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Man-Computer Symbiosis

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Man-Computer SymbiosisSummaryMan-computer symbiosis is an expected development in cooperative inter-action between men and electronic computers. It will involve very closecoupling between the human and the electronic members of the partner-ship. The main aims are 1) to let computers facilitate formulative thinkingas they now facilitate the solution of formulated problems, and 2) to enablemen and computers to cooperate in making decisions and controlling com-plex situations without inflexible dependence on predetermined programs.In the anticipated symbiotic partnership, men will set the goals, formulatethe hypotheses, determine the criteria, and perform the evaluations. Com-puting machines will do the routinizable work that must be done to preparethe way for insights and decisions in technical and scientific thinking. Pre-liminary analyses indicate that the symbiotic partnership will perform intel-lectual operations much more effectively than man alone can perform them.Prerequisites for the achievement of the effective, cooperative associationinclude developments in computer time sharing, in memory components, inmemory organization, in programming languages, and in input and outputequipment.1 Introduction1.1 SymbiosisThe fig tree is pollinated only by the insect Blastophaga grossorun. Thelarva of the insect lives in the ovary of the fig tree, and there it gets itsfood. The tree and the insect are thus heavily interdependent: the treecannot reproduce wit bout the insect; the insect cannot eat wit bout the tree;together, they constitute not only a viable but a productive and thrivingpartnership. This cooperative “living together in intimate association, oreven close union, of two dissimilar organisms” is called symbiosis [27].“Man-computer symbiosis” is a subclass of man-machine systems. Thereare many man-machine systems.At present, however, there are no man-computer symbioses. The purposes of this paper are to present the conceptand, hopefully, to foster the development of man-computer symbiosis by an-alyzing some problems of interaction between men and computing machines,calling attention to applicable principles of man-machine engineering, and1pointing out a few questions to which research answers are needed. Thehope is that, in not too many years, human brains and computing machineswill be coupled together very tightly, and that the resulting partnership willthink as no human brain has ever thought and process data in a way notapproached by the information-handling machines we know today.1.2 Between “Mechanically Extended Man” and “ArtificialIntelligence”As a concept, man-computer symbiosis is different in an important wayfrom what North [21] has called “mechanically extended man.” In the man-machine systems of the past, the human operator supplied the initiative, thedirection, the integration, and the criterion. The mechanical parts of thesystems were mere extensions, first of the human arm, then of the humaneye. These systems certainly did not consist of “dissimilar organisms livingtogether …”There was only one kind of organism—man—and the rest wasthere only to help him.In one sense of course, any man-made system is intended to help man, tohelp a man or men outside the system. If we focus upon the human operatorwithin the system, however, we see that, in some areas of technology, afantastic change has taken place during the last few years. “Mechanicalextension” has given way to replacement of men, to automation, and the menwho remain are there more to help than to be helped. In some instances,particularly in large computer-centered information and control systems,the human operators are responsible mainly for functions that it provedinfeasible to automate. Such systems (“humanly extended machines,” Northmight call them) are not symbiotic systems. They are “semi-automatic”systems, systems that started out to be fully automatic but fell short of thegoal.Man-computer symbiosis is probably not the ultimate paradigm for com-plex technological systems. It seems entirely possible that, in due course,electronic or chemical “machines” will outdo the human brain in most of thefunctions we now consider exclusively within its province. Even now, Gel-ernter’s IBM-704 program for proving theorems in plane geometry proceedsat about the same pace as Brooklyn high school students, and makes simi-lar errors.[12] There are, in fact, several theorem-proving, problem-solving,chess-playing, and pattern-recognizing programs (too many for complete ref-erence [1, 2, 5, 8, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 25] ) capable of rivaling humanintellectual performance in restricted areas; and Newell, Simon, and Shaw’s2[20] “general problem solver” may remove some of the restrictions. In short,it seems worthwhile to avoid argument with (other) enthusiasts for artifi-cial intelligence by conceding dominance in the distant future of cerebrationto machines alone. There will nevertheless be a fairly long interim duringwhich the main intellectual advances will be made by men and computersworking together in intimate association. A multidisciplinary study group,examining future research and development problems of the Air Force, es-timated that it would be 1980 before developments in artificial intelligencemake it possible for machines alone to do much thinking or problem solvingof military significance. That would leave, say, five years to develop man-computer symbiosis and 15 years to use it. The 15 may be 10 or 500, butthose years should be intellectually the most creative and exciting in thehistory of mankind.2 Aims of Man-Computer SymbiosisPresent-day computers are designed primarily to solve preformulated prob-lems or to process data according to predetermined procedures. The courseof the computation may be conditional upon results obtained during thecomputation, but all the alternatives must be foreseen in advance. (If anunforeseen alternative arises, the whole process comes to a halt and awaitsthe necessary extension of the program.) The requirement for preformula-tion or predetermination is sometimes no great disadvantage. It is oftensaid that programming for a computing machine forces one to think clearly,that it disciplines the thought process.If the user can think his problemthrough in advance, symbiotic association with a computing machine is notnecessary.However, many problems that can be thought through in advance arevery difficult to think through


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