Soon ... HAL's Twentieth Birthday ...
Daniel C. RENSON, visionary enterprises builder and coach
5D Future-Based Enterprise Coach: only valuable persons create value for institutions they are participating with (DCR)!
HAL, “became operational” in Urbana, Illinois on January 12, 1997 ... as it said "itself" ...
HAL is the “self-aware” computer, in the Arthur C. Clarke’s novel “2001: A Space Odyssey” and being “part” of an alien race plot -as we discover it during the fascinating spatial journey- to make the Mankind playing a role in the evolution of the Galaxy !
To make the story short …
“2001: A Space Odyssey ” is also a famous same name movie of Stanley Kubrick, thousands have seen in 1968, before the release of the book a few time after. Yes, it is true …
Clarke and Kubrick did collaborate. The movie scenario and the book have been written quite simultaneously. They are about the science that should allow each one expressing his own existence in front of the space immensity. Science and mysticism are closely interrelated in that fantastic cosmic venture.
The film has had an enormous success. It has contributed to establish space movies as a genre and is now considered as one of the most important Movie Pantheon Pillars (MPP, YATLA) (1) with its impressionistic united components:
- the scenario foreseeing so much of the space exploration ;
- the “naturally conceived” special effects supporting the images ;
- the Also Spracht Zarathustra opening tone ;
- the Strauss waltz for making the space vessel rotating in the ether …
- and much more !
HAL (2) stands for Heuristically (programmed) Algorithmic computer and is the controlling brain of the Discovery, the space vessel that is rocketing toward Saturn, the destination of a mysterious signal emitted by an enigmatic monolith buried on the moon.
Besides the really thrilling and fascinating story (3), the novel and the movie do offer archetypal conflicts scenes many readers and spectators remember for sure and that are, from time to time, reactivating the numerous questions we have about Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) !
Attraction ? Repulsion ?
HAL 9000 -its full name- has everything we could dream or fear of … as its programming has been set to reproduce the best and more (4) of the human mind:
- vision and interpretation of the gestures ;
- speech recognition and generation including poetry ;
- chess game superior intelligence ;
- lips reading !
- full understanding and common sense reasoning : all domains human intelligence is embracing for socializing in a much easier way with people all around … (TEI ?) (5) ;
- capability of guilt, neurosis, and simultaneously controlling every single part of the space vessel ;
- murder perpetration … (4) …
OK, let’s be “cool”. We are here for talking about clear, fair and well balanced business !
Will we be able to define strategies for taking advantage of this emerging capabilities (6) ?
Future-Based thoughts are definitely mandatory !
Daniel C. Renson, FBC Magazine Editor. Future-Based Consultancy & Solutions founder and CEO, visionary organizational and transformational international change expert. Complex/complication experienced interpreter.
5D Future-Based Enterprise Coach: only valuable persons create value for institutions they are participating with (DCR)!
8ySo much questions after a movie most of you know and/or have watched with curiosity, interest, passion and, maybe, fear ...? 48 years after, maybe is it much more time tot think about a real fact: automation does exist for a long time and robots are arriving (see "Brain First?" group as indicated in the above note -6- ) ...