CS 575 Spring K.V. Bapa Rao

Outline Administrative Review of previous class Discussion of Engelbart’s Paper (contd) Student Presentations Licklider’s papers General Discussion Summary Agenda for next meeting

Administrative

Student Presentations Deirdre Foster: Convergence Michael Dahl: Brain-computer integration Aspet Golestanian: History

REMINDER: A [flexible] structure for our study ‘Human issues’ is all-encompassing Many interlocking dimensions Human roles vis-à-vis the computer – User – Inventor / researcher – Visionary – Content creator – Hacker – Criminal – Business person – Wealth generator – … Human-computer coupling – Symbiosis, tool, …

A [flexible] structure for our study (contd) Domains of human activity – Education, Entertainment, Play, Family, Reproduction, Art,Wealth generation, Government, consumption, religion, philosophy, … Values – Many values depend on role, domain, … – Absolute values? – Creativity, aesthetics, access, opportunity, freedom, spirituality, rationality, peace, brotherhood, prosperity, … Vision, potentials, realities – Babbage’s Analytical Engine, Bush’s Memex, … Pragmatics – Is it possible? How to get there? – Techniques, Design, Technology, Scaling and emergent phenomena – Will a whole new thing emerge if huge numbers of humans interact with computers in a certain way? How do we understand that ‘thing’? Other aspects, dimensions?

Augmenting the Human Intellect 1962 Engelbart’s report/proposal to Air Force Ofc. Of Scientific Research – Capability to obtain better solutions to complex problems New conceptual framework – Not small tricks Example scenario: an architect’s workday – Design alternatives – Operational environments – Functional specifications – Detailed design – Tools Synthesis, analysis, verification, debugging

Engelbart Overview Conceptual framework is needed to know – What to augment artifacts language methodology Training – Goal: problem solving process Process is what we actually do, and are trying to do more effectively – Structure or organization across the board Little steps, organized as a process hierarchy – Versus objects? Process repertoire or toolkit Basic capabilities (‘hardware’) to higher-level capabilities – Synergy, emergent capabilities, … Which subprocess to choose? – Executive Capability: planning, selecting, and supervising – Augmentation impact Suppose you had a better writing tool… – Hardware, software, dictionary, spell checker, fact researcher, … – Pencil to word processor » Benefits? » Break down old process, come up with new process » New capabilities!

Engelbart: Two-domain system H-LAM/T

Engelbart (contd) Capability repertoire hierarchy – Basic capabilities (human and artifact) are the raw materials – Mental structuring (cognitive structures) Development Models: garden, basketball team, machine building – Concept structuring – Symbol structuring – Process structuring ‘M’ in H-LAM/T – Physical structuring A in H-LAM/T – Interdependence among all these structures

Engelbart (contd) How did humans get ‘augmented’ during our development? – 1. concept manipulation – 2. symbol manipulation – 3. Manual, External, Symbol Manipulation Whorf’s hypothesis: Language affects our thinking and capabilities – 4. Automated external symbol manipulation (neo- whorfian: technology affects language and capabilities) Language can also evolve to meet conceptual and task needs (counterargument to whorfian hypothesis)

Engelbart (contd) Brick-pencil experiment

Engelbart (contd) Brick-pencil expt (de-augmentation) – Typewriter: 7 sec – Pencil: 20 secs – Brick, small letters: 65+ secs – Brick, large letters: 42 secs Impacts on effectiveness of culture – Too hard  too few people doing it – Different concepts for work, record-keeping, etc. What about known impacts of actual augmentation, 46 years after Engelbart wrote this proposal?

Engelbart (contd) Concept structuring – concepts are tools – concepts have handles--representations – concept structures map to mental structures – some concept structures are better than others – language (natural lang esp) is the grand concept structuring tool

Engelbart (contd) Symbol structuring – some symbols work better than others depends on the purpose – need flexibility, translatability – view generation capability (rather than physical linear ordering)

Engelbart (contd) Interdependence among hierarchies – Cyclic – Regenerative Improvement in one category feeds improvement in other categories

Engelbart (contd) Roles and levels – executive – direct-contributive model of executive superstructure – Bureaucratic hierarchy is onerous – contractor-subcontractor model Flexibility in the Executive Role – executive tasks are complex – orderly flexibility requirement on symbol etc. structures is costly – disorderly process of change must be supported ‘agile methodologies’

Engelbart (contd) Who will benefit – Every person who does his thinking with symbolized concepts Human language, pictographs, formal logic, mathematics, … – Architects, engineers, lawyers, writers, … – ‘information workers’

Human-computer symbiosis Issues – Speed mismatch – System requirements (hardware, memory, …) – Organizational mismatch: Memory organization (Information structuring and retrieval) – Language mismatch What versus how – I/O mismatch Voice, mobile, touch, …

Computer as communication device “In a few years, men will be able to communicate more effectively through a machine than face to face” What is communication? – Two tape recorders exchanging data – Two humans having a meeting – Collaborative Modeling

Licklider Contd--Economics Models are complex Simplification is risky and dangerous – Oversimplification – Premature simplification Communicating models is expensive – Cost of not doing it?

Licklider Contd Computer as switch vs. interactor Distributed intellectual resources – ‘critical creative mass’ Vision of internet – Store-and-forward technology Economics: billing models

Vision of internet Node Mediator for online life: OLIVER Social groups Better for individual Better for society

Summary Human Augmentation & Man-Computer symbiosis studied systematically very early on Licklider’s vision of internet was based on communication Led to TCP/IP

Agenda for next week