andrew@UUNET.UU.NET (Andrew Jennings) (07/21/88)
> Perhaps we all ought to watch a re-run of the Tracy & Hepburn picture > DESK SET. Why should we be trying to eliminate the human element anyway? One of my favourite movies. However it's talking about the technology of the early 50's here, and hopefully we have come a long way since then. I like to think that we have come a long way both technologically, and in how we approach technology. As an AI person, I think a lot of the discussion is misinformed. Sure computers make mistakes. So do people. If I had been the commander in the Persian gulf, in the situation that he was in I think I would have shot down the plane also. So the decision reached was not an unreasonable one, in my humble opinion. However there is a broader issue here, and there are bound to be very different opinions on what to do with technology. DESK SET does a really good job of lampooning the emerging technocrats of the 50's who thought that technology was the solution to all of our ills. Quite obviously it is not. As some contributors have noted, the real problem is the lack of communication between the technophiles, and those with social concerns. We should be setting social goals, and attempting to build the technology to meet those goals. As long as we are at each other's throats we will continue to get the malformed technology we deserve. Andrew Jennings (Postmaster:- This mail has been acknowledged.)