I remember many people, including a lot of science historians, struggling to understand Newton's deep focus on theology. The reality is that Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton were transitional figures during a major paradigm shift several centuries ago. They moved from clerical intellectuals toward what we now recognize as modern scientists. Every large scale paradigm transition produces the same pattern: a new form of intellectual emerges from the old one, complete with its own transitional pioneers. The same thing is happening now and will continue into the near future. The AI era will have its own Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton. Saying the next Einstein is AI does not erase the role of new human intellectuals. AI is the subject of research. The people who actually shape and lead mainstream human thought and cognition will still be the new class of intellectuals. The pivotal figures at this paradigm turning point, the Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton of the early AI age, are real humans, not AI systems. They will become the defining icons of mainstream human understanding for the next several hundred years. Of course tomorrow's knowledge elites will not resemble today's mathematicians and scientists. Just as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton were not traditional clergy of their time, these new figures are the pioneers of the coming intellectual paradigm.

C@C

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