Those who read my posts (and who have a still-functional memory...have
you noticed that one of the biggest complaints about Neo is not being
able to rely on "Search" to supplement one's own failing memory) may
recall that a few weeks ago I mentioned an old (in the world of
cyberspace, that is) program called ELIZA
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELIZA> . It was an early attempt at
pseudo-AI and natural language processing that was supposed to emulate
what it was like to interact with a Rogerian psychotherapist, and it
worked pretty well...many were fooled into thinking they were chatting
with a real human being.
Now it appears that things have come full circle. Today's nerds have
become so socially impaired as a result of spending all their time on
the Internet and on phone text and in virtual environments that they've
lost the ability to interact competently with live human beings. So the
nerds at MIT have come up with a new, updated version of ELIZA called
MACH (My Automated Conversation coacH) to teach people who have lost the
ability to have one-on-one conversations with other live human beings to
do so.
If you're thinking that this is a partly veiled "hit" and that I'm
suggesting that many on this forum could benefit from MACH, you're
right, but this really is a more general rap than that. I think that a
LOT of people all over the world could benefit from such remedial
education.
The most fascinating thing for me in the article below is that this
effort sprung from research done on how to help people with Asperger's.
You all know by now my fascination with the Danish/Swedish coproduction
"Bron/Broen" ("The Bridge") and with its main character, who has
Aspergers. But that series triggered in me the idea that a form of
technology-caused Aspergers may, in fact, be the Disease Of Our Age. If
there is *anything* that best characterizes conversations on *any* forum
on the Internet, in chat rooms, or in phone text messages, it is a lack
of empathy and the social skills we once considered "baseline" when
communicating with our fellow human beings.
I think it's very commendable that the folks at MIT have used the same
medium that has been *causing* people to lose their empathic abilities
and become distant from one another to correct the situation. YMMV.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/08/a-machine-that-te\
aches-people-how-to-talk.html
<http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/08/a-machine-that-t\
eaches-people-how-to-talk.html>
