The Master and The Slave - Man Verses Machine

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Category: Apps/Devices/Electronics

Published on Monday, 12 November 2018 06:59

Written by Olivier Longhi

The accelerated development of autonomous cars equipped with an Auto-pilot a few months ago asks about the responsibilities to be assumed in the event of a disaster but also about the place and the influence of the Man in front of the technical progress supposed to second him.

In a few years, perhaps fifty or sixty years, the surface of the globe will probably be covered by so-called autonomous cars. No more cars driven by humans, no more traffic jams because computers and satellites will manage live traffic flows, over speeding (and in the closet the automatic or onboard radars) and finished, certainly, the alerts to the pollution because it It is likely that the machines we will use are electric.

This vision by Dan Simmons, a North American sci-fi author, already enchants supporters of progress, but desolates those who still love to drive to experience the pleasure of driving it. Progress is there and finally we cannot do much.

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Humanity has always evolved in part thanks to progress. Without this, no vaccines, no planes, ... But beyond this futuristic vision, there is a question: who will be responsible in the event of an accident? The question deserves to be asked and will certainly find an answer in the arcana of the right brought to birth to the subject, right itself accompanied by a jurisprudence to write.

The other question that arises and not least is: is the man right to totally rely on the machine, was it perfect?

Abandonment

Here too, the notion of perfection is questionable because the human being, far from being, conceives gear in his image, according to these intellectual and creative capacities. And even if they are brilliant they are not less fallible. Let's move on this aspect and get back to basics. Can we entrust everything to technique and progress?

Philosophers, scientists, researchers and other specialists will have to wonder about this subject and will probably struggle to find a suitable and definitive answer. It is a safe bet that a form of compromise will prevail in what will be brought as an answer. Progress, comfortable, naturally has vocation to simplify the life of the greatest number, even of the totality (that on Earth all benefit from it today is a lure which could be the object of new legitimate interrogations) but this progress, who wins every day in all areas of science and technology, authorize all licenses?

To abandon oneself to science, does not man risk losing himself in a vision disconnected from reality? After all, what is progress, if not the will of men to change the everyday, to move to another reality?

Driving an autonomous car will certainly overcome many inconveniences that any example can illustrate. Let's take a Nice family who wants to go to Brest. Then simply program the on-board computer and get into the vehicle.

Here we go! The machine manages everything: speed, journey, air conditioning, ... It's Back to the future version Bison wasted! We can actually smile at the formula, but technical progress is the child of creative and creative humanity.

It remains to be seen if the hierarchical relationship must continue? Everyone will bring his answer. Obviously, a scenario with the I-Robot is not conceivable and it is in the state that of the cars only and not of artificial intelligence, topic extremely vast and with multiple entries. For the time being, the autonomous car is not yet mass-produced but its time will come, as has come from the on-board computer or the GPS. It's just a matter of time.

Home Automation Agriculture

Others will see in this technico-scientific complex a gigantic system of copying of each quidam as it will be easy for the public authorities (and evil spirits very well equipped) to capture a maximum of information. Certainly. But we would already be in the after. To this day, we are still ahead, we still have the choice to refuse or accept what the automotive industry would like to market.

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They are not the only ones. Home automation, the technique that allows us to manage our interiors in our absence with or without a mobile phone (which has also become almost vital for some and they are more and more numerous) is also spreading, the agricultural machines guided by satellites during the summer. spreading of fertilizers or pesticides according to the soils analyzed directly by these same satellites, ... all elements that tend to free man from all influence ....

But these elements, examples of which accumulate do they release or render passive and dependent a Man who has lost control over his creation? This is the whole question of the utility of science and technical progress.

Where are their places but especially what place do they leave to the Man?

Bio: Olivier Longhi has an extensive background in European History, a seasoned journalist with fifteen years’ experience, he is currently a professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held varies positions within the publishing field including head of agency and chief of publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, columnist and editorial project manager he has trained and directed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant and communication consultant.

Image courtesy of Olivier Longhi and used with permission.