 | |
| Founded | 1964 |
|---|---|
| Founders | John J. Ford (CIA), Paul S. Henshaw (AEC), Douglas E. Knight (IBM), Robert Livingston (scientist), Donald N. Michael, William C. Moore (lawyer), and Walter N. Munster. |
| Type | Professional Organization |
| Focus | Cybernetics |
| Location |
|
Area served | USA, worldwide |
| Method | Conferences, Publications, Website. |
Key people | Paul Pangaro (current president) |
| Website | homepage |
The American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) is an American non-profit scholastic organization for the advancement of cybernetics as a science, a discipline, a meta-discipline and the promotion of cybernetics as basis for an interdisciplinary discourse. The society does this by developing and applying cybernetics’ concepts which are presented and published via its conferences and peer-reviewed publications. As a meta-discipline, it creates bridges between disciplines, philosophies, sciences, and arts.[1] The ASC is a full member of the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR).
In order to do so it holds conferences and seminars, and maintains contacts with cyberneticians and organizations for cybernetics in other countries. Further activities of the ASC are:
- ASC Glossary on Cybernetics and Systems Theory[2]
- Disciplinary Matrices in Cybernetics and Systems Science[3]
- Wiener and McCulloch awards
The American Society for Cybernetics was founded in 1964 in Washington, DC to encourage new developments in cybernetics as an interdisciplinary field (with Warren McCulloch as first elected president of the ASC).[4] The society was spearheaded by John J. Ford of the CIA to counter growing advancements from the USSR in computing and cybernetics research and development.[5][6][7] According to Evgeny Morozov, it bought together a number of academics, policy makers, spies, and business people to meet this aim.[5] Morozov also notes that international and national pressures during the late 1960s led to increased interest in cybernetics for policy makers and governmental officials as a way to minimise uncertainty domestically and on the world stage.[5]
In the 1980s ASC became a member of the International Federation for Systems Research, and in the 1990s supported the Principia Cybernetica Project.
The ASC has been maintaining an editorial column in the interdisciplinary Cybernetics and Human Knowing Journal since its first issue in 1992. Rodney Donaldson was the first ASC president to write for the column.
- ^ ASC By-Laws. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ ASC Glossary. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ Disciplinary Matrices in Cybernetics and Systems Science. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ HISTORY OF THE ASC. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
- ^ a b c Morozov, Evgeny (28 June 2024). "The AI we could have had". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2024.
- ^ Dechert, Charles R., ed. (1966). The Social Impact of Cybernetics. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press. p. 194.
- ^ Umpleby, Stuart. "ASC History". Applying the Science of Context: Home of the American Society for Cybernetics. Retrieved 5 July 2019.