These days, when people look at emergent computer models, they see reflected the idea that the “I” might be a bundle of neuron-like agents in communication. This sounds close enough to how people think about the brain to begin to make them feel comfortable.
Predictor: Turkle, Sherry
Prediction, in context:In her 1995 book “Life on the Screen,” Sherry Turkle – an accomplished social psychologist, sociologist and anthropologist from MIT whose studies centered around people and computers for decades – writes: ”When the prevailing image of artificial intelligence was information processing, many who criticized the computer as a model of mind feared that it would lead people to view themselves as cold mechanism. When they looked at the computer, they had a ‘not me’ response. Now we face an increasingly complex situation. These days, when people look at emergent computer models, they see reflected the idea that the ‘I’ might be a bundle of neuron-like agents in communication. This sounds close enough to how people think about the brain to begin to make them feel comfortable. The not-me response turned into a like-me response.”
Biography:Sherry Turkle was the author of “Life on the Screen: Computers and the Human Spirit.” and a professor of the psychology of science at MIT. (Research Scientist/Illuminator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Community/Culture
Subtopic: Human-Machine Interaction
Name of publication: Life on the Screen (book)
Title, headline, chapter name: Chapter 5: The Quality of Emergence
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Page 141
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney