In the 1950s and 1960s, overconfident computer scientists, who were working in the new field of “artificial intelligence” (AI), predicted that computerized robots and other “artificially intelligent” devices soon would catch up to – or even surpass – human beings in a wide diversity of skills and activities. Within two or three decades, said the most optimistic AI researchers, artificially intelligent devices would be able to pass the famous “Turing Test” by conversing with humans using teletype machines so successfully that the humans would not realize that they were talking to computers rather than to people. Some predictions were quite remarkable: robots would be on the moon or Mars or other planets, deciding for themselves where to go and what to do, carrying on conversations with humans back on earth – robot butlers would fetch and carry objects, cook meals, and clean the house for their human owners – AI doctors would diagnose diseases, prescribe and administer medicines and therapies. At the peak of this optimism in the 1970s, a number of AI companies were founded and invested many millions of dollars in various AI projects. By the end of the 1980s, however, none of the optimistic predictions had come true, and most of the AI companies had gone out of business. An “AI Winter” had set in!

Continue reading “Artificial intelligence begins to grow up By Terrell Ward Bynum”

In their continuing battle against online piracy through peer-to-peer networks, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has launched another round of lawsuits against users of internet file sharing. While it remains to be seen what the outcome of these suits will bring, there is a good chance that they will hasten the end of a business model firmly rooted in the bad old days before information wanted to be free. If this turns out to be the case, then the RIAA actions may have the ironic result of delivering what music fans say they want – the ability to get just the music they want at a fair price with the convenience and selection that online browsing can uniquely offer.

The catch is that this will also remove any excuse for stealing music online.

Continue reading “File-sharing By Richard Volkman”

Information and communication technology (ICT) is so powerful and so flexible that it enables people to do all kinds of things that could not have been done before. Because they were not previously done, the question arises whether it is ethical to do them and what the rules and limitations should be. (James Moor, in his 1985 article “What Is Computer Ethics?” called this sort of problem a “policy vacuum.”)

Continue reading “Greased property: File-Swapping Online Gets a Boost from a U.S. Judge By Terrell Ward Bynum”

Are video games sending kids the wrong messages about race and gender? A new study of popular video games purports to show that “the messages found in video games are indeed cause for concern.” Unfortunately, the methodology of the study is deeply flawed in both its design and its execution. “Fair Play? Violence, Gender and Race in Video Games” raises important questions about the content of video games. It is a matter of serious concern to ponder how well women and people of color are treated by the digital culture emerging around us. But the study draws highly dubious and politically charged conclusions from absurdly bad evidence. It adds nothing to our understanding of the digital culture and even distracts us from the real message of that culture.

Continue reading “Fair play? does not play fair about video games By Richard Volkman”

While U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ponders the remedies facing Microsoft as a consequence of its practices in restraint of trade, the software giant has once again courted controversy, this time by excluding users of competitors’ products from certain online content. And once again, Microsoft’s best defense is to appeal to the value of “standards.” While there is no doubt that widely accepted standards offer real value to consumers, it is difficult to take Microsoft’s defense seriously in light of its own past history.

Continue reading “Of standards and monopolies By Richard Volkman”

The previous comment posted in this series – “Will the Internet Kill the Geese that Lay Our Golden Eggs?” – [see the archives of this series] concerned the heated public controversy about Napster and similar computer programs. Such programs enable individuals to swap computerized music files and other computer files over the Internet without paying a royalty to copyright holders. This is a follow-up to my previous posting.

Continue reading “Napster – a tiny sample of the information revolution By Terrell Ward Bynum”