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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."

9 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 Znork · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Indeed, this sounds exactly like Clippy. I read an article on Clippy a few years ago. Clippy was a great idea, that was supposed to help in just these ways. During R&D it worked very well.

      Then MS marketing got involved. They decided that Clippy didnt get activated enough. Clippy in its research version might have popped up once a month when a user really needed help. However, once a month would not justify the expense of development and marketing, nor could it be hailed as a great new feature if the users almost never saw it.

      Enter the new and marketing improved Clippy any MS office user over the last decade has had the misfortune to experience. Junk the I part of AI, and just make an annoying paperclip instead of a helpful tool. I can only imagine how the researchers felt about having their nice idea turned into something like what Clippy got to be.

      Maybe we'll see a real implementation of this kind of technology at some point in time. But I'll bet any commercial application of this is more likely to get written by popup ad companies, and jog the ATC guys elbow by suggesting which airline he should be using or something...

    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.
  2. 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.
  3. Great if I can force specific things on it.... by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I want to force it to always save to the mapped E: drive... not where the user wants to save it.

    The biggest problem is the user that saves things willy-nilly, relies on editing a spreadsheet in an email and never saves it specifically, etc....

    Unless it can be told to force certian behaivoir upon the user to be in line with corperate requirements.... I dont see it as useful and more of another PITA app that makes my life more difficult as a Net/sys admin

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  4. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  5. What are you doing, Dave? by tds67 · · Score: 5, Interesting

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

  6. 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