Jos said to dmb: Its like you're saying "I've guessed what the outcome of this experient will be so I wont bother to perform it" ...It might well be sinister and dangerous but there's nothing artless about it. You go with the flow and see what happens - often it turns out to have been a waste of time, but just occasionaly something amazing turns up. There's nothing different about AI research in this regard as compared to any other field. ...Whats the nightmare for our artisitic types? Competetion? Proper poets will be unhindered by the changing media and will most likely embrace it.
dmb says: If it is sinister and dangerous and experimental then how wise is it to go with the flow? And I don't think we have to guess about the effects of technology. Nearly two hundred years ago a young women got involved in a writing contest with her poet friends and the result was FRANKENSTEIN, the subtitle of which is "the Modern Prometheus". So ancient myths and classic novels can be added to the more recent sci-fi versions of this idea. (The Borg, Darth Vader, etc) I could site example all day long. And of course there are utopian visions around technology too. Just about every major innovation brought with it dreams of a world transformed. Trains, lightbulbs, phones, computers, you name it. Its the other side of the same coin. Science will either save us or enslave us. Anyway, the various kinds of writers have already presented their nightmare visions of technology. I'm not saying Mary Shelly started it or that the brothers who wrote THE MATRIX trilogy are literally poets. I'm just saying that we can be delusional about the promises of technology. Don't forget that "TO SERVE MAN" was a cook book. We have created a technological world for ourselves. We already use it to enhance almost every aspect of life. We depend on the power of technology to the point where we depend on it. I mean, if the technological infrastructure of the West were to suddenly break down we'd probably be counting the dead in the millions. I guess I'm thinking of what's already been lost. Too much data and not enough wisdom. I love Mr. Google as much as the next guy, but the biggest money maker in cyberspace is porn. Cyberspace was designed as a research tool but now MySpace is something like the 9th biggest country in the world. And its a fabulous tool. I never really had a computer at home until this year and nobody could go to grad school without one, but cyberspace mostly serves consumer desires, lust, vanity and is otherwise overflowing with bullshit. I mean, this medium was invented for noble purposes and they haven't disappeared entirely but its like any other kind of power. People use it unwisely. Its like the debate about gun control. We know guns aren't inherently evil, but we know that people are. We know people flip out, freak out, panic and are otherwise given to fits of irrationality. We know this for sure. Happens every day. I mean, think about a sociopath with superduper google enhanced intelligence. This is the thing about our time, you know. Osama Bin Laden is a medieval man with a satellite phone and a lap top. There is a gap betweeen his mentality and the power of the technology he can use. It must be something like given nukes to Charlie Manson. You don't know exactly what's gonna happen but you know it won't be good. dmb _________________________________________________________________ Need a break? Find your escape route with Live Search Maps. http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?ss=Restaurants~Hotels~Amusement%20Park&cp=33.832922~-117.915659&style=r&lvl=13&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1118863&encType=1&FORM=MGAC01 moq_discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
