Jungle of thoughts

In the initial reading by Joseph Weizenbaum, I was struck by the sheer brilliance of his program ELIZA (later coined as DOCTOR) and the foreshadowing of various technologies of today. What first came to mind is the direct relationship between ELIZA and popular online chatting programs such as AOL Instant Messaging. Weizenbaum’s program is very similar to the cyber humans you can befriend online such as Smarterchild. Conversing with these “friends” can be extremely annoying and frustrating because when you make a comment the cyborg simply reflects the statement back to you in a question format, and there is a striking absence of individuality in these programs. However, I feel Weizenbaum’s idea of a virtual psychiatrist is exceptionally innovative and undeniably useful to replace a shortage of therapists. Unfortunately, this leads to the question of “where do we draw the line between human and machine intelligence?” I would most definitely side with Wizenbaum’s stance that we need to place limits on the power of computers. This can relate to Maggie’s idea that we shouldn’t rely on computers to do everything for us because it can strip us of logical abilities and lead to laziness. Also, if we give computers the power to supersede human intellectual capacity we could be in serious danger of loosing a society run by man to a society controlled entirely by artificial intelligence.

Donna Haraway, in A Cyborg Manifesto, also brings forth the idea of “a leaky distinction between animal-human and machine.” This blurred line makes cyborgs potentially deadly in a sense because with the digital human it becomes difficult to distinguish the real from the simulated both “politically and materially.” Also, the world of the cyborg raises issues of control, reproduction, illegitimacy, and lack of individuality. Haraway also makes a comparison between the cyborg and the Bible, which I find creative and intriguing. She explains, “The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden” and that “Modern machinery is an irreverent upstart god, mocking the Father’s ubiquity and spirituality.” I completely agree that the hybrid of machine and organism works against God’s intentions in the bible, first of all, because he created man and women to be reproductive beings. The cyborg, on the other hand, often lacks a distinction in gender and the ability to reproduce naturally. Furthermore, God created man to as individuals in his image, whereas the cyborg is simply an artificial construction by human hand which may lack a distinguishable personality and character. The cyborg could also relate to the issue of human cloning and its illegitimacy, but I’ll save that for a later another day. However, it’s important to note that both Haraway and Weizenbaum understand the concerns with technology taking over our lives and elaborate on their notions beautifully.