After being alive for 24 years and 2 months, and watching a computer grow from a lab machine, to a living room essential. I ask this question to myself, how much more longer do I wait, before I chase my dream?
Dream, of being able to do something that I love to do, dream of being able to bring to all of us the means that make our lives easier, and if you are someone who knows me, you know my inclination towards intelligence.
In Persuit of the answer to the question, Can a computer really do anything? The question which I asked one of the computer lab assistance, when I was in 4th grade, is still non-conclusive.
Throughout these years,
At first, I had met people, who were not adaptive towards the technology, then I met people, who were forced to learn to adapt the technology, but would always complain, and now I meet people, who have given up and become experts in understanding the way the technology works. What really has changed here is in fact that, it is us humans who have evolved, to adapt to how a computer works, the computer has not!
I see tv commercials of toys for 2 years olds, which look like computers, with components which have a mouse and a keyboard like input device. Now a 2 year old knows how to point and click on a screen!!!
But, id have to say, in the face of all this! Some innovations do light up the heart, like the recent surface computing or the iPhone.
They bring a breath of fresh air that scintillates the mind, to break out of the bounds of a square screen and little arrow that goes wherever you make it go.
I remember another famous word from the yester-years, it was GIGO!
Garbage In, Garbage Out.
My reaction was… WHY?
Being humans, and being able to teach little kids how to use a computer, cant we do vice versa, and teach a computer to handle a analogical kid?
My point is, how long do we have to wait, to see a day, when a computer can “Help” us do our job!
I have been writing computer code for 14 years, and every time I work on a new software. I think, in my head, about, what would it be like, if I write some code in hear, that will “learn” by “observing” how the user of this software uses it, and then one day, offer the user to do this work for him.
Technically, that needs common sense, and we do not have an algorithmic representation of common sense yet.
How does, giving me a shiny new interface, with all the beautiful 3d effects, that does fundamentally the same thing that it did 10 years ago, any good for me?
Being more explicit, by that, I mean to say, “Software”!
I am still using word processing software, which lets me type this document, like it did 10 years, ago!
Are we saying, that in 10 years, the only meaning full innovation that we have done is a spell checker?
Where is the software that types my letters for me?
Where is the software that organizes my emails and appointments and creates a daily schedule for me?
Where is the software that organizes my music folder for me,
Where is the software the knows which music I like to listen at what time in the day, and can gauge my mood by knowing my blood pressure and meaning of the text that I am tying right now to and play the music that I like to hear in such a time by itself?
Most of you will say, we have software that does all that, I’d correct you,
Where is the software that does all the above, without a human telling it what to do…?
So, Where is the software that LEARNS? Where?
And then i lean back...... And I Smile!!