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Executive Secretary In Every Computer

Posted by timothy on from the almost-but-not-completely-unlike-tea dept.

An anonymous reader writes "BusinessWeek Online just ran an interview with a researcher from Sandia National labs whose team has developed an alternative approach to artificial intelligence. They have come up with a software program that models a computer user's behavior and gives the user advice, corrects his errors or saves files according to the user's own logic. The idea is for computers to learn how to use with users -- instead of vice versa. The software has already been tested with air traffic controllers."

21 of 320 comments (clear)

  1. I apparently already have this function.... by sweeney37 · · Score: 5, Funny

    gives the user advice, corrects his errors or saves files

    His name is Clippy, and I hate him.

    Mike

    1. Re:I apparently already have this function.... by Junks+Jerzey · · Score: 5, Funny

      His name is Clippy, and I hate him.

      Why doesn't someone write an agent to predict what the replies will be to a given Slashdot story? It could be done as an elementary school project.

    2. Re:I apparently already have this function.... by JediTrainer · · Score: 3, Funny

      Clippy in its research version might have popped up once a month when a user really needed help.

      Like in this situation?

      --

      You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. The impossible just takes a little longer.
    3. Re:I apparently already have this function.... by Zog+The+Undeniable · · Score: 5, Funny

      If (icon==hardware) then beowulfClusterJoke() If (icon==yro) then welcomeNewOverlordsJoke() If (icon==borg) then ???Profit!Joke() If (rnd>0.3) then sovietRussiaJoke() else lameFpAttempt()

      --
      When I am king, you will be first against the wall.
    4. Re:I apparently already have this function.... by Kwiik · · Score: 3, Funny

      void lameFpAttempt()
      {printf("

      Step 1. Become overlord of Soviet Russia
      Step 2. Beowulf cluster
      Step 2. ???
      Step 3. Economic improvement!\n");}

      --
      Vehicle Stars used car search is my current project
  2. Clippy by mrpuffypants · · Score: 4, Funny

    "It looks like you're trying to land a plane. Would you like lunch?"

    "It looks like you're trying to talk to a pilot. Would you like to write a letter to him?"

    "It look like you're trying to turn me off. Dave. Don't do that Dave."

  3. tested with ATC? oh crap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    "It looks like you're trying to direct a plane into land. Would you like me to help you?"
    • Yes please.
    • No, I do not need help landing planes.
    • No, and don't show Crashy again.
    Click here for other automated flight controller assistants.
    1. Re:tested with ATC? oh crap by ax_42 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Your shareware copy of LandingGear 2.0 has expired, please contact www.ohshit.com to buy a full licence.

  4. think lewinsky by kraksmoka · · Score: 4, Funny
    can we all agree that using technology to replace secretaries and interns defeats the purpose?

    on a serious note, just having word and excel has replaced many thousands of secretaries already. can anyone out there say that typing is solely a clerical skill like it was 20 years ago?

    --
    "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." - Rahm Emanuel
    1. Re:think lewinsky by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      can anyone out there say that typing is solely a clerical skill like it was 20 years ago?

      It's not just a clerical skill. My thief has a +17 typing ability...

    2. Re:think lewinsky by Wvyern · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was gonna say, will this secretary have big boobs? We all want one with big boobs or again, whats the point!

      --
      "Sheep just follow the easiest path and run from scary noises and intimidating creatures." - Me
  5. Microsoft style by towaz · · Score: 4, Funny

    Probable would work sort of like this.
    Mr clippy

    --

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire
  6. Computers that learn from the user? by metalhed77 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does that mean that when my mom calls me up for tech support that I'll have to teach her and her computer where the any key is?

    --
    Photos.
  7. Can you imagine a Beowulf cluster of Clippies? by heironymouscoward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Helpful software everywhwre? Sweet Jesus!

    It's almost as bad as the polite elevators ("Which floor would you like to go to today") in the HHGTTG.

    Software should be like God made it: rude, difficult, and flaky. The users need their daily dosage of pain and whom are we to deny this to them? It's the endorphins, man!

    --
    Ceci n'est pas une signature
  8. I need help... by KingRamsis · · Score: 3, Funny

    " The idea is for computers to learn how to use with users -- instead of vice versa. "

    can someone put that in a "in soviet russia" joke ? I tried but I was too confused.

  9. I can see it now. A typical work day... by Rudy+Rodarte · · Score: 4, Funny

    08:08 AM -- It looks like you're browsing /.
    Would you like me to refresh the site 10 times a second to give you a few fr1st p05ts?
    09:17 AM -- It looks like you're browsing /. ...
    Again.
    Would you like me to answer your phone and tell everyone that you are in a meeting?
    09:45 AM -- It looks like you're browsing /. ...
    Again.
     Would you like me to call your wife and tell her you are working late?
    And so on...

    --
    What, me Tweet?
  10. wonderful :( by scovetta · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great, now the percentage of women working in tech companies will go from 15% down to 2%. Good job, ass.

    --
    Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
  11. going nuclear by misterpies · · Score: 3, Funny

    >>The software has already been tested with air traffic controllers.

    Why did they bother testing it with air traffic controllers when they could have launched it straight onto some low-risk industry, like nuclear power? (Then again maybe we don't want software imitating Homer Simpson's logic.)

    --
    The author of this post asserts his moral rights.
  12. Helpful! by whterbt · · Score: 3, Funny

    It looks like you're trying to land an airplane!

    Would you like to find out...

    • ...how to turn on the runway lights?
    • ...information on the runways?
    • ...how to use Print Preview?
    • ...more about Microsoft(C) ATC(TM) 2000?
    • ...how to turn me the f*ck off?
    --
    Too late to be known as Bush the First, he's sure to be known as Bush the Worst.
  13. Re:What are you doing, Dave? by allanj · · Score: 3, Funny

    What happens when the user is a sick, twisted and sadistic person. Will the computer adapt to that kind of user?


    If it does, my guess would be that it'd use 'vi' as the default editor for anything.

    --
    Black holes are where God divided by zero
  14. Re:air traffic controllers? by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 3, Funny
    " The next killer app, in my opinion, is the application that allows you to not only save content, but also the context (or contexts, even - human beings don't keep things in their head under one strict association - there are multiple pointers to the same information) behind that word doc, picture, etc."

    Exactly, and this context could be applied to many things. For example, when I download torrents of anime now, I always save them to the same folder which is my holding area for anime I download, which I later move to its correct folder upon viewing. If my computer could sense that I was downloading anime (yet again) and direct it to the proper folder, that would be great. If it could generate a list of what I've viewed completely, what I've partially watched, and what I haven't watched yet, that would be amazing.

    Even better, sometimes a series gets moved around in my folder because it has a different file name than others of its kind because it was subbed by a different group. I do not rename the filenames because I like to keep them the same for when I send to others, yet if my computer could figure out that a file was part of a certain group of files even though it had a different filename, that would be a great boon to my productivity.

    --
    Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!