Yeah, sure!
Three times. Or perhaps more to the point, only three times! The previous last edition of The Boidem was from eight years ago, and though today Artificial Intelligence seems to show up at least once in every paragraph that we read, back then, at least for the non professionals among us, it was more of a
concept than a tangible reality. One of those three times was a reference to Weizenbaum's Eliza where I wrote:
Weizenbaum wasn't really attempting to generate intelligence, only an illusion of it
which was true, and is also perhaps testimony to the extent, or lack thereof, of The Boidem's concern with the concept. If (and don't worry, only "if") The Boidem were to continue, Artificial Intelligence would obviously be among the most prominent topics. But that perhaps explains why I'm not continuing these columns. AI certainly influences our lives, but it seems qualitatively different from the way in which we were exposed to, and played around with, the technologies that previously left their mark on "everyday life".
I should note here, however, that in that same column I seem to have proven myself quite capable of putting my foot in my mouth. It was later on that same page that I wrote that I doubted that a modern version of Eliza, unlike Weizenbaum's original, would succeed in fooling people, and added:
We have much more experience with computers, and we've learned to accept, and thus not be fooled by, the illusion of intelligence.
When I'm wrong I can be very wrong.
Go to: It was thirty years ago today