Odysseus. What a curious name for a lunar lander. I get that odysseys are a spacecraft’s stock-in-trade, but Odysseus is famously known for getting lost on his way back to Ithaca from Troy, and needing 10 years to make it home.
But this post isn’t about the gods tampering with Odysseus’ GPS.
As we increasingly despair over AI encroaching on the careers we ply, Thursday’s moon landing fills me with hope about the future of work.
I value technology, progress, and that we are meant to continually strive to reach for the stars. Yet we cannot live by technology alone, and conversely, it seems technology, AI or otherwise, cannot live up to its intended potential without the intercession of human creativity, resilience, inspiration and resourcefulness. Without humankind to leverage it, technology is but an empty, soulless vessel.
That we touched down on the moon this past Thursday was newsworthy. Then you remember this is something we used to do with some regularity over a half-century ago, and do it better with Apollo missions that were actually manned, and more amazingly still, controlled by computers a lot less powerful than today’s smartphones.
It’s a humbling realization, and strangely, a small step in the right direction.