Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Full Bridgit Moon<\/p>\n
Watson.\u00a0 Won at Jeopardy.\u00a0 Big time.\u00a0 Over the best player of the game ever.\u00a0 Human player.\u00a0 The coverage has interested me because it showcases what we might call the John Henry syndrome.\u00a0 Each time a machine takes on a task thought uniquely human and masters it, then beats a human competitor, we go into human self-examination mode.\u00a0 Are we still necessary?\u00a0 Will machines replace us?\u00a0 The human Jeopardy champion, Ken Jennings, wrote on his final Jeopardy answer, “I for one welcome our new computer overlords.”\u00a0 Humor?\u00a0 Or, irony?\u00a0 Both?<\/p>\n
Here’s one clear difference.\u00a0 Watson is not sitting at home tonight, feet up on an ottoman, wondering if the next hunk of big iron will replace him.\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 He’s just sitting.\u00a0 Maybe warming his transistors or his circuit boards, drawing a little extra juice to keep things humming, but self doubt?\u00a0 No.<\/p>\n
We wonder.\u00a0 We step back from a situation and observe, ask questions, then process them in a complex, data rich environment foreign to the world of bits and bytes.\u00a0 Bring on the machines.\u00a0 All of’em.\u00a0 I’m not even worried about the Kurzweil singularity.\u00a0 If it happens, we’ll never know, right?\u00a0 Where is that ottoman?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Full Bridgit Moon Watson.\u00a0 Won at Jeopardy.\u00a0 Big time.\u00a0 Over the best player of the game ever.\u00a0 Human player.\u00a0 The coverage has interested me because it showcases what we might call the John Henry syndrome.\u00a0 Each time a machine takes on a task thought uniquely human and masters it, then beats a human competitor, … Continue reading The John Henry Syndrome<\/span>