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

Calculation
By Joseph Weizenbaum

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
1923 1936 1941 1950 1955

1963

1966

1976

2007

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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 Rogerian therapist 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 therapists b) 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 the problem 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

computers can, should and will do everything

1. Unsolved debate: Computers = humans? 2. Science as an addictive drug

computers have limits

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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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Discussion
Do 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!

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