disturbing thought.. =., what's your take? Options

[DivA]

question.. =.

who controls who in this day & age - human or machine? *ponders* i've been thinking about this one today after seeing koyaanisqatsi earlier today; it's true that humans brought the machine into existence, but will the machine surpass & control our lives - especially in the future? do we still have control of our future? -.O *shivers* well, i'll toss this one out there for ATHQ to play with - what's your take on this?

useless fact: koyaanisqatsi translates as - life out of balance (fascinating film btw - highly recommended for those curious to learn how civilization is currently working...behind the scenes style, of course.. ^.-)

[Bryn]

QUOTE (Azrael @ Jun 21 2003, 01:46 PM)

...a Robot (even though it was tiny and buglike) that actually managed to escape from it's holding area....

Hehe, I remember reading that article, and paranoid sci-fi fan that I am, knew a robot uprising was imminent.

But really, we've reached a point in civilization where the thought of a machine takeover, ala Terminator style, is much less of a concern than what would happen if we didn't have machines at all. Technically a machine is any device created to perform a specific task, be it the wheel or a space shuttle, and the advent of better and more imaginative machines is what has brought our society to where it is today.

Of course, if all humans on the planet dissapeared machines would be usless, but in the same vein our civilization would crumble without them, since every facet of our daily lives is dependant on the use of technology. And while it may seem simple to say humans would survive without machines, how many of us actually know how to farm, hunt, store food, build houses...etc? In essence machines have already taken over our cultural development, and we are now in a symbiotic relationship with technology that there is no going back from.

I have little doubt that AI programming will become more advanced, raising the chance of machines running amok, so I guess in the future, when I order my personal house slave droid, I'll just have to make sure he has an easily accessible OFF switch...just in case.