While it's structured like an apprenticeship, the PhD is the only doctoral degree that *doesn't* trace its roots back to the middle aged. It is a purely modern (German) invention - a post-enlightenment innovation meant to build the technological and scientific state.
FAI's Ian Banks traces the science PhD back to medieval monks and guilds: "In the scientific process, we've had an apprenticeship model for centuries. That's the sort of what has now become the PhD student process, so you were apprenticed to the master scientist." "It's a direct outcome of the guild model. Or mostly the monastic model, where monks started doing science in like the 11th, 12th century, depending on how you cut it. It builds through the guild model and universities to today." "The universities are, in some ways, our last medieval institution where you still have a guild." "I'm optimistic that AI will be able to support making explicit the tacit knowledge that is there, but it won't do the whole thing, and we'll still need these masters, we'll still need the apprentices." @banksianr @JoinFAI