The Potential of Digital Computing

In the Time article, Constructing Artificial Intelligence, Edwards constructs an argument based on the evolving technology of the digital computer from 1950. The ability to code in a computer language that followed a logical sequence allowed for speculation on the power of artificial intelligence to automate response and perform decisions with increasingly less human input. The Turing Machine is targeted as one of the first all purpose computers that could perform logical functions, however its ability to only interpret language through an analog sequence prevented decisions that were not already determined by a human companion. The theoretical need to create a “brain” for the computer led to discovering a language system that could make logical decisions and then read the system as programmed led to the binary coding system.

            The creation of the digital computer relied on the theoretical concept of a cyborg mirrored after the decision making of its human creator. The relationship between the logical decisions of the human brain and the decisions that needed to be performed by the computer allows for technology to eventually catch up with human functionality. The Dartmouth Conference highlights these potential goals as the researchers Newell and Simon already predict that the computer will have the potential to become a “world chess champion,” “compose aesthetically valuable music,” and “discover and prove an important unknown mathematical theorem” in only 10 years given the potential of digital coding. These predictions are mostly impressive because the creation of music and playing a game seemingly relies on creativity rather than an automated system of logic. In hindsight, the computer has led to all of these feats while also pushing the boundaries for human cognitive potential to compete with the improving intelligence of the computer.