A 1960s Farming Study Saw the AI Boom Coming

For every technology that takes off and lasts, like desktops and iPhones, there’s a graveyard of ones that burst onto the scene only to flame out (cue Blackberrys and Segways). The question now is which artificial intelligence tools will cement their place as go-tos for consumers and their shopping and spending habits. A landmark study of Iowa corn farmers published decades before the emergence of ChatGPT , Claude and other AI models provides some clues.