Computers Will Never Be People

"A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it."
Rabindranath Tagore

Everbody knows computers can now beat the greatest Chess Masters in the world. Computers can calculate a zillion times faster than people. Eventually computers will be "smarter" than people. Everybody knows that. Everybody but me, I guess.

Many years ago, while employed by a major Canadian bank and attending a week-long workshop, I heard an amusing story about nascent computer technology. It seems the CIA had developed a translation program and wished to test it. Not being entirely dim (despite so much evidence that they are), the CIA smart guys knew that simply having the program translate something from one language to another would be an inadequate test of its ability and usefulness. So they tested by inputting in one language, having the computer first translate into another then taking that translation and re-translating it back into English. The other language was Russian, logically. One test phrase used was "Out of site; out of mind." In she goes…tick tick tick… and out comes: "Blind and crazy."

Now that was almost 40 years ago. Obviously things have changed. Computers and
programs had moved light years ahead and such silly errors could never happen. Well, maybe.

In an earlier post I mentioned that this blog had been blocked in China and the only
conceivable reason I could come up with is that the word "democracy" pops up here and there on the site. I also pointed out how crazy this is because where the word
appears, it is in an entirely negative context. But, clearly, the Chinese censorship
software must be "out of sight; out of mind".

Recently I have encountered a similar foolish failing. Google, among others, spends
gazillions perfecting algorithms allowing them to match advertising content with
either webpage content or other user-related information that might indicate an
interest or preference. They are the kings of the hill in this and have made more
money than Midas doing it.

So, some months ago I joined an Asian "dating" site (not really that - more like a social networking site). On my profile page I prominently put wording to the effect that I am 100% straight and did not desire to receive any messages from shemales, ladyboys, or whatever other euphemism of the day a particular homosexual might use. It was not a nasty notice; just a notice. So - maybe you can guess - now almost every page I load on that site includes a large, colorful ad for 'thailadyboy' or some such thing.

Computers are not "smart" any more than a lawnmower or automobile is "smart". They are mechanical devices that, within the limits of their human programing, perform arithmetical calculations, compare and contrast, and issue commands to other equally dumb mechanical devices. They do not imagine, conceive, or create from nothingness.

No doubt many would argue that they do now, or at least will in the future. I doubt it.
Why? I suppose a religious person would say it is because a computer has no soul. Me, I'd say it is because a computer has no "soul".