ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

        THE NATION SPECIAL ISSUERemember HAL, the computer in the movie 2001? There was one smart collection of hard and software. HAL ran everything. He flew the ship, fed the crew and maintained the systems. HAL was programmed to be compassionate. Then HAL got his wires crossed or was damaged somehow. Or perhaps ego crept in.

        Whatever the cause, HAL became a danger to the spaceship and all aboard it. You'd never guess it from his voice and his words. Click on the URL below for some really sweet-talking. Be sure to listen to the HAL waves "Completely reliable figure" and "Good evening, Dave".

        http://members.spree.com/sip/wavrider/Hal/hal.html

        It's the year 2001 right now. Reality has set in. We are not in a movie. We are experiencing an eerie and frightening deja vous. This time, it is not HAL, but an artificial intelligence called SID that we must contend with. SID is ostensibly in control of what is described as the most powerful position in the world.

        SID (Simulated Intelligence Device) is the result of Good Old Boy corporate entities upgrading an unnamed game computer formerly hardwired as a "Play Station" whose memory chips were selectively configured to operate the Playboy and Fratboy software.

        The upgrade to SID was undertaken to correct the numerous crashes that manifested due to infusions of chemical substances not compatible with the operating system. The resulting upgraded unit now had intelligence albeit somewhat skewed. Human vocal sounds were enabled during the upgrade.

        Despite the vast amount of labor that went into the upgrade, SID never managed anything close to learning or understanding or speaking beyond certain learned-by-rote phrases in both English and Spanish. This was deemed sufficient for a Texas governor.

        Oil, cattle and tobacco controlled SID's software input and several programs were put into effect that began to cause the near bankruptcy of Texas. At that point, SID was upgraded again, this time with elements of the 80s and early 90s technology -- sometimes referred to as the "Reagan/Bush years." The main component of this upgrade was the installation of a reconstructed Cheney hard drive and operating system.

        Money poured in from all directions. Some of it was given in hopes of SID bringing the Reagan/Bush technology back to the Federal level. Even more was given by those hoping to get SID out of Texas. In the end, it took brotherly influence and a "supreme" effort, but eventually, SID with all his newly acquired systems, landed in the White House.

        Despite the upgrades and additional hardware, nothing seemed to help SID's speech problems. It was determined that they could not be fixed due to internal configuration foul-ups resulting from the chemical abuses of SID's Playboy days. Because of the many instances of lapsus lingua, it was critical that measures be taken to continue to insure that SID was isolated from the more critical MEDIA. A Texas reporter comments on these measures:

        "The complaint that there's a pro-Bush fraternity of reporters who traveled with him on the campaign and that they're the only ones who get called on may be just sour grapes. But it does follow his Texas pattern. Lou DuBose of the Austin Chronicle (and my co-author on a Bush book) observed on Fox News last week that most of the Texas press corps had the same relationship with Bush that Monica Lewinsky had with Bill Clinton."
                    -- Molly Ivins http://www.star-telegram.com/columnist/ivins2.htm

          Along these same lines, we are hearing on a regular basis from various media and political personalities about how really, really smart SID really, really is. If those comments are meant to reassure, they most decidedly do not. Indeed it adds to the feeling of impending doom that such reassurance needs to be iterated and reiterated.

        http://www.thenation.com/special/alfredw.mhtml

        Yes, it's 2001 for real, and we are worried. However, we have the will and the numbers. Check out the following URL for comfort:

        http://www.fringefolk.com/joinfringe.html


        twanda@gendergappers.org       

        2001-016

        Copyright 2001 Renee T. Louise and Ruth M. Sprague, Ph.D. These articles may be republished for noncommercial use only, provided that they are copied intact, and that this copyright notice is attached. Address all queries to: twanda@gendergappers.org.

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