Last week at work I was helping a very frustrated woman with her computer issues and left her with something I hadn’t heard in years: “Computers are stupid.” Computers really are pretty dumb devices that have to be programmed to do what they do.
Computers don’t do anything until they are setup with an operating system and software. Even then they are still pretty dim-witted gadgets. In order to make choices (‘if, then’ in computer speak) some kind of imperial data must be inputted into software designed to make that specific decision.
A very popular use of computers is to handle business and personal accounting and taxes. Really, all the computer does is store the data and make some basic calculations based on your numbers. You still need to have some knowledge of the data you’re inputting. In other words, if you input incoming instead of outgoing your end result won’t be correct.
Most users utilize the computer for entertainment and really use it very little to help make a decision. However the computer was developed to help users make decisions. The decision the IRS uses to issue audits is greatly influenced by computerized decisions. Anti-lock brake computers make a decision to turn on or not. Airplane autopilots decide how to adjust themselves based on data.
In preparation for this week’s article I was thinking about artificial intelligence, Star Wars, Tron, Star Trek, and all the other likenesses of robots. I don’t think we’re that far away from those movies. (No, I’m not going crazy) I do think we’re pretty close to having computers that can make basic decisions for us and possibly save our lives. I mentioned anti-lock brakes earlier. How many times have your brakes started working before you even thought about it?
Although artificial intelligence is everywhere and is coming into our lives fast, it was developed by humans to perform routine tasks. It still uses basic input/output logic that someone like you and me created. If the data it collects to make a decision is incorrect, then the outputted results will not be desirable and something will go awry.
It doesn’t matter that computers are making decisions that are in some cases life saving. A computer is nothing more than a gizmo that utilizes zeros and ones and spits out a zero or a one. Although modern computers seem to be getting smarter I don’t believe they are. I think the programmers who develop new applications are getting smarter with their creations.
So, what does this have to do with the clunker sitting on my desk? It doesn’t have coffee waiting for me when I get up. It can’t make a decision for me whether I should pay my electric bill or not (unless it doesn’t turn on). And it certainly can’t tell me if I’m hungry. Computes are only as smart as their installed software and the inputted data.
Back to my original comment I made to a discouraged customer. Home computers are only as smart as the data we pump into them. If we, the users, don’t click the right thing or type the right command our computers will not perform the way we expect. If you click on something that deletes data or sends you to an inappropriate website it’s not the computers fault.
Although computers can seem intimidating, use them and expect them to break. If you make a mistake and something gets deleted, or you get a virus, keep in mind that almost anything can be fixed. Computers are really big boxes that we control. With the same keystrokes or mouse clicks used to make the mistake, the blunder can be undone. It may take a bit of time to undo your mistake but anything with computers can be undone. Take control of your computer and don’t let it control you. Most of all, enjoy it for what it is: a big stupid box of electronics.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can e-mail him at remoquin@gmail.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)