Algorithms and the Changing Frontier
58 Pages Posted: 14 Apr 2014 Last revised: 3 Apr 2023
There are 2 versions of this paper
Algorithms and the Changing Frontier
Date Written: April 2014
Abstract
We first summarize the dominant interpretations of the "frontier" in the United States and predecessor colonies over the past 400 years: agricultural (1610s-1880s), industrial (1890s-1930s), scientific (1940s- 1980s), and algorithmic (1990s-present). We describe the difference between the algorithmic frontier and the scientific frontier. We then propose that the recent phenomenon referred to as "globalization" is actually better understood as the progression of the algorithmic frontier, as enabled by standards that in turn have facilitated the interoperability of firm-level production algorithms. We conclude by describing implications of the advance of the algorithmic frontier for scientific discovery and technological innovation.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation