Mike sent us a message that reminded me of a troubling prophesy I heard
as a "young scholar," he writes:
>Today the Pres was in MY HOME TOWN and yesterday he was in MY HOME TOWN.
>He glowed with pleasure about getting all schools hooked up the Internet.
I guess about 10 years ago, I was one of the young (if skeptical) workers
in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Education. My advisor of the
time (Charles Woodson) suggested that computers could well replace humans
as children's playmates.
His argument was simply this: given the career demands on parents, the
instability of the family, and the institutionalizing of childcare,
computers represented the only viable "things" that children could turn
to and would always "be there."
Of course the hopes for intelligent computer agents have long since
faded, yet is the Internet much different in its character? There is
another maxim of the computer industry: computers are cheap, people are
expensive. Is our President in effect proposing that we concentrate on
the "cheap" solution and let expensive humans "fall where they may?"
Edouard
P.S. Sorry if this sounds, simply "anti-technology." I certainly don't
mean that. I simply wish our technology to be used more thoughtfully to
address human needs. We definitely have our work cut out for us. . .
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: Edouard Lagache :
: lagache who-is-at violet.berkeley.edu :
:..................................................................:
: let him decieve me as much as he may, he will never bring it :
: about that, at the time of thinking that I am something, I am :
: in fact nothing. :
: Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, 1632 :
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