Dear reader:
Have you seen the IBM ads that tout “Let’s build a smarter world?” If you watched the Masters golf tournament today, then you saw the IBM ads. Anyway, they featured among other things the fact that an IBM designed computer beat two people at Jeopardy. This game, you may recall, was hailed as the launch of a new era of computing. It was featured in many popular magazines. The headlines shouted, “What next? Computers are smarter than people.” The Jeopardy contest is now used as indisputable evidence, in many revived classic man vs machine debates, that we, us humans that is, are in trouble.
Are we in trouble? I think not!
Why do I believe people are still the king of brainpower? Because it was a human that judged when the computer was right or wrong. The computer did a fine job of quickly retrieving answers to questions that we as humans already knew the answer too. Now I am no neophyte to the complexity of designing search functions for a massive database, particularly where the Jeopardy questions are in standard English with multiple word meanings and easily misunderstood syntax. It was a colossal feat of computer programming.
The IBMers that successfully tackled this assignment are clearly already on their way to creating a “smarter world,” just by being in it themselves; but I seriously doubt if the Jeopardy money winnings provided a reasonable return on the IBM investment in this project to the IBM shareholders. No doubt, we will likely discover that the project was actually funded by a defense department grant.
But is there any jeopardy for us hidden in the Jeopardy project results? No. The computer had no idea if its answer to a question was right or wrong. Understand? It was a person, however, that ultimately concluded that the computer’s answer was right. That fact alone should quiet anyone who believes we are trouble from machines taking over the world. You naysayers of reason, do you doubt my assertion? Then, please look behind your computer. Pull the plug on our computer attached to your AC wall outlet and witness how much computing it can do.
In summary, I have thought about the IBM ads all day. I truly do not know what IBM means by building a smarter world. It is a genuine catchy phrase that fits nicely on tee shirts and desk platitudes. However, I wish that the money that IBM invested in the Jeopardy project had been invested in feeding the hungry and providing shelter to the homeless. Building a smarter world must always begin with a set of correctly enumerated priorities.
Robert J. Sherwood
Time on my hands
Rancho Mirage, CA
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