A Short Distance Ahead | David Williams | Substack

The Year Was 2012

And performance became persuasive enough to replace understanding

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2010s

The Year Was 2012

And performance became persuasive enough to replace understanding

Jan 19 • David Williams

The Year Was 2011

And scale became the safest form of ambition

Jan 12 • David Williams

The Year Was 2010

And the conditions were set

Dec 22, 2025 • David Williams

A Short Distance Ahead

A Short Distance Ahead

A chronicle of humanity's evolving relationship with artificial minds that each week examines how one singular year's events shaped our digital destiny.

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2000s

The Year Was 2009

And between recessions and predictions a convergence no one noticed was already underway

Dec 1, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2008

And the machines started to think through our fingers

Aug 11, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2007

And we may have begun optimizing for our obsolescence

Aug 4, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2006

And the chrysalis was complete

Jul 29, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2005

And we let go of the wheel

Jul 21, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2004

And we got lost in the digital desert

Jul 7, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2003

And we became the extensions

Jun 30, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2002

And humanity crossed the analog threshold

Jun 23, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2001

And reality breaks us, and becomes computable

Jun 16, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 2000

And we built the blueprint for digital dependency

Jun 9, 2025 • David Williams

1990s

The Year Was 1999

And the great migration began

May 26, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1998

And we slid closer to outsourcing our minds

May 19, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1997

And Intelligence Slipped the Leash

May 12, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1996

And we began to create life

May 5, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1995

And code was becoming commerce while art became code

Apr 17, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1993

And everything was set in motion

Apr 3, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1992

And we witnessed randomness, reason, and a world remade

Mar 25, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1991

And Civilization became a game

Mar 17, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1990

And AI was learning to move

Mar 10, 2025 • David Williams

1980s

The Year Was 1989

And both concrete and conceptual walls came crumbling down

Mar 5, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1988

And another AI winter was upon us

Feb 24, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1987

And rigid systems were starting to crack

Feb 17, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1986

And machines started to show us they could learn from mistakes

Feb 14, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1985

And AI stood at a crossroads between 'rules' and 'learning'

Feb 3, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1984

And it was more like '1984' then we thought

Jan 27, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1983

And the idea of the singularity took shape

Jan 20, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1982

And Marvin Minsky wondered 'Why People Think Computers Can't'

Jan 13, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1981

And the first AI Winter turns to Spring

Jan 6, 2025 • David Williams

The Year Was 1980

And AI had an identity crisis

Dec 30, 2024 • David Williams

1970s

The Year Was 1979

And silence became portable

Dec 23, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1978

And the aliens invaded

Dec 16, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1977

And the force was with us

Dec 9, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1976

And an AI pioneer became a heretic

Dec 2, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1975

And computing power slips through institutional fingers into individual hands

Nov 25, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1974

And AI went cold while authority folded

Nov 18, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1973*

*and we'll get there, but we revisit last week on the way

Nov 11, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1972

And we start to ask: can computers 'play?'

Nov 4, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1971

And the distance between institutions and individuals was about to collapse

Oct 30, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1970

And Future Shock was upon us

Oct 21, 2024 • David Williams

1960s

The Year Was 1969

And the future says "LO"

Oct 14, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1968

And we witness the 'mother of all demos'

Oct 7, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1967

And the medium was the message

Sep 30, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1966

And we are fooled by the illusion of understanding

Sep 23, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1965

And fuzzy logic reigned supreme

Sep 16, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1964

Feedback, Control, and Chaos

Sep 8, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1963

And the irony of progress was palpable

Sep 2, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1962

And The Metal Man Cometh

Aug 25, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1961

And the Thinking Machine Comes to the Small Screen

Aug 18, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1960

And we look back at sci-fi's influence on the dawn of AI

Aug 12, 2024 • David Williams

1950s

The Year Was 1959

And we look back at the origins of modern computing

Aug 4, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1958

AI learns to LISP and Dream

Jul 29, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1957

Let the "Look, Ma, no hands!" era of AI begin

Jul 22, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1956

Two months. Ten men.

Jul 15, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1955

and the universe was conspiring to remind humans that everything was connected

Jul 8, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1954

Alan Turing (1912 - 1954)

Jun 30, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1953

Jun 24, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1952

in 707 words — a 4 minute read

Jun 16, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1951

Jun 10, 2024 • David Williams

The Year Was 1950

A 7 minute read

Jun 3, 2024 • David Williams

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