Reading through Edwards was at times, dense and a little bit too detail obsessed. It wasn't until the conclusion that it really hit me- how can we as a society, truly believe that we can create a sort of artificial intelligence that exceeds our own? We've all seen those doomsday scenario films and Sci-fi shows that provide an eerie prophecy of a world where computers have taken over the world. These films have raised legitimate concerns regarding the implications of giving too much power to machines and depending on them to the point where they are constant legislators in our lives. Considering just how much we know about the human brain, it has become understood that creating artificial intelligence is tangible. I don't disagree, but I think what is often overlooked is just how much we may not know about the human brain. Edwards suggests at the end of his article that "artificial intelligence man-computer symbiosis, and human information processing represent the reductions necessary to integrate humans fully into command and control" (Edwards 273). What this meant to me, was that the different technological innovations made and the stride towards artificial intelligence are essential to integrate humans entirely into commanding and controlling these operations. Moreover, going back to the fallible concept, that is the human brain, when we make these machines, we expect them to have a certain kind of perfection that the human mind can't achieve. This standard of perfection is an illusion in a world where we don't have a perfect understanding of the brain or of intelligence.
There is something to be said about the way we view computers and artificial intelligence. We expect so much of them and we have a hard time accepting when they fail us. We set machinery to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. I'll be the first to say that when Macbook refuses to turn on or fails to recognize the wifi networks in the area, I feel a much greater sense of disappointment than when my friend forgets we have a Skype date. If you ask me, that's problematic. We are unable to handle when technology fails us because we have unrealistic expectations of them. What society too often forgets is that machines aren't perfect and that there is no such thing as an intelligence superior to our own because we hold the reins to the amount of power given to machines.
Nicole, revisiting the Edwards is a useful reminder that AI development in the real world (as opposed to in the fictional scenario of 2001) has many of its roots in the military-industrial complex. I also appreciate your observations about our expectations of perfection from technology, though I doubt any of us has gone through life without many a device failing or breaking down through no fault of our own. Do you purchase extended warranties? Do you back up your digital data across multiple formats/locations? Next week's class will remind us that computers and networks are very much material objects in a material world, and in many respects are quite fragile.
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