Matter over mind

Technology has become more versatile. Computers have now been programmed to write poetry, recognise voices, even generate art. What does this increasing dependence on computers mean to us? Are we in danger of losing our ability to utilise our minds because we have the software to make certain aspects of life easier? VISA RAVINDRAN writes on the need to control technology and not let it overtake our lives.

"The computer programmer is a creator of universe for which he alone is the lawgiver... No playwright, no stage director, no emperor, however powerful, has ever exercised such absolute authority to arrange a stage or a field of battle and to command such unswervingly dutiful actors or troops."

Joseph Weizenbaum

CRYSTAL-GAZING for the new millennium opens up possibilities that not only boggle the mind but also shake the spirit. Human intelligence is expanding in such a way to the extent where, with the possible entry of chips embedded in the brain capable of directly downloading and assimilating information, the very definition of "human" may need revision. With the speed and complexity of computers doubling every 18 months, it looks as though they might soon achieve the complexity of the human brain. Stephen Hawking also claims that if very complicated chemical molecules make humans intelligent, equally complicated electronic circuits can replicate a similar intelligence in computers. He has observed that we need "to become more complex if biological systems are to keep ahead of electronic systems." There lies for me the overriding concern of the moment: the relation of biological systems to electronic ones, the hierarchy of human and electronic intelligence.

A thought-provoking book on the subject is Ray Kurzweil's The Age Of Spiritual Machines. Kurzweil is an authority on artificial intelligence. MIT's Inventor of the Year in 1988 and Engineer of the Year in 1990, he has eight honorary degrees to his credit. His earlier book The Age Of Intelligent Machines won the Most Outstanding Computer Science Book award of 1990. He is the principal developer of such brain-extenders as reading machines, speech recognition and music synthesis. Some of the predictions he made in The Age Of Intelligent Machines have come true and the fact that he is in the field, creating software that enhances brainpower, is interested in eliminating human incapacities resulting from disabilities by producing software for the blind, the deaf and the physically challenged and the imaginary dialogues he produces at the end of chapters in order to express other sides to questions discussed, encourage you to take him seriously. My lack of expertise in the field causes me to obtain only a sketchy understanding of the technical content of the book, but the sociological implications and lifestyle changes implied demand serious discussion, especially in the longtime shifts projected in the scope and extent of creative activity.

The very definition of technology is changing from its being seen as a means to achieve control over the environment to Kurzweil's "a human-sponsored variant of evolution." The Age Of Spiritual Machines was dictated to Kurzweil's personal computer using a continuous speech-recognition programme called Voice Xpress Plus and he says he turned off automatic grammar and style checkers of Microsoft Word "as it seemed to dislike most of my sentences", leaving the stylistic criticism of the work to his readers "at least this time round." A programme called Brutus 1, developed by Selmer Bringsjord, Dave Ferrucci and a team of software engineers at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, has been taught the concept of betrayal and can write short stories on that theme. Paramind is a programme that "produces new ideas from your ideas." Ray Kurzweil's Cybernetic Poet (RKCP) is a computer-generated poetry system that analyses language style, rhythm patterns and structure of models it "reads" and can then "write" its own poems retaining the thematic consistency of its models. One can even write a few lines in the usual way and then get the programme to finish it in the style of any well-known poet the programme is familiar with or even in one's own. RKCP is freely downloadable and examples of its creativity are provided in the book.

Robert Cohen is a painter who has created a computerised robot called Aaron, with knowledge of many aspects of the creative process and his works are displayed around the world in museums. Kurzweil says Cohen is often asked who should be given credit for the paintings. He takes it now and "Aaron has not been programmed to complain" and, says the artist, he would be the first artist in history "who will be able to have posthumous exhibition of completely original works." He also confesses that though he wrote the programme, the pictures created are always a surprise to him. We also know of Deep Blue that defeated Gary Kasparov and of music synthesisers that do the work of whole orchestras saving time, money and offering manoeuvrability in composing music. "As amplifiers of human thought", says Kurzweil, "computers have great potential to assist human expression and to expand creativity for all of us..."

Does this mean that we are entering some sort of a proletariat of the mind? At one point he says "we have the opportunity to shape technology, and to channel its direction." But the gaps between the writer and the computerised word process that he had to turn off and the constant surprises that Aaron gave Cohen are some of the simpler indications of the differences between human and artificial intelligence and their recognition and control are an assuring proof that man is still in control. But says Kurzweil, "In less than 40 years we have gone from manual methods of controlling our lives and civilisation to become totally dependent on the continued operation of our computers. Many people are comforted by the fact that we still have our hands on the "plug," that we can turn our computers off if they get too uppity. In actuality it's the computers that have their figurative hands on our plug. There is little concern about this today - computers circa 1999 are dependable, docile and dumb. The dependability (albeit not perfect) is likely to remain. The docility will not. It will be humans, at least the non-updated ones, who will seem dumb several decades from now. The docility will not remain either."

If artificial intelligence is going to create doubts about whether a man or a machine, or a whole network of machines created a particular piece of prose or poetry, music or visual art, is the temple of Apollo going to become the fief of a neural network or is the latter merely to burnish the splendour of the former? Is the excellence of creative work no longer the result of pure inspiration and classic execution of an idea but an activity dependent on one's knowledge of manipulating artificial intelligence to begin with, and later perhaps to lose even the power of manipulation? And what does this mean in terms of right or left brain dominance in a person determining an artistic or a rational bent of mind? Can a creative person no longer generate art if he is not also an ace with a computer? And what does this mean in the way of skill training, especially remembering the exponential growth of computers and in terms of money in relation to the built-in obsolescence of these machines? Listen to Kurzweil: "Learning is becoming a significant portion of most jobs. Training and developing new skills is emerging as an ongoing responsibility in most careers, not just an occasional supplement, as the level of skill needed for meaningful employment soars even higher." What will this do to families already deprived of quality time together or to harassed executives already bidding reluctant goodbyes to all other interests save that of earning their livelihood?

This article is no Luddite challenge to emerging technologies but an attempt to stimulate reflection and avoid sweeping generalisations. By 2009, Kurzweil expects that there will be technology that allows you to touch and feel objects and people at a distance; that by the next decade people will begin to have relationships with automated personalities (one recognises the beginnings in the electronic pets that are becoming popular already), using them as companions, teachers, even lovers. By 2029, humans will mainly be taught by virtual teachers, human brains will be enhanced by neural implants and computers will be learning on their own. "Before the next century is over, human beings will no longer be the most intelligent or capable type of entity on the planet. Actually, let me take that back. The truth of that last statement depends on how we define human" is his deduction from present trends.

Questions rush in from many sides. If you cannot adapt to the sweeping changes are you going to be left behind or annihilated? If the widespread use of calculators has robbed man of his agility in mental arithmetic, what are going to be the mental powers that will be eroded by the popularity of "brain-enhancers" of the type we have discussed? How much information can the human brain absorb, how much does it need? What about information overload and learning fatigue? The pervasiveness of computers in our lives, the competition to keep up, the technological challenge one is forced to meet whether one wishes to or not, are all adding to the stress of daily living, not to mention the constant insecurity of possible loss of data through various unexpected means. Conversely, not exercising the brain in certain ways because software provides ready solutions, can lead to the function itself fading away. The lack of understanding and the precarious control over the machine as manifested in the doubt about whether the smooth rollover to 2000 made the Y2K problem a magnificent hoax or a wonderfully anticipated and suitably corrected problem, certainly points to more such mixups. Are we gaining or are we losing? Or, are we merely tying ourselves up into more complex knots? Are we moving towards the age of the spiritual machine or the conquest of the mechanical human?

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