The Colonialism of Capture: How the British East India Company's Conquest of Bengal Prefigures Modern AI Knowledge Capture (legrandcontinent.eu)

• The British East India Company's conquest of Bengal in 1757-1764 allowed a tiny European minority to govern a vast population.
• The Asiatic Society of Calcutta, founded in 1784, began a project of capturing and claiming authority over Asian knowledge.
• The article links this to modern AI knowledge capture, rejecting Silicon Valley exceptionalism.
• It refutes the idea of inherent European superiority, showing Bengal's wealth and power.

"The article draws a parallel between modern AI-driven knowledge capture and the British colonial project in 18th-century Bengal. It argues that the British East India Company's conquest of Bengal (1757-1764) and the founding of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta (1784) established a model of 'supervision' where a small number of Europeans could govern and claim authority over indigenous knowledge. This process created lasting scientific and political asymmetries. The article rejects the idea that European superiority was due to intrinsic modernity, instead showing that colonial exploitation enabled Britain's rise as a superpower."