Machines Who Write [Think Piece]

In 1936, Alan Turing remarked that "computing is normally done by writing certain symbols on paper." Although computing was then the prerogative of human computers, Turing imagined that machines might calculate by writing as well. Turing intended for this notional machine to be analogous to human computers who calculated by writing and manipulating symbols, relying on paper to augment their memories. But to what extent is Turing\´s machine actually writing and reading like a human computer? Recent scholarship in the history of mathematics has argued that mathematical thinking and practice are inextricably entwined with the historical development of different cultures and systems of writing. Looking at computer writing as writing directs historical attention away from abstract formal representations of hardware and software and toward the materiality of data--how it is inscribed and configured within specific digital media.