From the simplest system of pulleys and ropes in ancient Greece to the most comp

lex supercomputer in the world today, machines have had (and continue to have) a
profound influence on the development of humanity. While some argue that machin
es have a negative impact on us, the increasing prevalence of intelligent machin
es in the world challenge us to change long-held beliefs about our limitations a
nd to continue forward to new and even more advanced possibilities.
One common argument against the increased presence of machines in our day-to-day
lives (seen in Perspective One) is that machines leach away at our basic humani
ty. I found this to be true in my own life as a result of witnessing many a phon
e conversation between my mother and an automated telephone menu. For whatever r
eason, she consistently has issues with the menus that try to verify her date of
birth. The automated system never understands what she says (possibly because o
f her accent), and asks her to input the numbers via her keypad; of course, my m
om's smartphone is so smart that the screen turns off while she is on a call, ma
king it impossible for her to follow the automated phone system's instructions.
By the time the system gives up and routes her to speak to a "human representati
ve," my mother is often so frustrated that she is far from courteous and respect
ful to that person. Despite my mother's understandable frustration with automate
d phone systems, however, overall the benefits outweigh the costs. Providing peo
ple with the option to submit prescriptions or ask about store hours through an
automated menu frees up customer service representatives to answer questions mac
hines are incapable of addressing. In addition, the recordings of angry phone ca
lls (where customers are not courteous, respectful, or tolerant of other humans)
are used to improve the phone menus to make them more user-friendly. Thus, the
momentary disrespect toward other humans caused by machines is more than compens
ated for by the positive effects of those same machines.
Another school of thought, exemplified by Perspective Two, argues that the main
utility of machines is their ability to perform repetitive tasks more precisely
and more efficiently than humans, which leads to a more prosperous and progressi
ve world for everyone. In auto plants around the world, robots build cars on ass
embly lines. Instead of having to pay a human employee a yearly salary, invest t
ime in training that employee, and worry about liability should that employee be
injured, manufacturing plants
can now make a one-time purchase of an intelligent machine that will
perform that same job at higher levels of precision. This leads to a
more prosperous world for the manufacturers, as they are able to
invest less money to get a better product. This perspective is fine as
far as it goes but is limited in its consideration of the implications.
Robots can not only work in place of humans but can also work
cooperatively with humans to greater results than either could have
hoped for alone. This can be seen in highly complex and delicate
surgeries, where a surgeon controls robotic micro tools to perform
operations that even ten years ago would have been unimaginable
and impossible.
I agree with Perspective Three that the true impact of intelligent
machines in our lives is that they challenge us to re-think our
preconceived notions of what people can do or become in the future.
A final example of this is brain-computer interfaces or BCIs. Humans
are able to manipulate computers with their brains via electrodes that
are either implanted in their brains or attached (temporarily) to their
heads. With these intelligent machines, formerly paralysed people
who had no hope of communicating with others are able to transcend
their physical limitations by concentrating on forming words out of
keyboards on the computer screens. In addition, BCIs have captured
the interest of people from all different backgrounds and are being
applied to non-scientific fields like music to create new, previously
unimagined instruments that react to people's thoughts, adding a
new dimension to an ancient art form. Truly, intelligent machines are
providing the impetus not just for greater efficiency, but for greater
accomplishments.

In conclusion, rather than taking away from our humanity,

intelligent machines actually help us to move forward as a species to
achieve new, previously unimagined possibilities.