Throughout history, humans have tried to find ways to transmit knowledge across generations. The evolution of the technologies used for knowledge transfer started with cave paintings and has now reached the era of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. In this blog post, we will journey through the history of knowledge transfer and see how it has evolved over time.
Cave Painting Revolution
Hundreds of thousands of years ago
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, cave paintings were used to communicate information between generations. Humans discovered a way to transmit information that could be used collaboratively. Each time a person was born, they looked at the paintings and inferred what knowledge had been discovered before them. This way, they could build on top of it instead of wasting time rediscovering everything again. However, these paintings were subjective, and each person had to learn most of it through experience.
Human Writing Revolution
Thousands of years ago
With the invention of the tablet writing system, humans could now communicate in a more objective language. They could teach their children to interpret this language and pass the information along without as much subjectiveness. The writing was supported by stories from the younger to the older around the fire. However, not everyone could access it; each tribe or civilization built its own language and stories in silos. This led to the rediscovery of concepts over and over again. Tacit knowledge, which is the kind of knowledge that is only cemented in your brain through experience, dies after each generation passes away.
Printing Press Revolution and Manuscripts
Hundreds of years ago
The invention of the printing press made writing easier and allowed the distribution of information to become more widespread. People could now access books and newspapers or research archives to learn about knowledge discovered before them. Each time a person was born, they could look at these sources and infer what knowledge had been discovered before them. However, the languages were different, so new generations still rediscovered knowledge through experience and siloed in their own civilization with their own language.
World Wide Web Revolution
Dozens of years ago
The world wide web allowed people to share information in a structured manner with people worldwide, contributing to translation and content building. Books were digitized, and the modern web with media, pictures, audio and video allowed a deeper understanding of the information conveyed. Each time a person was born, they could access the web and online research archives to infer what knowledge had been discovered before them. However, there was still too much information, and Tacit's Knowledge was still very hard to convey in words. Moreover, information was being rediscovered by new generations through experience and siloed in their own domains of work.
Search Engine Revolution
Years Ago
Search engines were invented to help people translate, search, and optimize for the relevance of information. With basic AI, systems were doing the research work for us, and through many other techniques, optimizing for the relevance of information. Each time a person was born, they could look at search engines to find sources and infer what knowledge had been discovered before them. However, Tacit's Knowledge was still very hard to convey in words, and there was too much information, making research in a domain and cross-domain innovation very difficult.
AI Revolution
Months Ago
With the invention of AI systems such as ChatGPT, search engines have evolved to be more intelligent. AI systems can understand natural language and provide personalized answers to specific questions. They can also provide insights and analysis beyond simple searches, making it easier for humans to access the right knowledge. Each time a person is born, they can access AI systems throughout their lifetime to get the right information and build on top of it by feeding new human-generated information.
So what?
In the beginning, it used to take hundreds of thousands of years for a significant revolution in knowledge transmission across generations. Today it takes months.
Embrace the incredible moment we’re living in — the evolution of knowledge transfer has been a long and winding road, but from cave paintings to AI systems, we’ve discovered new ways to share information and pass it on through generations.
Each revolution has unlocked new possibilities and made the impossible possible. It’s a testament to our ingenuity and insatiable thirst for knowledge. The next step is to unlock the possibilities within one's Tacit Knowledge and how it can feed into better educational materials, but that's a subject for another post.
Let’s celebrate this moment and continue pushing the boundaries of what’s possible — the future is brighter than ever!
What an incredible moment to be alive!
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