Charles Babbage on AI

On two occasions I have been asked, — “Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?” In one case a member of the Upper, and in the other a member of the Lower, House put this question. I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question.– Charles Babbage, Passages from the Life of a Philosopher, 1864

Saw this on Simon Willison’s blog. Seems extremely relevant in the world of AI!