Jim Taylor's Columns - 'Soft Edges' and 'Sharp Edges'

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16

Jan

2022

You can’t argue with a computer

Author: Jim Taylor

Sunday January 16, 2022

 

I got a phone message the other night. A very nice voice reminded me that I had not paid my last electricity bill. So, of course, I called the company the next morning. And  I got, of course, a voice menu. 

             “To confirm that you are the authorized representative for this account, enter your birthdate…”

            I did.

            “That information does not correspond with our data,” the robot voice informed me. 

            I got through, eventually, to a helpful woman who explained that the computer couldn’t recognize my birthdate, because it had never been entered. Now, wouldn’t you think that a computer smart enough to handle millions of accounts could have told me that?


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10

Oct

2021

Facebook exploits angry protesters

Author: Jim Taylor

Sunday October 10, 2021

 

A rising tide of people in this country apparently believe – body, mind, and spirit – that they are called overthrow the established powers-that-be. By any means. Including physical insurrection. 

             They seem to buy into some kind of conspiracy which they – and they alone – know about.

            I have a deep suspicion of all conspiracy theories. I find it far simpler to blame basic human emotions –greed, anger, ignorance, even stupidity – than to imagine vast numbers of people somehow collaborating in a mass movement to take over the world.

            But that works the other way, too.  I do not believe that the mainstream media – television, radio, newspapers, and magazines – conspire to censor negative information about masks and vaccines.


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20

Jun

2018

Free will changes all futures

Author: Jim Taylor

“If I could only go back and do it again,” I hear people lament. “If I only knew then what I know now, I would have done it differently.”

            But, says logic, if you went back in time, you would still make the same decision, for good or ill. Because at that time you acted on the basis of the knowledge you had. All of the knowledge you had. And if you went back, that would still be the same. Because you can’t take 50 additional years of experience and learning back with you. 

            You were what you were. And your decisions were determined for you by your experiences. 

            All of this depends on an underlying assumption – that we humans are nothing more than a product of our environment.

            Or, to put it in more traditional language, that we have no free will. 


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19

Apr

2017

Re-program your reactions

Author: Jim Taylor

Joan and I bought a new car recently. It almost makes me obsolete. It will brake if there’s something in front. It will brake if there’s something behind. It will slow down when the car in front slows down. It will stay in its own lane. It will warn me if I’m not paying enough attention.

            All these programs run on what’s called an algorithm. Basically, that’s a computer program, a step by step set of coded instructions that’s supposed to take into account all possible circumstances.

            An algorithm has no ethical principles. It is utterly amoral. It just does what it’s told to do.

            I wonder what it would do with the classic question posed by ethicists. There’s a beautiful maiden strapped to the railway tracks. And a runaway train coming. You can’t stop the train. But you could throw a switch and divert the train onto a different track, where it will wipe out a work crew.

  


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Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: ethics, algorithms, cars

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