HOMO TECHNE ot long ago, I wrote an essay about how technology actu- N ally makes us more human. The Atlantic published an excerpt in January of this year, but I also wanted to have a conversa- tion with GPT-4 about the larger essay. This chapter is that discussion. * * * In May 1923, the cover image of Science and Invention mag- azine depicted what it described as “The Automobile of 1973.” Designed for suburbanites traveling into congested cities for work and shopping, the automobile of 1973 is in fact a stream- lined, seven-passenger “Helicopter Automobile,” or, as author Hugo Gernsback shortens it, a “helicar.” With its red metal hull and transparent roof and side panels, the cylindrical helicar looks like a giant Tylenol capsule offer- ing frustrated commuters a time-saving, hassle-free way to bypass urban traffic jams. It lifts off via a retractable propeller. A sleek push-button panel controls its operation. When it’s not in flight, stabilizing gyroscopes allow it to roll down streets on just two wheels. According to Gernsback—who would go on to found the world’s first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories—the helicar 187