14 years passed but I would agree today, "the computer revolution hasn't happened yet". We have smart phones and tablets in the hands of millions of children but that does not seem to help them with learning, we see a pandemic in action but our response is far from optimal. Do I see it wrong, or is there an explanation at the Viewpoints Research Institute to the lack of progress, perhaps a long term strategy? Thank you.
Yoshiki Ohshima8 hours ago
I think Alan gave talks with the same title (but quite different contents) ,and another one I am aware of is done in 1997 (https://tinlizzie.org/IA/index.php/Talks_by_Alan_Kay) so it is more like 24 years minimum (but the year 1980 has been brought up a few times so you could say over 40 years). The reason is multiple factors.. but this is an explanation by Alan himself: https://www.quora.com/At-OOPSLA-1997-Alan-Kay-gave-a-talk-titled-The-computer-revolution-hasnt-happened-yet-What-parts-have-materialized-thus-far-and-if-not-why-not Also note that once Alan said: "'The computer revolution has not happened yet' is a line we should keep saying even after it has happened.".
@Yoshiki Ohshima Ah, that caused my confusion! I remembered a much younger Alan talking about the same elements even with the same demo. So, let's date it further back, it only makes the problem worse and the request for and explanation and strategy more important.
I see strong similarity to the AI arena: long time, huge efforts, popularity - but only sci-fi movies, chatbots and lamentation about ethics. Back in the days when OpenAI had an open forum, I dared to ask the demigods if they had a clear definition of "intelligence" before creating its artificial form? Because without it, the whole research is a Texas Sharpshooter exercise.
I don't see any reason to revoke this statement. To ask better questions, we must be more precise. If we talk about the Turing Test, read and understand the definition. If we praise chatbots, read and understand the warnings from the creator, Joseph Weizenbaum of the first one, ELIZA. If we refer to the laws of robotics, know that there are four and understand the very message Asimov tried to deliver with the 0th. And so on...
Based on such grounds, there is a scientific/engineering level definition of intelligence and a roadmap to create it. Without it... it's like waiting to the moonlanding "to happen". It never happens. It is created by the organized effort of a huge amount of highly trained and selected professionals.
The very reason informatics was defined by Vannevar Bush. And you know that.
As I see, we had a huge progress in the "tooling and penetration" of IT. Like, smart phones are way beyond the OLPC. OK, not all children have them, but look at those who do: TikTok "happened", but I don't think that's Alan's revolution... Should I list direct consequences from the Marvel Universe level "visions and heroes" to NSA and Cambridge Analytica; other global problems as side effects?
Do you accept my statement that 1: the result is not the intended one, 2: the direction is not promising and 3: waiting for a magical upturn after 14/24/40 years is not a strategy?
You are the Viewpoints Research Institute, you are the professionals, I am just a random outsider on YouTube with some background and inconvenient questions. What is your point of view today about the root causes of this stall? What is your strategy?
Thank you.
Yoshiki deleted the second comment - I deleted the first one.
