In Gilgamesh, the benefits of civilisation and urbanisation are juxtaposed with their costs, like environmental destruction. This clay tablet is inscribed with part of the epic of Gilgamesh. Zunkir/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY

"While ChatGPT threatens to change writing (and writing-related work) as we know it, the Mesopotamians, who lived 4,000 years ago (in a geographical area centered in modern-day Iraq), went through this kind of seismic change before us."

"...Mesopotamians invented the wheel and agriculture, and pioneered advances in mathematics, urbanisation and transportation. These breakthroughs are reflected in cuneiform literature, one of the oldest known forms of writing.

"...In the world’s earliest known written epic, Gilgamesh, the eponymous hero is shown inventing and using technologies, such as diving weights and a sail, to further his journey to the edges of the world – and beyond."

"...Mesopotamian epics don’t present cultural and technological advances as unambiguously and uniformly beneficial. In Gilgamesh, the benefits of civilization and urbanization, such as advances in wall-building technology, are juxtaposed with their costs – such as environmental destruction and alienation from the wild."

"...In some ways, the representation of new technologies in cuneiform literature echoes contemporary concerns about AI: fears of increasing social inequalities and its potential use in cyberwarfare."