LLMs could have been developed differently with Xiaochang Li

On the origins of natural language processing and how corporations like IBM leaned into predictive algorithms.References and suggested readings:Xiaochang Li. 2026. Divination Engines: Natural Language Processing, Artificial Intelligence, and the Making of Algorithmic Culture. University of Chicago Press.Anil Seth. July 15, 2026. “Once again we are told AI may be conscious – I study consciousness, and I have my doubts.” The Guardian.Paul Kockelman. 2024. Last Words: Large Language Model and the AI Apocalypse. Prickly Paradigm Press.Lief Weatherby. 2025. Language Machines: Cultural AI and the End of Remainder Humanism. University of Minnesota Press.Carlo Ginzburg. 2026. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller, 50th anniversary edition. Johns Hopkins University Press.Kate Crawford. 2022. Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. Yale University Press.Chris Wiggins and Matthew L. Jones. 2024. How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms. W. W. Norton.Christopher Manning and Hinrich Schütze. 2026. Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing. MIT Press.Danial Jurafsky and James Martin. 2026. Speech and Language Processing.Xiaochang Li’s faculty page and @[email protected] the show here!Support the showBrowse the American Campus bookshelf