From Computer Power and Human Reason

This was a fascinating article. I can't say I am surprised that the

ELIZA program that became known as DOCTOR had the effect that it

did on people. When you look around today we see so many people

looking for advice in books and magazines and they have no idea who

wrote the information. In these instances we can usually rely on the

fact that a human came up with the information( even though that's not

saying that it's helpful or reliable information). In the case of a

computer playing human, there are so many possible things that could go

wrong. Like it is highlighted in the article the context of our language is

key in communication, and as Weizenbaum mentions, there are things

that a computer should not be programmed to do. I like the fact that

he continues to point out the aspect of computer still being computers

regardless of what they are used for. Meaning, we can create a

program to give therapy to someone, but this therapy is still computed.

I also really like how Weizenbaum mentioned the fact that arts used to

be a source for humans to gain understanding and intellectual

nourishment but that science was becoming the sole form of

understanding (Weizenbaum). One interesting thing I thought about

while reading this article is that technology is becoming such a common

part of our daily lives that many people look to the computer for their

answers to everything. I find myself typing in questions some times

rather than asking a friend, or a teacher, or someone who may also

know the answer.