---
title: "When I visited The King Center in Atlanta"
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/when-i-visited-the-king-center-in-atlanta
date: 2026-10-26
author: Sam Page
type: Post or article
categories: [People and behaviour]
reading_time: 1 min
summary: "When I visited The King Center in Atlanta, I wasn’t expecting to read the words “When machines and computers...” from Martin Luther King."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7520444887050321921
---

# When I visited The King Center in Atlanta

When I visited The King Center in Atlanta, I wasn’t expecting to read the words “When machines and computers...” from Martin Luther King.

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/when-i-visited-the-king-center-in-atlanta-li1.webp)

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/when-i-visited-the-king-center-in-atlanta-li2.webp)

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/when-i-visited-the-king-center-in-atlanta-li3.webp)

![](https://sam-page.com/img/thinking/when-i-visited-the-king-center-in-atlanta-li4.webp)

It’s from his 1967 book “Where Do We Go From Here”, and nearly 60 years later it still rings true, for many of the same reasons and some new ones.

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing”-oriented society to a “person”-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

He was writing about race, materialism and war, and those still matter.

How he made a decision to fight peacefully, and in turn helped change the law, and he received the Nobel Peace Prize for it in 1964.

He was only 35!

He had a dream, and he made it a reality.

Truly inspiring.

And the line about machines and computers made me pause.

That point is more pertinent than ever right now.

I spend most of my time working with technology and AI, and I really believe it only creates value when it helps people.

People, not things.