Chief Prognosticator

I just read a great article titled Chess Bump — The triumphant teamwork of humans and computers. It was written by William Saletan and is available at Slate.com and in the Washington Post. The main point of the article, written in the light of the recent overtaking of computers over humans in chess playing ability, can be summed up with the quote:

Don’t be afraid. We, too, are getting smarter, and computers are a big reason why. They’re not our enemies. They’re our offspring—our creations, helpers, and challengers.

You see, it’s not computers which are actually beating humans at chess, but the humans who write computer programs that beat humans at chess. Computers (and all great achievements in technology) are not better than us, but instead the tools which are making us, as the human race, better. Saletan sees human evolution as a three part play:

In the opening, humans evolved through engagement with nature. In the middle game, we projected our intelligence onto computers and co-evolved through engagement with them. In the endgame, we merged computers with our minds and bodies, bringing that projected intelligence back into ourselves. The distinction between human and artificial intelligence turns out to have been artificial.

Take a look at my interpretation of how computers will help humans reach unimaginable levels of knowledge, understanding and intelligence:

I find it very interesting how the public’s concept of “ownership” is rapidly changing when it comes to media. There has been little resistance to the movement from physical ownership to digital rights. I see our current position as only a step along the path. I think Steve Jobs only got it half right when he recently said,

Never say never, but customers don’t seem to be interested in it … The subscription model has failed so far…

Very true Steve, but what we consider ownership has gradually changed. Take a look at this illustration.
Over time, people have taken the idea of media ownership from the purely physical to the entirely digital. At this given point in time, people buy and download music to their computers. Is this the end? No way and you’re foolish to think otherwise. The next step is buying the “digital rights” to play a song whenever, wherever you want. It’s not a subscription model, but instead just another way to think about ownership. Steve Jobs got it right when he said “People want to own their music” but that does not necessarily mean download. Take a look at this illustration for my next point.
The ease of use of digital media is what has driven it’s popularity. People could not take music with them when it was LP based. Then Cassettes and CDs came along with the era of the Walkman and people could take it with them. But you had to remember to bring along your favorite CDs (or mix tapes) with you or else your CD player would be of no use. Then came MP3 and digital storage which allowed people to bring their entire music collection with them everywhere they went. But you still have to remember to synchronize your new purchases and carry the same listening device with you. The next step is total freedom from having to remember to do these things. When you own the digital rights to a song, you can listen to it anywhere in the world, anytime, on any device you “log in to”. Your friend’s MP3 player — sure. The headrest of an airline seat — why not. Your car? Your office computer? Your running shoes? Yes, Yes and Yes. This is the future — it’s only a matter of time!