In which we are joined by Ezri of Swampside Chats, to continue our discussion of "Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation" by Joseph Weizenbaum. In this episode we cover the first chapter of the book.
Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment to Calculation (1976) by Joseph Weizenbaum displays the author's ambivalence towards computer technology and lays out the case that while artificial intelligence may be possible, we should never allow computers to make important decisions because computers will always lack human qualities such as compassion and wisdom.
Weizenbaum makes the crucial distinction between deciding and choosing. Deciding is a computational activity, something that can ultimately be programmed. It is the capacity to choose that ultimately makes one a human being. Choice, however, is the product of judgment, not calculation. Comprehensive human judgment is able to include non-mathematical factors such as emotions. Judgment can compare apples and oranges, and can do so without quantifying each fruit type and then reductively quantifying each to factors necessary for mathematical comparison.
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037 - The People's Republic of Walmart, Part 2
036 - The People's Republic of Walmart, Part 1
Extra - GIU Community Discord Server
035 - Climate Technology, Gender, and Justice, with Tina Sikka
034 - Platform Capitalism, with Bob Neubauer
033 - Retrospective
Extra - Emancipation Network
032 - The Inherent Instability of Disordered Systems
Extra - Book Giveaway: People's Republic of Walmart
031 - Designing Freedom
030 - Organising Tech, with Wendy Liu & Jason Prado
029 - The Player of Games, with Fraser Simons
028 - Xenofeminism, Part 2
027 - Xenofeminism, Part 1
026 - Reflections On Metaphorum 2018
025 - Sketches Of Another Future, ft. Andrew Pickering
024 - Transforming Technology, Part 3
Extra - State Of The Unit 2018
023 - Transforming Technology, Part 2
022 - Transforming Technology, Part 1
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