The SkyNet Chronicles: Apple Introduces Siri

I've posted a few times before about the increasing intelligence of computers and whether or not they are approaching the sinister capabilities of SkyNet, the fictional computer that became self-aware in the TERMINATOR movies and turned on its makers.  Yesterday, Apple was supposed to announce the iPhone 5 but the real big announcement was of a new app called Siri, which is a digital personal assistant.  It makes appointments on your calendar, it tells you where to find local Starbucks, it will even remind you gently to call your wife.

Of course, it does all of this after you tell it to.  But no matter....the Internets were abuzz with SkyNet freak outs yesterday.  CNN reported on this in a story which mentioned old SkyNet precursor Hal9000 from the 2001 movies.  I didn't even know that Hal has his own Twitter feed but he certainly had some snarky things to say on it about his new rival.  No word from Watson, IBM's supercomputer that beat a human on Jeopardy recently.  But maybe if someone set up Siri (who sounds like a woman, though Apple creepily calls her "it") and Watson and they had a baby it would grow up to rule the world! [Insert sinister laugh here.]  Computer conception, though, seems a little ways off....

SkyNet--Please Call Your Agent

The geniuses at IBM's research lab in Hawthorne, NY have been working hard on a new supercomputer called Watson.  This computer is so smart that it is actually beating real live humans' at Jeopardy.  It evens answers in the form of a question!   This thing is so good that it has been freaking the other contestants out, leading to all sorts of nervous SkyNet jokes about when it will gain consciousness and nuke their nerdy ass.  


There's a lengthy article about this super-duper computer from last week's TIMES Sunday magazine. It's worth reading if you are a techno-junkie or techno-phobe.  There's exciting and disturbing news here for both camps.