People might lose control over computers...

Vydáno dne 23.03.2009

This was a Microsoft report conclusion after discussion of 45 experts in computer science, psychology and sociology. In 2020 terms like „interface“ or „user“ will be out-of-date because computers will get considerably closer to humans. It will bring advantages for a man as well as certain danger.



People might lose control over computers in the near future!

The Microsoft report brought by BBC forecasts fair changes in interaction between the computer and user. In 2020, computers will observe human behaviour much more than they do today. Gradually, they will be able to anticipate what we want from them. It will need new rules for our communication with these machines.

THERE WILL BE CLEVER DEVICES

Keyboard, mouse and screen will be more frequently replaced with more intuitive forms of interaction including digitizers, systems for speech recognition and touch surfaces. The border between computers and men will be slowly disappearing during the following decade, as these systems will become parts of various objects, clothes, or - in case of medicine diagnostic facilities - even part of our bodies.

Digital technologies will affect our lives in 2020 much more, from mobile telephoning to camera systems. This in combination with ever-present Internet will affect our privacy and its protection will become the main problem of the interaction between men and machines.

Our digital trace - sharing information about our activities and thoughts gained through digital photography, podcasting, blogging and video - will get bigger and its growth will become crucial issue in discussion how much information about ourselves we should keep.

LOSING CONTROL

The ever-present net will provide bigger stream of information straight towards us and at the same time it will spread confidential information about us into the environment. The Microsoft report refers to this era as the period of hyper-connectivity and forecasts that it will lead to growth of "human addiction to technical devices." This growing confidential relation between people and computers will be double-edged.

The report compares the situation after spreading calculators (which were then widely blamed for the fact that people have had lesser ability to count on their own) with what might happen when computers become more intelligent and overtake new duties. "Without proper supervision we cannot exclude that we will lose control over ourselves and the world that surrounds us," the report warns.

It is important for language to invent names for new ways of interaction between men and computers as well as it is necessary to change the overall approach of the computer science education. "We cannot teach students only how computers and applications work, we must also mention their wider impact on society," concludes the Microsoft report.

Vybraná slovní zásoba:

interface - rozhraní
speech recognition - rozpoznávání řeči
digitizers - tablety
touch surfaces - dotykové povrchy
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