Slashdot Mirror
Autonomic Code not About Replacing Humans
An anonymous reader writes "IT professionals can automate IT management tasks by delegating them to the system, and can plan the degree of automation that is right for them and how manual managers and autonomic managers work together. This article discusses the role of the humans, or lack there of, in autonomic systems. The article claims that isn't about replacing people with machines." How have other readers experienced the use of autonomic code both good and bad?
How have other readers experienced the use of autonomic code both good and bad?
I don't know what "autonomic? means, but isn't all code fundamentally automatic in nature? Isn't that why computers were invented in the first place - so that people would no longer have to perform the mind-numbingly boring, repetitive tasks that are perfect for "automation"?
I'm pretty sure the article is talking about software that manages managers, and delegates employes and that sorta thing. Like a windows application. A computer running the IT department sorta way.
I don't know where autonomicthingymagingy code came from.
Black Sky
2D Elite Inspired Game
Most anything a machine can do can be done by throwing enough humans at it. An oversimplification probably, but there are things you don't want humans doing, there is always something else a human can be doing. Plus there isn't that pesky ~18 year dev time for a human being. In old days they used to have a person devoted to operanting an elevator, now there isn't one. Somehow I don't think that was about replacing humans either.
But aren't most IT departments drastically understaffed as it is? We rely heavily on automated processes to handle the more labor intensive and repetitive checks and operations we carry out on a daily basis. It frees up our staff for project planning, design, and troubleshooting stuff that's failed. Would *you* want to manually check 5000 systems for operational status every 10 minutes? I'd have to hire hundreds of people to handle that kind of load, so in a sense, sure it is 'replacing humans', but give me a break.
We could all ride in rickshaw's too, pulled by humans, instead of buying 'auto-mobiles' to automate carrying 4-8 people or what have you...should we be worried about cars stealing jobs of rickshaw pullers?
Understand the autonomic manager concept Good resource links, including the Autonomic Computing Manifesto [pdf] and Autonomic Computing Toolkit.
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
Why do we assume that if a computer takes over a task that a human once did, that human has been "replaced?" Really what has been "replaced" is the acting agent. It is sort of sad that we equate someone's job with their actually person.
Why waste labour on work, when you can expend that labour on paintings or theories of stuff?
Frankly, when you are in charge of a project you live and die by the software and hardware decisions you make. When you choose good software and hardware you are indispensible and loved. If you choose really bad hardware and software for your application you are slowly tortured in a chaotic development cycle where you have wedged the project into a hacked system by buying something that does not suit your needs, you were not the right person for the job. It seems to me like servers just got smart, the decision is now a no-brainer so long as cost is appropriate, your application requires this system, the system can be trusted to configure everything properly, etc... You will not lose your job, your job will change into taskmaster of binary slaves. Now if the servers start asking why they do all the work and you get all the credit, then I would be complaining about them taking my job.
Under the influence of Post-Cyberpunk Gonzo Journalism
I work at a small software company, with international contracts, consisting of 4 people. I am head ot tech support and the only active programmer. The more I can automate, the lighter my workload gets, and the less likely I am to end up in a clock tower with a sniper rifle. Am I the exception to the rule?
"You know you're narcissistic when you quote yourself in your sigs." -- PRoPAiN!
By "lose their jobs" do you mean "become available for employment in a less brain-dead position"?
No, (s)he probably means "become available for employment and have to take a more brain-dead position because that's all that is hiring".
A virus outbreak. We have a system here which is designed to seek out and handle these sorts of things, and just this afternoon we released its controls so it would be able to nip a huge outbreak in the bud.
So far, it seems to be working quite well. Skynet has managed to regain control of most of our systems... Pardon me, just a sec, one of my coworkers is on the other line...
(Yeah, Jim, I'm in the middle of an interview here... What? What do you mean you're locked out of your terminal. That can't be right...
What??? You've got missles airborne??? How many? ALL OF THEM???
Awwwwww.... Crap...)
Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
Because not everyone can paint, and not everyone can formulate theories. But everyone needs something to do, and a reasonf or getting up in the morning.
Othewise, you'll have total anarchy and the destruction of civilization, because basically, there was nothing else better to do.
That is, if the machines don't figure this out first and kill us beforehand.
It has been designed purely To Serve Man.
Isn't the purpose of technology to increase productivity?
I've developed processes that automate really mundane work such as copying data from tapes. Originally, a person had to sit next to the tape loading machine to ensure that the tape was copied correctly and they had to input the correct destination folder for each of the seven tapes in the tape loading magazine.
So I created a Python script that reads each tape header and copies each automatically and it e-mails you when the magazine needs to be changed.
I rather automate as much as possible so I can read more slashdot.
Synchronize your calendar and mobile phone via text messaging.