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Yesterday’s Fiction is Today’s Reality
It All Began 50 Years Ago. . .
“HAL 9000 is the on -board supercomputer of the spaceship Discovery in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick and the book of the same name by Arthur C. Clarke . Its name is the acronym for Heuristic ALgorithmic “(” algorithmic heuristic “). HAL 9000 is equipped with an advanced artificial intelligence that allows it to reproduce all the activities of the human mind and to govern the “Discovery 1” spaceship; to lead it during the space mission, dialoguing with the astronauts (he would be able to govern the ship even without a human crew) and keeping under his control every single aspect of the mission, from the smallest to the most important.”- Wikipedia
50 years ago, the notion of a computer taking command was considered “science fiction”. But, much like Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, yesterday’s fiction is today’s reality.
Our world is experiencing change at an accelerated pace which is going to impact the way we do business forever. We are on a trajectory that carries with it both opportunity and responsibility. The opportunities will enable us to run ships and offices more efficiently and effectively, resulting in lowered impacts on the environment and savings of time and money.
The responsibility comes with the need to provide safety and security. Currently, the IMO is exploring the regulatory framework for ensuring this happens; it needs the intentionality of the industry to develop technology and protocols that provide and protect.
And we cannot make the mistake of becoming complacent with these systems—remember the lesson of hubris HAL taught us:
Carleen Lyden Walker
HAL: “The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.”
Keep optimizing,
Carleen
