Man vs. Machine

Currently, computers are used for everything in life. For example, from researching for a large essay project to playing video games with friends. “From the outset, computers were weighed for both military and commercial significance, and hence they straddled the very institutional boundaries that central to this study. It is also significant that computers became valuable research instruments in nearly all disciplines.” (Akera, 2). The first digital computer was constructed in 1946 by John Mauchly, a professor, and Presper Eckert, an inventor. “They met by chance in 1941 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Moore School of Engineering. They soon developed a revolutionary vision: to use electricity as a means of computing--in other words, to make electricity "think."” (McCartney, 1). They were ignored by their colleagues, but in 1943 they were becoming more well known and was funded by the U.S Army. The U.S Army was seeking for a contraption that can quickly calculate ballistic missile trajectories in wartime Europe and Africa (McCartney, 1). John Mauchly and Presper Eckert led a team that constructed the computer that occupied 1,800 square feet and weighed thirty tons. They named the large computer, ENIAC, Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. The process of building this machine was not an effortless task, Mauchly and Presper and their team had to overcome many problems

"All Can Be Lost: The Risk of Putting Our Knowledge in the Hands of Machines."

There have been many advances since the initial invention of the computer fifty years ago. Today, computers operate many of the things that we use in everyday life. Some examples of these things are farm machinery, cars, planes, video games, heat and water delivery to our homes, banking, billing, and even the stock market. The advances of the computer have resulted in the

Albert Einstein declared “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” It is important to remember that Einstein said this long before all of the technological developments we know today. If he could see how far we have progressed, his proclamation would most likely be even more urgent. Many people share the fear of technology overtaking humans. Two authors, Clive Thompson, who wrote “Smarter than You Think” and Kevin Kelly, who wrote “Better than Human: Why Robots Will- and Must-Take Our Jobs,” have an optimistic view regarding the role of technology in the future. Although they use different reasoning, both Thompson and Kelly assert collaboration between humans and technology is necessary to maximize

I. Computer 's are an integral part of our daily lives. Just about anywhere you go, a computer is present. Hospitals, banks, even the gas pump you frequent, relies on computer 's to figure out how much gas you pump, how much it is per gallon, and where to get that money from. As you can see from this line graph, computer 's are in more demand than ever peaking at 350 million sold in a year. (Computer Sales Statistics)

What the author finds truly disturbing, however, is the threat of our brains being replaced by artificial intelligence. As the creators of Google admitted, their ultimate goal is to give people access to all the information available on the Internet by connecting their brains to artificial intelligence system. For Carr, such ambition suggest that intelligence can be boiled down to a mechanical process that will leave no place for critical thinking, creativity and personal reflection.

In Daniel Willingham’s article, “Why Don’t Students Like School? Because the Mind Is Not Designed for Thinking,” he argues that “contrary to popular belief, the brain is not designed for thinking” and that “it’s designed to save you from having to think, because the brain is actually not very good at thinking” (Willingham p. 40). I absolutely disagree with this statement. The brain is certainly the greatest supercomputer in existence, which explains why we have developed such advanced technology as the Google indexing search engine, which essentially learns new things daily and is capable of having pseudo-dreams that are created by collaging small photos into bigger photos. These photos then become small photos that develop into even larger photos, and this pattern continues an indefinite amount of times. This is not something that could be created if the brain weren’t developed to think. We have also invented robots that are breaking the barriers of human thought, as they are moving closer to having sentience and self-awareness. We are so advanced now technologically that we take for granted things that our predecessors invented, like cameras and television, which are incredible feats that show great amounts of thought on the part of the humans who invented them. These amazing feats show that thinking is a natural concept for humans.

What if we shifted our perspective to view AI in this same light? Just as humans are innately flawed in many ways, our creations are as well. AI would be no exception to this rule-- because AI can be seen as a reflection of humanity, it may even be proof of this rule. No matter how benevolent the intent behind a product’s creation, there’s always the danger of misuse and abuse-- in order for society to continue advancing, we must be willing to deal with these potential perils, as they are an inevitable aspect of

Forbes.com states that machines can make better decisions than humans , because humans tend to only see what they want to see. This shows that these intelligent machines are more efficient in the workplace than humans, and that certain jobs should be handed over to the machines. But, these machines have yet been perfected. Wired.com states that machine science is far from being perfect, which shows that these intelligent machines should not be relied on in the workplace, because they still have the ability to malfunction and get something

In an effort to prove that computers will never evolve into systems similar to human, Fish (2011) also presents an illogical argument that men will never be able to create a machine that is comparable to mankind, which is a paradox in itself as he tries to prove mankind’s superiority by assuming a limited the scope of man’s intelligence in creating complex machines with cognitive abilities.

Alan Turing put this argument forward in his 1950 paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence”. His opening pages of the paper begin with the words; "I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?” (Alan Turing 1950). My main argument to this is that a computer does not have the ability to think, primarily because it was created rather than ‘born and raised’.

In today’s fast paced technologically savvy society, everyone wants the most advanced technology, this thirst for the next big thing is what makes technology fields the fastest changing and growing sectors. In countless movies, television shows, and novels, there is a representation of a humanoid character that is in fact a machine functioning and learning new skills with artificial intelligence. The problem with these shows is that the representation of modern day artificial intelligence is largely skewed, these machines have personalities and emotions making them relatable to humans when they are still just a very elaborate computer program. Artificial intelligence is the cognitive ability to solve problems, recognize patterns, and have

On his essay “Can machines think?” Alan Turing, a great mathematician, and creator of the Turing Test presents us with the initial concept of what is now considered artificial intelligence. He states that eventually, as time progresses, machines will be able to think like humans. But, can a machine really think like a human? Can a machine even think on its own, or it is just based on human science and engineering to make computer systems perform tasks that require intelligence when done by humans?

Computers are everywhere today. It would be impossible to go your entire life without using a computer. Cars, ATMs, and TVs we use everyday, and all contain computers. It is for this reason that computers and their software have to become more intelligent to make our lives easier and computers more accessible. Intelligent computer systems can and do benefit us all; however people have constantly warned that making computers too intelligent can be to our disadvantage.

Computers are becoming more and more human. In some areas they are superhuman. Computers can calculate complex math problems in less than one millisecond, beat us at games such as chess, memorize entire books and movies in a single glance, compose entire pieces of music, and they can give people information on virtually any subject. Yet, we still don't have a machine that can do the things that computers have done in science fiction movies, such as translate everyday English into Italian, summarize texts, or make us breakfast without burning down the house. But will computers ever become as intelligent as human beings?