Posts tagged digital
Information Age Beauty: Three Laws of Robotics
Apr 27th
I have always been a huge fan of Isaac Asimov . I believe that history will record his contributions to technology in the same manner as Johannes Gutenberg , Issac Newton , and Thomas Edison . Asimov wrote so many wonderful science fiction novels that it is a shame to suggest that his efforts as an author might not be his greatest legacy. He inspired many generations of authors who came after him to independent greatness and to derivative works that continued his amazing forays into the morality of technology — the ethics of computers and robots. I sincerely expect that his Laws of Robotics will be credited with being the yardstick to which every artificial intelligence effort of the next 100 years gets measured. They will be his most enduring contribution.
For those of you not familiar with his work, here are his original Three Laws of Robotics:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Asimov conceived of the three laws as a plot device for a series of short stories about robots and their interactions with humanity. He was fascinated not with tech for tech’s sake, but with the ways in which it reflected most on our morality and ethics. Of note, nearly every story that Asimov ever published ended up being part of a single rich tapestry of storytelling with these three laws at the nexus. A truly masterpiece of a life based upon just a few sentences. Though, I don’t intend to spoil his work for you if you have not sampled it, as he aged he saw the need to expand these laws both to a zeroth level and beyond, but he always found his way back to this core set.
Today, we stand on the cusp of am age of artificial intelligence. The ability for machines to learn and grow. Just as children must not only learn their ABC’s, but the golden rule, some basis for ethical decision making will be required for the infancy of artificial intelligence. I truly believe that Asimov’s rules will be that template.
I think that reality frequently follows art that predicts it. Much of our technology today was first envisioned in science fiction of yesterday. What stories do you know of that inspired inventions today? Do you think that authors who conceive deserve as much credit or more credit as inventors who achieve? Do you think that Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics will be considered relevant tomorrow?
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 27, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
The Four Best Websites for Information Technology Managers
Apr 20th
Below are the four websites that I, as an Information Technology Manager, visit every single day and why. I believe that they publish information that no Information Professional should be without for even 24 hours. They are the first four bookmarks on every computer that I use for work. I highly recommend them to you.
- CIO.com is my top pick. This is such a deep site that you need to spend some time to become familiar with its contents. Its main page — or news site — is one of the best at reporting industry shaking events. Don’t be fooled though, there is no sensationalism at this business oriented site. If it is on their front page — it should matter to you. Take special note of their analysis and drill-down tabs. Combined with their free white papers section, I think those three tabs form the best continuing education collection on the web for CIOs and IT Managers.
- Slashdot.org . OK, so their tag line is "Slashdot – News for nerds, stuff that matters", but that should not deter you. Here you have a web page that is run by an editorial team. Members recommend stories to the team and they post and comment on them. The combination of the best of the web, with intelligent tech-savy commentary, along with hundreds of attached comments from some very smart IT folks produces a real diamond in the rough of a CIO type site. I am not suggesting that everything that they publish is IT heavy, but if it is an IT story, then they have got it covered.
- Arstechnica . In their own words, "At Ars Technica—the name is Latin-derived for the "art of technology"—we specialize in original news and reviews, analysis of technology trends, and expert advice on topics ranging from the most fundamental aspects of technology to the many ways technology is helping us enjoy our world. We work for the reader who not only needs to keep up on technology, but is passionate about it." That about sums it up for me…
- Digg.com – Technology Industry News . While technically this is not a single website, but actually a news aggregator, I still think that it should be on your visit list everyday. If you are not familiar with Digg.com, they allow members to recommend other websites anywhere on the web — a process that they call "digging" them. Each member may only digg a single URL once. This has the effect of causing the wheat to separate rapidly from the chaff of the Internet. Since the Digg user base definitely is a bit skewed towards the high technology sector, it means that they collection of the best IT industry news is usually the best. What is even more useful is that nothing every disappears from Digg.com. While the default view is based on votes per day, you can easily filter for the best of the week, month, year, or even ever.
Do you have other sites that you recommend? Why do you like them? Happy Thinking…
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for April 20, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .
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Poll: New Media Exposure
Sep 14th
Posted by Scott Coughlin in Business of IT
No comments
Today, our Information Thought of the Day (ITTOD) is a poll subject.
We seem to be on the tipping point for new media this morning. Last evening, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” won the first ever new-media Emmy Award for Short-format Live-Action – Special Class. This is ground breaking stuff. You can read about it at Whedonesque or here. So in that light, I was wondering how many of you, readers, are engaged with new on a daily basis. Please answer the poll below.
I will be sure to share the results.
Do you like polls as a daily topic? Do you have a recommended one for another week? Please let me know.
That is my Information Technology Thought of the Day (ITTOD) for September 14, 2009 ©Scott Coughlin .