From University to Artificial Intelligence: How the Invention Generator Accelerated

The article explores the evolution of the Western scientific and technical system, viewing it as a mechanism that continuously expands the space of possible innovations. The author analyzes the historical trajectory of technological development from the late Middle Ages to the present day, focusing not on listing inventions, but on the institutional and methodological changes that have accelerated the process of creating new knowledge. The focus is on how certain ways of organizing science and technology not only yielded results but also created conditions for future discoveries. Using the concept of a "field of continuations," the author reflects on how modern systems, including artificial intelligence, are changing the very structure of invention production. The article invites the reader to consider how accumulated experience and institutions shape opportunities for future technological progress, emphasizing a systemic approach to the history of scientific and technical advancement.