Directions

"Man-Computer Symbiosis" by J.C.R. Licklider was published in 1960 and provided a guide for decades of computer research. The paper was based on work performed by a small research group at BBN. In this paper Licklider makes a number of statements about the future of man and computers:

• ..."it would be 1980 before developments in artificial intelligence make it possible for machines alone to do much thinking or problem solving of military significance."
• "To think in interaction with a computer in the same way that you think with a colleague whose competence supplements your own will..."

Lick followed his "Man-Computer Symbiosis" with the paper, "The Computer as a Communications Device", Science and Technology, 1968.

Write a 3 to 5 page paper which looks at both papers. Make sure to investigate the following questions:

• Were Licklider's list of prerequisites the 'correct' list? Some of these have to be understood from the timeframe of 1960 and the issues at that time in building computers
• Was he on track with his "The Computer as a Communications Device"?
• Look at one or more of his prerequisites and decide if we have attained the performance Licklider desired.
• Is man-computer symbiosis the correct approach, i.e., is it a 'good' thing to do? Would you like being 'wired'?
• Is man-computer symbiosis possible today? In the lab? In the general population? Is it our future?

Mike Erlinger