Chile's experiment with cybernetic management

In a February 1973 lecture, he explained how his cybernetic approach to management would empower the Chilean people and put the power of science at their disposal. “I know that I am making the maximum effort towards the devolution of power,” Beer told the audience. “The government made their revolution about it; I find it good cybernetics.” Beer stressed that the tools he was developing in Chile were the “people’s tools” and that his systems were designed for and in consultation with Chilean workers. Critics from the Chilean opposition pushed back and equated the system to a new form of government surveillance that would lead to increased government control and abuse.

Project Cybersyn: Chile’s Radical Experiment in Cybernetic Socialism

This article is a few years old, but provides a good overview of Cybersyn.

A computer-generated image of Project Cybersyn operations room. Chairs are arrnged around a room, which is decorated in iconinc 1970s style.
Ben Harris-Roxas @ben_hr