Trailblazers make the leap from our current reality to a new, improved one, by finding a logical and effective way to implement a new technology. However, to what extent should trailblazing be encouraged-- especially if it is at the cost of the greater good of society. For instance- the development of nuclear super-weapons, or even advancements in AI and other technology-- at what point will we eventually trail blaze and create new innovations to the point where we harm humanity?

Bush suggests here that data manipulation and computation is inherently lacking in human creativity. Although data gathering and data processing selection both do require some form of decision-making and creative thinking, Bush states that anything repetitive in nature does not require much thought. This is interesting because most modern computation and data processing is automated by AI and ML algorithms. How much human creativity are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of automation and simplification?

This is especially relevant now with how search engines have simplified the research process for many of us. Most of us now consult online libraries rather than going in-person ourselves to seek out the physical copies. The few 'nibblers' are likely scholars and highly specialized individuals who need additional, reliable and scholarly sources not necessarily found on the Internet.

I think an interesting point is raised here. Nowadays, devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones are produced at a fraction of the cost they used to be worth. Moreover, advancements in AI make it significantly easier to mass produce new tools and products to make the human daily experience much more simplified. However, many of these 'cheap complex devices' are easy to produce and create due to none of the technology they use being 'new'. Take the iPhone for instance-- over the past few years, aside from the operating system itself, there have been no major advancements in how the phone operates.

I found this particularly interesting especially considering to the 'AI revolution' of sorts we are experiencing today. With tools such as ChatGPT, one may argue that our 'powers of the mind' will begin to decrease provided that we will become tempted to turn to this tool (and others) to do our work for us. Innovation continues to extend our physical rather than intellectual capabilities.