Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Can computers
think (now or
in the future)?
On August 19, 1985, at a meeting of the American Association
for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), Woody Bledsoe, a distinguished
researcher and president of the organization, began his address to
the group as follows:
Twentyfive years ago I had a dream, a day dream if
you will. A dream shared with many of you. I dreamed of
a special kind of computer, which had eyes and ears, and
arms and legs, in addition to its “brain.”
I did not dream that this new computer friend would
be a means of making money for me or my employer, or
a help for my country—though I loved my country then
and still do, and I have no objection to making money. I
did not even dream of such a worthy cause as helping the
poor and handicapped of the world using this marvelous
new machine.
No, my dream was filled with the wild excitement of
seeing a machine act like a human being, at least in many
ways.
I wanted it to read printed characters on a page, and
handwritten script as well. I could see it, or a part of it, in
a small camera which would fit on my glasses, with an at
tached earplug which would whisper into my ear the
names of my friends and acquaintances as I met them on
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