The early gasoline tractors of the 1900s were behemoths, patterned after the giant steam plows that preceded them. They were useful for plowing, harrowing, and belt work but not for cultivating fields of growing crops nor powering farm equipment in tow. Innovative efforts between 1910 and 1940 vastly improved the machine’s versatility and reduced its size, making it suited to a wider range of farms and tasks. …
...the revolutionary McCormick-Deering Farmall (1924) was the first general-purpose tractor capable of cultivating amongst growing row crops. The latter machine was also among the first to incorporate a power-takeoff, enabling it to transfer power directly to implements under tow. A host of allied innovations such as improved air and oil filters, stronger implements, pneumatic tires, and the Ferguson three-point hitch and hydraulic system greatly increased the tractor’s life span and usefulness. Seemingly small changes often yielded enormous returns in terms of cost, durability, and performance. As an example, rubber tires reduced vibrations thereby extending machine life, enhanced the tractor’s usefulness in hauling (a task previously done by horses)… The greater mobility afforded by rubber tires also allowed farmers to use a tractor on widely separated fields.
The broader point is that, analogously, AI is only a suitable substitute for humans in narrow tasks today. But that should not be taken to preclude the possibility of total replacement later (except where, like with horse racing, literal humans are explicitly required).
Check out the Olmstead-Rhode paper cited in footnote 14. That was my main source for such specifics. I only have a minute at the moment or I would look myself and offer a better answer—I hope to come back to this. (My recollection is that they initially had hard tires and were difficult to maneuver?)
Can you say any more about this point?
Here’s Olmstead and Rhode:
The broader point is that, analogously, AI is only a suitable substitute for humans in narrow tasks today. But that should not be taken to preclude the possibility of total replacement later (except where, like with horse racing, literal humans are explicitly required).
Check out the Olmstead-Rhode paper cited in footnote 14. That was my main source for such specifics. I only have a minute at the moment or I would look myself and offer a better answer—I hope to come back to this. (My recollection is that they initially had hard tires and were difficult to maneuver?)