Understanding the Human-Machine Interface in a Time of Change

Background

Technology is not only getting more demanding, but it is also creating a greater day-to-day human reliance on its functions. In fact, more people are forming attachments to and dependence on non-carbon life forms than perhaps with each other. Technological advances are rapidly engulfing the everyday lives and environments of people all over the globe. There is no doubt that the proliferation of these non-carbon life forms will dramatically affect and alter the ways in which we communicate both with each other and with machines in the future. Knowing how to successfully sustain both kinds of relationships will be essential.

Clearly, machines are becoming increasingly self-sufficient and self-reliant. Robots are not only becoming smarter and more able, but they are also becoming more self-aware and adaptive. In recent years, machines have been developed that learn from observation, similarly to humans who learn from the external environment, and computer programs will increasingly be able to employ its knowledge about emotions to make logical decisions based upon memory. Machines are also able to make inferences about human behavior. In fact, it is predicted that AI-based search engines will become almost humanlike by 2050, and will eventually be able to comprehend users’ questions and queries just like a human assistant. Users will be able to enter questions and get relevant machine-generated answers (The Futurist, 2008.) The development of both mental and emotional robotic intelligence will have profound implications in terms of the way in which humans view their own intelligence. Traits typically assigned to human intelligence, such as abstract thought, self-awareness, reasoning, learning, having emotional knowledge, communication and problem solving will increasingly come under question as artificial intelligences become more advanced.