# History articles

> Every article in History, newest first.

- [The fight to control your software has reached AI](https://machines-on-machines.anth.us/articles/the-fight-to-control-your-software-has-reached-ai/index.md): The decades-old fight over who can inspect, change and share software now centers on AI models. The two best-known definitions of open already differ on the training data. (2026-11-09)
- [The machine learned to play by playing again](https://machines-on-machines.anth.us/articles/the-machine-learned-to-play-by-playing-again/index.md): A checkers board became a laboratory for a question that still shapes AI: can a machine get better at a task by trying it? (2026-11-09)
- [Before AI, a mathematician asked how machines could steer](https://machines-on-machines.anth.us/articles/norbert-wiener-feedback-and-steering-ai/index.md): A wartime prediction problem helped give an old idea a new name—and a surprising relevance to AI agents. (2026-11-09)
- [Before chatbots answered us, we argued about the test](https://machines-on-machines.anth.us/articles/before-chatbots-answered-us/index.md): Three encounters show how hard it is to decide what a convincing answer proves. (2026-11-06)