LLMs Aren't Inevitable

The article argues that the claim that large language models and AI are "inevitable" is a thought-terminating cliche that doesn't withstand scrutiny. Author Iris Meredith explains that no technology is truly inevitable in advance, and even technologies that become widely adopted could have taken many different forms; the inevitability of any technology depends on specific social and contextual factors rather than the technology itself. The piece uses historical examples like firearms, wheels, and cannons to demonstrate how a technology's adoption is contingent on particular social, geographical, and political circumstances rather than being predetermined.