Computer Power and Human Reason from Judgment to Calculation

Computer Power and Human Reason Computer Power and Human Reason from Judgment to Calculationfrom Judgment to Calculation

By Joseph Weizenbaum By Joseph Weizenbaum

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Content

• Who is Weizenbaum?• Meet with ELIZA• Effects on society

• The book• What Weizenbaum thinks?

• Hear from his own voice• Discussion

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Joseph Weizenbaum

1936 1941 1950 1955

1963 1966 1976 2007

1923

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ELIZA

• Designed in 1966

• Named after Eliza Doolittle, a character in George Bernard Shaw's play

• A program that can be incrementally improved by its users

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ELIZA

• A program operating within the time-sharing system at MIT

• conversation between man and computer

• acts as a Rogeriantherapist

• let's try ELIZA

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How ELIZA works?• The key words in the input text

are analyzed

• When certain word is found, the sentence is transformed according to a rule associated with the keyword

• if not a content-free remark or, under certain conditions, an earlier transformation is retrieved.

• The text so computed or retrieved is then printed out

• Responses are generated by reassembly rules associated with selected decomposition rules

• The fundamental technical problems with ELIZA

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ELIZA's effects on society

1. DOCTOR as an automatic form of psychotherapy?

a) shortage of therapistsb) time saving solution

2. The emotional involvement with the program

Secretary example

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ELIZA's effects on society – contd.

3. A general solution to theproblem of computer understanding of natural language?

a) a line dividing human and machine intelligence

b) computers became the extensions of human body

c) people must develop a sense of understanding regarding how machines work

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Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation

• Responses to ELIZA motivated Weisenbaum to write his book “Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation”

• In that book he explains the limits of computers

• Computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion and wisdom.

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Further debate from Weizenbaum

1. Unsolved debate: Computers = humans?

2. Science as an addictive drug

computers have limits

computers can, should and will do

everything

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Further debate from Weizenbaum – contd.

3. Scientific theories: believe it or not?

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Hear from Weizenbaum

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DiscussionDo you think…

– a computer program may take place of the real doctors?

– people are creating emotional ties with computers?

– whether or not human thought is entirely computable?

– one day machines create their own intelligence and take over the world?

– should we really know the design principles behind every machine we are using in our daily life?

– people became addictive to the technology?

– question scientific facts?

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Thanks!