The Unfinished Revolution - A Flawed Vision of the Future

An Analysis of Michael Dertouzos' Latest Book on the Future of Humans and Computers

Reviewed by Janet Kroenke, Book Editor and Special Correspondent, ChipCenter

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"The Unfinished Revolution: Human Centered Computers and What They Can Do for Us"
By Michael Dertouzos
Published by Harper Collins Publishers
Copyright 2001 by Michael Dertouzos
ISBN 0-06-667067-8
Price: $26.00

The polarization of society is nowhere more apparent than in the growing divide between technophiles and techno-skeptics. As some strive for greater involvement with technology, wishing to incorporate every aspect of their lives with future technological developments, others bemoan that fact that they simply are not spending enough time away from the computer and more time with their loved ones. The latter are people who long for green grass and sunlight, those simple settings uncontrolled by anything except some higher force of nature. They want to struggle for power over the charcoal in the grill. They don't want to open yet another file or worry about another crash if only for some few special moments of non-technical freedom.

The Unfinished Revolution represents the blind enthusiasm of the technophile. While containing some interesting possible scenarios of a future perfect world of humans and computers intimately involved in even the smallest everyday tasks, the book fails to present even the slightest bit of critical analysis concerning whether or not such a world is even desirable. It never asks whether such a world would even be welcomed by those who would become a part of it. Would such a scenario really serve us? This is what one asks repeatedly while reading this book. One gets the feeling that pervaded the early sixties, a time when people thought that the whole world's problems could be "fixed" once the right technology was developed.

"Shazam!" says Dertouzos by way of example in his book, "From now on, if my daughter calls or sends Email to my home or office, find me and route the message to me." His home phone, cellular phone and work phone are interconnected with his computers. At home he can tell his thermostat to make the house a little warmer because his appliances are voice sensitive. I find myself starting to chuckle at this.
I see Scotty at the computer on Star Trek asking for a new source of Dilithium Crystals. I get the feeling that I'm at the American Pavilion of some World's Fair, watching a presentation on the "House of the Future". I find myself remembering "The Clapper." Remember the Clapper—"Clap on, clap off", that old device for turning appliances on and off by the a simple sound? Primitive sound recognition sans computer.

Then I think darker thoughts.....

I remember an old movie from 1977 called the Demon Seed. In the film, a household is entirely controlled by a computer invented by Fritz Weaver's character. The name of this computer is "Proteus IV." Weaver's wife, poor Julie Christie is left alone in the house only to be terrorized by Proteus IV's developing desire for world domination and a need to procreate. Alone and unprotected, she finds herself being groped by the instruments of some blind, mechanical, computer-driven lust. But I don't let this bother me too much because Dertouzos has assured me in The Unfinished Revolution that artificial intelligence is a long way off and I am greatly relieved.

So what exactly is happening in The Unfinished Revolution? It is a projection of what the future could be based on present research at MIT. It is an ideal world of computers that serve, that are uncomplaining and uncomplicated, and seem to be able to provide everything our hearts could desire. It is a very seductive vision of the future that paints a fantasy world of machines that, when simply spoken to, can glean our subtler meanings and respond quickly to fulfill our requests.

This is hardly the case in today's computerized society as people struggle with work and home systems that lock up and complain to us with endless arrays of error messages and bizarre inexplicable glitches. It is a world in which it seems that far too few of our hardware and software components are compatible. It all leads to feelings of endless frustration, but though we curse and stomp and complain, we essentially except this frustration as part of the computing experience. Perhaps this is because the services that computers and their networks provide seem to pale before the scientific and engineering miracle of their development. We are, in short, in awe of the machine itself. To put it in a less romantic light, we are overwhelmed by its complexity and seeming intentional inaccessibility. This is where Dertousoz's revolution comes into play.

Throwing aside all romantic notions about the computer and cyberspace, Dertouzos concentrates on the need for a computerized system that truly answers the needs of its users. He envisions a model of a computerized system that shares a singular worldwide language—a system that is capable of more human-centric communication—a system that could, through interaction of speech and vision provide immediate, meaningful, and efficient access to information from a wider variety of sources in response to a specific query. This system would have the ability to customize itself to the needs of the user. Dertouzos constructs a system that essentially envelops and cushions its human participants and is perceived not as enemy but as servant.

Beginning with the idea that software should simplify rather than complicate a procedure, Dertouzos discussed a dialogue-oriented exchange between a computer and its user. Here, advanced speech processors enable perfect communication and understanding between human and computer by means of the most basic and natural means of human communication and interaction: Speech.

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