fill in what for what we didn't know and are still working that. 

Why? The more we find out, the more questions arise. Too, it is our experience that the U.S. plays an unique role in the world which might be associated with the Americas, in general. So, issues of history, culture, and family will continue to get attention (see post on Culture, History, and Technology). It may not have been apparent, but we see technology, in general, a being of prime importance going forward. 

We have had several post related to the theme of technology. Here are a few: 

• Technology and content
• Favorite site
• Challenges of technology
• Magna carta, technical

Now, getting back to the Gairdner theme, we were on Facebook and saw their hashtag post on Women's History Month. This is an image of the Gairdner Awards FB feed. 

They will be offering awards to women scientists, so we will stay tuned. 

From Streets of Salem: Books for Women's History Month, 2022. 

Remarks: Modified 12/22/2023

03/09/2022 -- Added book list. Of the categories needing attention, a "Magna Carta, technical" sits on the top. Not many make the effort to know: how all of this stuff works?; why it is like it is?; are there other alternatives?; and such. Rolling with the crowd, being controlled by those who can do so, lazing in the aura of gaming with its biochemical impacts, being impinged in unknown ways from the proliferation of material that impacts energy, and more. Research options abound. 

03/25/2022 -- Wikipedia article on the company. Ninety-seven Gairdner Laureates have won the Nobel Prize. ... Collected some information on James Arthur Gairdner (his parents, his service record). 

12/22/2023 -- THE FUTURE OF AI IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, talk at Gairdner Foundation, Oct 25, 2023. 

Arab History Month

TL;DR -- So, following technology and its changes, we will be changing our goals, somewhat. That is long term. Of immediate concern is the new month and its focus for history. Arabic Americans and their contributions will be looked at further during the year. To begin, we will look at the History of Mathematics which discipline is behind all of this technology that we see. 

--

We have been pursuing insight into the lessons from new data. As we said, now we can start to look at origins with some semblance of locations of interest. From the beginning, we followed the adage for Americans to look at their own stuff and leave the Brit stuff for those over there. Technology has changed that considerably which we will be addressing as well. 

Along that line, the emergence of new toys of technology had us doing research which has been a huge time consumer. So, expect that lots of posts will provide an overview of findings, opinions, and positions. 

One thing certain? I'll be writing of AIn't, regularly. Not that there is not machine intelligence. The whole concept of intelligence is open and needs more study. But, we do see behavior that appears to  be consistent with intelligence which is really easily mapped back to semantically tuned databases. That is, technology (lots to discuss there) is the basis. 

We are not dealing with any type of new life form or latent being emerging out of the shadows, not that such will (could) not happen at some point in the future. 

---

National
Arab American
Heritage

So, stepping back to normalcy, we have a month to celebrate as planned for this year (Awareness months). Last month was Women's History Month. 

Right now, we will mainly focus on the mathematical contributions out of the Arabic culture (article from MathTutor at the University of St. Andrews - Scotland). These are tales that need to be told. 

Over the rest of the year, we will look at other aspects of Arabic culture and the U.S. 

---

An example of technology is what can be done now with the web. WikiTree has been our mode for some time. It is there that we saw the report on the children of Thomas and Margaret Gardner being born in Sherborn, Dorset, UK. But, there have been many ongoing projects of this sort. 

One of renown dealt with the Magna Carta which is coming into focus, again, in 2025. One of the team members of the Magna Carta Project on WikiTree, Michael Cayley, is a cousin of Arthur Cayley, who is one of the mathematicians behind some of the newest AIn't methods. 

So, lots to look at there. What would old Arthur think? 

BTW, yes, AIn't is not (ain't) a typo.  

Remarks: Modified: 04/16/2023

04/16/2023 --

King Slayer's Court, redux

TL;DR -- Bosworth and Gardner came up after we had looked at a Welsh family who had purportedly been involved in the battle. We assisted getting the information published in a blog, Gardner's Beacon, and The Gardner Annals. Recently, new information is available which is potentially remarkable in both its content and in its history. In other words, King Slayer's Court has been updated. 

--

Back in the prior decade, we looked at All Things Gardner as we heard from many families and tried to make sense of all of the data. As we worked, we tried to lay down data to serve as milestones and even guideposts, eventually. 

David T. Gardner contacted us about his research on Bosworth. We helped him get organized (31 Dec 2017) for posting to his blog:

• 
  King Slayer's Court (Top 10 Finds) (05/10/2025 - missing URLs removed - search at King Slayer's Court) -- This site has been updated recently to catch up with information flow from research, see "Top 10 Finds To Date: April 15th 2025". The stories about Wyllyam Gardynyr have been within David's family for generations. He took advantage of the emerging technology to dive deeper. The find of Richard III"s body was a boon since it brought attention to the importance of Bosworth as well introduced data that science could help interpret. Richard III was re-interned with ceremony fitting a King. In the meantime, there have been publications about Gardiners and the Tudors. For instance, Douglas Richardson had ventured into the area. I talked to him briefly about the work with David. He was interested. ...

The emergence of what became known as GenAI/LLM occurred in November of 2022. Since then, the world has coped with the introduction and all of the ramifications that are huge. We have paid close attention and see that 2025 has created a split: believer (many are using the technology in daily business - the jury is still out (I say, expect some surprises that were predictable); sceptic (many have reactions that might not be balanced). 

---

Where we stand? Having been involved with advanced computing throughout John's career, he reminds us that the introduction of this new technology was not considered (lengthy discussion). Too, this stuff, at its basis, is emergent from buckets of bits from which we ought not expect intelligence to display itself (that discussion will continue). So, he is not sceptical so much, as cautious, given his experience plus having been trained in the culture (Greco-Roman - classical) that fostered the development of science. One thing that seems to have been introduced along with the scientific ability? Marketing and creative writing took upon themselves the abilities enabled by technology in order to introduce newer, and more powerful, techniques. We have not recovered from that. And, must for a sustainable economy, with computing and technology as important players. That is, there is no fair balance establish between the top-down view of marketing and that necessary bottom-up one of engineering/science. 

---

David reports that he found that Grok (of xAI) allowed image processing which brought up several things formerly missed. OCR is one of the capabilities. It helped determine that a "C" rather a "G" got a lot of data miscategorized. Other means, or reaons, for the material having been ignored need discussion, too. 

After opening that door, Grok was "prompted" to pursue various avenues and report then. Right now, this activity has generated a lot of output which needs to be scrutinized.

The "10 Finds" (above) is an example of some coming overviews which will allow discussion while data gathering and research run along. For us, we will review the activity to date and determine how to proceed. 

This is one type of area that we want to use an "AI" for as well as looking at the multiple layers of code involved with any computational event. These are wide-open areas of research requiring strict scrutiny. 

At the same time, as things go toward the more creative (and there are many reasons that this might be acceptable), we would wish that the GenAI/LLM (or other tool) involved in such activities be identified. Some are calling for all artificial output to be watermarked some way. 

As said, this is a totally new area. 

Remarks: Modified: 05/27/2025

05/10/2025 -- URLs disappeared; removed pointers.  

05/11/2025 -- New work starting; created a Bosworth label. 

05/27/2025 -- David T Gardner discovered that GenAI/LLM led him astray. We will let him tell the tale. Essentially, David's work over the decades has resulted in several documents that suggest more work needs to be done. But, the notions related to his theme of Gardynyr killing Richard III have some merit. That work will continue. The confabulations from technology are another matter that have our interest. 

KATY - western railroad

TL;DR -- We have spent a lot of time during the COVID period researching the western expansion with respect to New England involvement. It was post the Revolution and the 1812 ordeal that things got going. Jumping to the latter part of the frontier century, we look at a town in KS that had one of the largest railroad yards in the country. There we consider the times and the people with a focus on one family whose origins were New England and England before that. As well, lots of research is pending with a growing stack of requests. 

---

We have been looking at the west of the U.S. which is quite huge and complex. When we mention 'west' we are talking the interior which on the east was bounded by the original colonies' western border (which was a dream, many times, going out to the Rockies or further) and the States of the West Coast. Top to bottom is the view, which would mean the Texas Gulf shore up to the border with Canada. Over the past two years, we have many posts related to this theme dealing with areas all over the place. 

So, as the work continues, we will need to have a map that pinpoints the area with which the content of post deals. Also, the next post will be on technology. The west and technology are two of our recurring themes. In the technology sense, details of configuration, many times, can outweigh content. In the internet age, there is a waffle. Of late? Lots and lots of content is copied. 

Another theme would be generations. We have pointed out that the Revolution (the focus of SAR/DAR) was of the fifth generation with the fourth and sixth there. Or the sixth was born in the latter stages of the long war which was shortly followed by the turmoil of 1812. In any case, things settled so that subsequent generations covered the interior with a seemingly unlimited amount of newcomers came on the scene. 

Parsons, KS 1909
photo of postcard
courtesy of Chris Cruz via
You know you are from Parsons when ...
(private FB group)

Anything different than now?

So, a couple of days ago, we saw a photo that was from 1909 and showed a town in southeastern Kansas. A few things stood out. There were a few horseless carriages, but there were lots of carriages. The road was not paved. The town looked western. We will look at one building in the foreground, but the horizon shows a large building and the railroad track sign (cross). This is the photo which is a bird's eye view of old.  

Let's look at the large building first. It was the train station for KATY Railroad (Missouri-Kansas-Texas). Not long after this photo, the building burned down to be superseded by building that lasted until the 1980s. At this time, Parsons was one of the three largest railroad facilities in the U.S. The other two were Los Angeles, CA and Kansas City, which is a Bi-State affair. In the area where we see the railroad crossing on Main Street, the city put in an underpass. A little later, this street had an electric tram running on rails. 

Of interest, too, is that Parsons had a huge rail yard with facilities for repair. Tools for the railroad are huge affairs. Yet, this work was being done prior to the assists by hydraulics. So, technology? Yes, we do have that as a theme from an integrative sense with looks at historical aspects with respect to demands, or causes, for change as well as the issues related to research, development and maintenance, as well as use. 

As an aside, from Wichita, KS which is west of this area, plane builder, Boeing, shipped fuselages by rail to the west coast. The lonely train out in the huge west is almost an iconic scene. As well as the robberies which are one of the features of a lot of westerns. Some fuselage shipping, later, had to be flown in converted planes due to size. So, we do have a hardware focus; expect to hear about and discuss software, too, especially that which now gets lot of attention.  

We mentioned the size of the railroad building. This little town was a major point of transfer. That is, both of goods and passengers. There was a roundabout which was needed back in those days. One sees such with SFO's trolley system. People used to get off and help turn the little thing. 

KATY lines

Another context? Another part of the theme is people and material movement across this wide expanse. We looked at the (stage) coach traffic from St. Louis, MO to San Francisco, CA and provided details about the trip which dipped down into Texas, went across the southern border, and then back up north from LAX to SFO (using the modern parlance). You see, this little post is a continuing look at technology which we can do using the historical modes of the U.S. Before switching gears, let's look at a map of the KATY which is the heavy line. It carried goods and people from the Gulf coast of TX to St. Louis, MO and Omaha, NB and places in-between. 

This is only one example of rail traffic out west. A couple of years ago, while looking at a family history, we saw that one of Ann's uncles was involved in getting a rail line established between Boston and Salem as well as having a similar focus in FL. This was about the same time as the development of the KATY. BTW, John's family was railroad focused, to boot. 

So, let's look at people a little. In this photo, there is a building that has the name, Holcomb. That caught our eye since it is a collateral family. Was this kin? As we have made a point of marking further research needed to identify individuals, many of whom turn out to be kin (examples below). Turns out that the initials are D. H. Before looking at D. H., let's look at technology's future. 

We see this already with apps and such. But, there will be more structure, at some point, so that we have persistence, consistently, through time. On Wikipedia, most locations will have a section that is titled "Notable people" or "From there" or something or other. In the case of Parsons, several names stood out, as well as Holcomb who is not mentioned. Here are a few.  

• William Coffin Coleman - We called him the American tinkerer earlier. We knew that his family had been in southeast Kansas after being in the South. But, his parents were of NY and were on the border with MA. The name Coffin and Coleman? Brings New England to mind, so we have this on our research stack. 
• George Pepperdine - The University? Yes. But, he also started Western Auto. 
• T. Claude Ryan - Aviation enthusiast and entrepreneur. Built the Spirit of St. Louis. 

Based upon our research, we could do this type of thing for any of the locales in the West of the U.S. We already have started with some (say, Grizzly Adams). Technology will help make this more interesting. How many types of media will we have? 

To lift things, we will use Harvard's 400 years to tell stories of the U.S., to boot. 

Now, back to D. H. Holcomb. He is the ninth generation from an immigrant who was an early settler of Windsor, CT. This family put their book (Our Banyan Tree) on the web. David Holcombe (#23766) was born in Ohio in 1850. The family moved further west to IL. The KS Census of 1925 shows that David and his wife had been born in IL. Also, it has his interests to be Real Estate and Insurance which might indicate that he owned the building that had a grocery. David and his wife are in KS according to the 1900, 1910, and 1920 U.S. Census records. 

His great-grandfather, Dr. Jonathan Holcombe, was a Patriot, a young fifer (WikiTree, SAR which points to DAR). And, his daughter, Jesse Holcomb, grew up in Kansas, went to KU, and more (see her bio at Genealogy Trails). She said that his name was David Hartley Holcomb. 

This is cursory as lots more can be researched and written. It is remarkable that we can rely on advances over the past decade to tell fully aspects of stories. Who needs paper? However, having said that, structure is important. We do not live in chaos, ever. For the TGS, Inc., we want to engage in the full coverage related to us and the U.S. and history and more. At the same time, technology requires continual attention. Various aspects of the need are more recognized than others. 'That work is necessary' is a given. 'What work?' is part of the discussions to be had. 

Detailed map
at KU

Remarks: Modified: 01/05/2023

10/28/2021 -- Added a few links. 

12/18/2021 -- 1884 map of Labette County showing the railroads going through Parsons, KS. Besides the KATY, these were the following; 

• Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railway - predecessor of the next one.  
• St. Louis - San Francisco Railway (FRISCO) - now part of the Burlington Northern Railroad. 
• Parsons and Pacific Railroad. 

04/20/2022 -- Added link to the image at KU. 

04/22/2022 -- Added attribution to the 1909 Postcard: courtesy of Chris Cruz via You know you are from Parsons when ... private FB group 

01/05/2023 -- Added link to KDOT map (PDF) that provides historical notes (see 19th Century details). 

Click for detailed 
map from KDOT

In the building owned by Holcomb, there is a sign for Hubbard & Lott. We can research this further, but they did get a mention in The Publisher's Weekly on 23 Sept 1905. 

Wartime Quartet

TL;DR -- WWII gave Oxford (and Cambridge) the opportunity to focus on the women students. We point to four who were known as the Wartime Quartet. The subject? Philosophy. The context? Say, FB to Meta? Is this something of value and what type? Or not? Our focus on technology puts this type of discussion squarely on our table that is 400 years in the making. But more, underlying issues of consciousness and reality are where the issues lie, for many. Not for all. How do we lift this bit (pun) of shambles into some mature, rational framework?

---

One focus that we have deals with all aspects of technology; we are taking up the challenge in a vogue similar to that which the Gairdner Foundation used as they supported research for many years, in biomedical research. And, technology in this sense is much more than the 'T' of STEM. 

Of late, we have been looking at various computational modes that marvel the minds of people and that brings up discussion about consciousness and intelligence using an endless gauntlet of material that accompanies any attempt to adequately consider how technology has not only changed our lives but also can easily be seen to portend troubles in the future. At some past point, science split from philosophy though physics was known once as natural philosophy. Same goes for mathematics which is a core entity (almost foundation in its scope) and which has little room for philosophy. 

Discussions of a necessary nature have been on-going the past century and were there earlier. Take the topic of consciousness, there are loads of opinions that abound with regard to what is involved with this phenomenon with which we are all familiar, but there is no real theory extant, yet. Will there ever be? 

Or, we find ourselves stuck in the mode of demonstrative prowess which has been the most common approach that we have seen. Power orientation arises from this. Granted, technology when it works is great as, again, we all know. When it does not? Oh yes, let's talk that, later. 

And, examples are there, too, say Google's offspring doing things that marvel the like of which when coupled with marketing suggest something like the 'second coming' (this concept is very much part of the worldview associated with how the U.S. came to be). In other words, miraculous events pend (are anticipated) due to perceived (or the expectation of new) potential lurking, waiting around the corner. Yet, is the stuff real? Lots of it is not, unfortunately. We can deal with that. Ought to.  Have to given the state of the web/cloud/internet.  

John will say this (does not apply to robotics which has a different set of dilemmas) with regard to huge portions of what is called machine learning: AIn't can't Kant. This will be one of many memes. Should the reader want to add to the list, let us know. 

Now, again, examples? Take the morph of FB to Meta. This is a very sketchy overview, but FB is a 'soc med' type of system that is about eighteen years old, has billions of users worldwide (those in the U.S. are a small percentage), is there 24/7, has led the way in both good and not-so-good ways (will not talk 'bad' as we really are dealing with science and its responsibility beyond twiddling with quantum bits or dreaming of cosmological takeovers), and a lot more. In 2022, there was a change to have a focus that merges augmented reality, virtual life, 3D modeling of an extreme manner, artificial intelligence (all types), and development of a commonality which bridges all of these silo'ic modes into something integrative, useful, and, perhaps, even of great power for the world and its people. 

Aside, you all know of the crypto bust of late. Also, that approach is hugely expensive and not by any ilk to be considered mature. Yet. It ran and reigned minds. What came from this event of late will be discussed? Seriously, we need viewpoints that encompass the totality as much as we can. Science is disparate in nature, by choice, How can it get back to a healthy state? 

 

Reminder? Philosophy used to be an assistance. It has not gone away. Now, that things have become so murky with respect to who is doing what, why, and 'is it real' are only a small set of a large space of confusion. America (norte) started this stuff. It is this culture that will recognize the consequences and work to make it much better, for everyone. 

Publications of a philosophical nature quote from the older crowd that is familiar, say the Greeks and early Europeans, as well as with the names of those who thought of this stuff all the way down to the 20th century. Even later authors have weighed in. Being that this work has a technical nature, lots of the discussion does deal with mathematics and computer science as well as computer engineering. But, humanities, business and all of those realms? Yes, they are paying attention. 

In fact, one concern is that of late we find business types releasing 'machine learning' models upon the public, usually arguing that it's for their customers' and clients' benefit. Yet, take it from an informed observer, lots of these things are causing even more problems of a nature that is painful to watch. We had a post on this: Why is AI so dumb?  There have been other posts. But, our focus is not just on AIn't. 

 

For one thing, this issue does not deal with trivial subjects, by any means. As we know, there are loads of universities around the world with departments dealing all sorts of topics, and these represent 'knowledge' in some manner. Too, we have humans who can demonstrate expertise of other types that are not of any academic category. In short, humanity consists of almost unbounded talent which we see demonstrated from time to time. 

We, in particular, want to show how the 400 years since the colony started plus the 250 years of the U.S. can be used to establish threads for discussion that help bring technology into a proper light as required by accelerating expansion of technical modes. We are not in a simple world. Never were. But, we came from an older culture. We pick England as an ancestral hub, however the continent comes into play, too. 

Take universities? We wrote of the influence of Cambridge with a minor mention of Oxford. We will flip that in the following paragraphs. This year, we took a closer look at women's history month. One person of note mentioned was Emmy Noether. We will be getting back to her. 

As mentioned, there is active philosophical discussion now about computing, more than seen before. Some are looking at whether we are experiencing a Kuhnian paradigm shift. In this discussions, there was mention of a suggested change to the reading list on the subjects. 

See The women who brought philosophy into everyday life by Dr Clare MacCumhaill and Dr Rachael Wiseman as an example. Four women philosophers, listed below, were added to the list. Another example is the commemoration that the Durham University Philosophy Society did in their journal. 

BTW, the group was called the Wartime Quartet since they were women students at the time when most of the male students were off, involved with WWII particularities. In one of the overview essays, it was noted that the women did not try to outdo each other. Lesson for males? Rather, they tried to get to the bottom of problems and to look at solutions. 

Aside: that's the way in the business world where the owners set the pace; as opposed to the academic milieu's issues (observed many PhDs who worked in both environments). 

This is cursory, again. But, let's start with the names plus a little information about the scholars, especially noting that which applies to our themes with respect to history and technology. 

Mary Midgley --  quote: I do think that in normal times a lot of good female thinking is wasted because it simply doesn't get heard.

Philippa Foot --  granddaughter of U.S. President Grover Cleveland (needless to say, of New England heritage)

 Iris Murdoch -- Irish philosopher and author who studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. 

 G.E.M. Anscombe -- In 2010, philosopher Roger Scruton wrote that Anscombe was "perhaps the last great philosopher writing in English".

 This is more than an advanced post for next year's WHM. This quartet was brought up in a talk about whether we ought to follow Zuckerberg (FB, Meta) to his new environment. In that same discussion, Berkeley and Descartes were discussed. We didn't see Kant, except for some implicit reference. In any case, after reviewing material from the quartet, we are ready to bring them into the discussion as 20th century examples. Albeit Philippa is the only American, but these minds are of the culture that was the foundation of the colonies and the subsequent Nation; and so, this material needs more exposure. 

Oh yes, all along, we have talked about the internet and the new information modes and how they will help us improve the historical look at about any situation over the past 400 years. This is another example of that endless bit of tasks which will be on the plate going forward. 

---

Note: Where I saw the Wartime Quartet referenced. Video lecture from UMass: Should We Plug In To The Metaverse? 

Already, I like Mary due to her interchanges with Dawkins. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/14/2022

12/14/2022 -- 

Challenges of technology

TL;DR -- We have looked at the 400 years. At the 150th timeframe, we split. And, now are at a 250th stop and review time. We have been doing that. Rivers were (and are) important. There are other resources. Somehow, the American dream has become, arrive and start to take. Oh, the older families did? Not really. We can show thousands of families whose contribution has been similar. Oh yes, there have been those who exploited, mainly. Now, technology? Will it help get sustainable versus just add to the inequities? That might be one of the challenges. 

--

Quora got our attention in that their approach does approximate scholarship, somewhat. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, thereby has a constrained view. There are other sites that allow free flowing discussions. The genealogy sites are an example. 

Quora has had many threads on technology include artificial intelligence. Here is an example question that generated lots of viewpoints: 

Why is that with modern technology the US has not diverted surplus water from the Mississippi River to drought devasted California and other western states as was done through Aqueducts by the Romans thousands of years ago?

Most questions are not this long. And, there have been other questions of a similar nature. What got our attention was this map. We have shown many maps the past few years, but this one is related to views that can be formed using modern technology. 

Answer by E. Allwell

Another thing about Quora is its contributors. Erik Painter, native Californian, is an example and has good response to this question to which we provide a link. 

This question, as of today, had 44 answers. Some are quite brief. The two referenced here are thorough and not short. Another thing of the new media is the huge potential readership which can increase the number of views to an answer. Those add up: E. Allwell has over 25M views; Eric Painter has nearly 14M. 

An issue is, how good is an answer? We can assess that partly by looking at other answers by the person. But, the subject matters covered run the gamut. And, this is a phenomenon that goes across the web. We can look at the growth just like we looked at the coverage of the railroad over the interior of the U.S. 

There are automated means that read, parse, and present summaries. This related to AI or other means for handling text. It's never-ending in the sense that we have not seen a quiescence point ever. Not that such could not happen as we saw with airline traffic into the U.S. after 9/11 or even some of the recent flight issues related to decisions about the pandemic. 

Given the growing scope, there must be efforts put toward curating information. And, for the TGS, Inc., our interests cover more than genealogy. Too, the historic connections have been known for some time, hence we see the New England Historic Genealogical Society. One huge topic is culture and its association. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/04/2022

01/04/2022 --