A sketch of Pynchonian politics

[Paul Mackin]

As far as P and AI are concerned did even the great Alan Turing have much by
way of X-ray vision or prescience in this area? Opinions?

Turing predicted that by the year 2000 a computer "would be able to play the
imitation game so well that an average interrogator will not have more than
a 70-percent chance of making the right identification (machine or human)
after five minutes of questioning."

It's my impression that AI as originally conceived in the 40s has been kind
of a disappointment. Not great things haven't  been accomplished through the
effort expended.

Was P  actually trying to predict anything in the passage T quotes? Even
whether there ever would be an AI curve to converge with the other two?
Seems in fact to say the results would be UNpredictable.

                P.



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane O' Sweet" <lycidas2 at earthlink.net>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2001 1:33 PM
Subject: Re: A sketch of Pynchonian politics


>
>
> Jane O' Sweet wrote:
> >
> > I doubt this can be proven. I don't think Pynchon is
> > prescient and think he satirizes those that claim to be so
> > and those that believe they have x-ray vision.
>
>
> If our world survives, the next great challenge to watch out
> for will come -- you heard it here first -- when the curves
> of research and development in artificial intelligence,
> molecular biology and robotics all converge. Oboy. It will
> be amazing and unpredictable, and even the biggest of brass,
> let us devoutly hope, are going to be caught flat-footed. It
> is certainly something for all good Luddites to look forward
> to if, God willing, we should live so long. Meantime, as
> Americans, we can take comfort, however minimal and cold,
> from Lord Byron's mischievously improvised song, in which
> he, like other observers of the time, saw clear
> identification between the first Luddites and our own
> revolutionary origins.