[net.misc] On the sheets

stevans@sri-unix (12/05/82)

I'd guess that of all of the computer paper consumed:
     %15 of the pages never have anything printed on them
     At least %15 of all printouts are never recieved by the intended party
     %50 of picked-up printouts are thrown away without any examination
     %75 of looked-at printouts have a maximum total of five lines read each
     Only about %5 of all printouts are kept for more than 6 hours

No, these statistics have not been derived from my behaviour.  Also please
note that they represent the summed forms usage of all computers, not just
high-tech sites such as most of ourselves.

Does anyone have any comments?  Please don't mail me hardcopy, though.

Mark Stevans, U of Rochester, NY
(allegra or seismo)!rochester!stevans

dwl (12/09/82)

Regarding the wasted printout::: 

The computer hardcopy I see most often is my paycheck!

I usually only read it once.
The bank probably reads it twice.

It is probably thrown away by my employer.

No, I don't mind receiving it!

-Dave Levenson
-BTL Holmdel

barmar (12/14/82)

Much has been said about the simulation of a hurricane not being
a real hurricane, and the analogy to AI.  I would like to answer
David Sher's question about the differences.  He hit it when he
mentioned the possibility of connecting a huge fan as the output
of the hurricane simulator.  Both the "real" hurricane and
the simulated hurricane have the same mathematics (assuming
a perfect simulation), but we can tell the difference because the
simulated hurricane is not uprooting trees in our "real"
front yards.  However, suppose the computer had the capability to
make whatever effects it predicted true?  This would include the
feeling of wind on the face, the appearance of uprooted trees, etc.
Would anyone doubt that it was a hurricane?

This gets me back to AI.  Consider one of the fundamental AI tasks,
that of natural language recognition and generation.  The
nature of this problem already assumes that the computer
will be interacting with the outside world, as opposed to
just sitting there simulating intelligence.  Indeed, if a
human just sat there we would be likely to decide that
it was not intelligent, since intelligence can only be
recognized by noting the actions of the object.  So, perhaps
current AI programs are just "autistic", and the goal
of AI research is to stop being AA (Artificial Autism) research.
					barmar