Artificial Intelligence

• Enhance: Configure hardware and software; diagnose and treat problems


• Obsolete: The repair technician; system manuals


• Retrieves: The desire to better understand human intelligence


• Reverse: Sets the stage for new industries and enhanced functionality of existing systems.

I have always been fascinated by science fiction, and among the stories that can be most frightening and the most heart-warming are those that explore artificial intelligence. Everyday, science fiction becomes science fact as we see the imagination of many storytellers become real in everyday artifacts. Today’s cellular telephone bears a strong resemblance to the Star Trek communicator. The iPad, the Kindle, and other portable devices also have striking similarities to their fictionalized counterparts.

Artificial intelligence takes many forms today, including natural speaking software in telephony systems, industrial robots, and diagnostic system. AI enhances the capabilities of databases and existing applications. But even more importantly, AI fires the imagination of its creators and users, leading to fascinating innovations in the way we interact with people, computers, and everyday appliances.

References:

Thornburg, D. D. (2008). Emerging technologies and McLuhan's laws of media. Lake Barrington, IL: Thornburg Center for Space Exploration.

Waltz, D. Artificial intelligence: Realizing the ultimate promises of computing. Retrieved March 31, 2011 from http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/lazowska/cra/ai.html

Emerging Technology - eFax

Once upon a time, postage was needed. Instructors sent their unofficial transcripts, new hire paperwork, and other documents via the mail, FedEx, UPS, or fax machine. Recently eFax has changed how online administrators handle such documents. A fax machine is no longer a required piece of hardware in an online office. eFax has changed all of that. While the sender may still send their documents from an old fashioned fax machine, eFax brings documents directly to an administrator's email box rather than an unattended fax machine. No longer is there any worry about whether there is paper in the fax machine or whether the message got disconnected or timed out. The message travels the internet via email like much of our daily communications, enabling the sender some assurances that the message was safely received in a timely fashion.

The primary pitfall with eFax will some day arrive when the need for the artificial fax telephone number disappears. When the sender is just as capable as the receiver of simply scanning and attaching their documents to an email, the need for the eFax fix will disappear. Until the day that fax machines are an entirely obsolete technology, however, the eFax system is a simple and easy way to transmit important documents directly to someone's email.