Science & Technology / Technology & Society / Tech Ethics & Impact

Why AI is Dragging Us Back to the 16th Century

Towards a Digital Epistemology

Jonas Ingvarsson

We live in a frictionless digital world, yet sales of vinyl records, mechanical typewriters, and heavy physical books are exploding. Why? The common assumption is simple: it feels like a rebellion against cold algorithms. But that is completely wrong. In this breakdown, we explore groundbreaking insights from Swedish scholar Jonas Ingvarsson, based at the University of Gothenburg, and his visionary book Towards a Digital Epistemology. Ingvarsson argues that our modern obsession with analog touch is not resistance—it is the direct product of the digital lens. The book rethinks the intersection of technology, humanities, and media archaeology, revealing that cutting-edge algorithms are not catapulting us into a sterile sci-fi future, but pulling us straight back into the 16th-century Renaissance. From Marshall McLuhan’s rearview mirror effect to why your TikTok feed operates exactly like an Elizabethan Cabinet of Curiosities, this presentation unpacks why our 19th-century educational models are broken and how digital culture makes physical reality visible again. Stop treating algorithms like black-box witchcraft and discover why the ultimate digital revolution requires you to embrace the messy, tactile power of the material world.