# Machines Will Not Take Over So Long as We Build Them by Claude Shannon > "If you are talking about the machines taking over, I'm not really worried about that. I think so long as we build them, they won't take over." > **— Claude Shannon**, *John Horgan interview, November 2, 1989* ## Sources and Context - **Direct interview publication:** [John Horgan, ‘My Meeting With Claude Shannon, Father of the Information Age’](https://johnhorgan.org/cross-check/my-meeting-with-claude-shannon-father-of-the-information-age), including excerpts from Horgan’s November 2, 1989 interview with Shannon. The poster text is Shannon’s complete published answer to Horgan’s question about machines taking over human functions. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/A History of Machine Intelligence|A History of Machine Intelligence]] - **Article:** [[articles/AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor|AI Escape Is the Wrong Metaphor]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Machine Intelligence Intentionality|Machine Intelligence Intentionality]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Claude Shannon|Claude Shannon]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - [[wiki/Machine Intelligence Intentionality|Machine Intelligence Intentionality]] - [[wiki/Distributed Intention|Distributed Intention]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "If you are talking about the machines taking over, I'm not really worried about that. I think so long as we build them, they won't take over." — Claude Shannon, John Horgan interview, November 2, 1989 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-claude-shannon-machines-not-take-over-we-build-them ```