Man-Computer SymbiosisJ.C.R. Licklider

What do we mean by symbiosis?

• cooperative “living together in intimate association, or even close union, of two dissimilar organisms” is called symbiosis

Man-computer symbiosis is somewhere between mechanically extended man and humanly

extended machine.

Why would symbiosis be beneficial?

• Symbiosis should improve our ability to solve problems because:– Computers are great at

solving pre-formulated problems.

– Humans are good at formulating problems.

Do we really need symbiosis?

• Licklider analyzed how he spent his own research time and concluded the following:– We spend most of our time

preparing to think.– We spend lots of time

graphing, graphing, and re-graphing (and generally manipulating data).

– Once we have the data in a reasonable form we can usually perform our thinking quickly.

What is man’s part in the relationship?

• Identifying relevant background information

• Formulating problems• Identifying relevant

very-low-probability possibilities

What is the computer’s role?

• Converting hypotheses into testable models

• Simulating models• Answering questions• Manipulating data• Displaying data

What are the prerequisites to symbiosis?

• Computers are too fast and too costly for any one man; need timesharing

• Memory is too expensive and bulky

• Memory will have to be organized for search

• The barrier between human and computer languages will need to be reduced

• Better input and output equipment is needed

Has symbiosis been achieved already?

• Some of Licklider’s prerequisites have not yet been achieved, but have we already achieved symbiosis?

• Is there more to come?– NLP?– More natural input and

output?

• Where does crowdsourcing fit in?

• What about data overload? Are we too connected?