Power We Could Ever Need, if Only

¶ … Power We Could Ever Need, if Only We Could Use it: An Analysis of "Collective Wisdom" by Brian Hayes

In "Collective Wisdom," author Brian Hayes gives a very good description of super computers, their computing power, and how people can access that computing power. It is a very interesting discussion of a topic that I personally would not have previously found interesting. Although the technical aspect of the discussion left me uninterested, I found some of Hayes' implications to be very interesting. The first point his article had me pondering is whether computers will expand human intelligence or whether human intelligence will necessarily confine the limits of computers. The second thing I wondered about his article is if the general public has any right to expect to be able to use any computers in their idle time. These two questions made me come to the realization that the Internet presents moral and ethical dilemmas related to the transmission of knowledge that I simply had not considered prior to reading this article.

Discussion

After reading the article, one of the first things I wondered was whether computers would be limited by human intelligence. Perhaps I have seen too many science-fiction movies where computers and machines begin running the Earth, but seeing Hayes' stark comparisons of a computer's computational ability compared to the ability of humans to even input data to the computer, I began to think that computers may not be smarter than humans in an intuitive way, but as far as inductive and deductive reasoning skills, they already outstrip the vast majority of human beings. I admit that it makes me nervous to think that artificial intelligence may not be at a point where it can replicate human emotion, but, if programmed correctly, it seems to no longer be a question of computers being capable of out-thinking humans, but an accepted reality.

Another issue that his article made me consider is whether the public has a right to expect to be able to use computers during their idle periods. It really made me contemplate the nature of the Internet. While people have to pay to access the Internet in some manner, that cost is nominal, and, in return, people have access to vast stores of information. This is something that is really remarkable. In return for that access, should Internet users be required to make their computers available for other users when they are idle? Ethically it is an interesting question. Practically, for most personal users, it is both a moot issue and utterly impractical. It is moot because personal users do not generally possess computers with sufficient computational power to require people to need to borrow them. It is utterly impractical because of the viruses, spyware, and malware running rampant on the Internet; requiring people to allow other users unfettered access to personal machines during downtime would lead to billions of dollars in financial damages.

Conclusion