MAN VS. MACHINE

摘要

The need for this column has finally arrived. I refer to the timeless issue and debate of "man versus machine." Now, I am not against the inherent improvements and easier lifestyles that have come with increasing technology. I certainly would not be the one to fetch water using a windlass from a well or in a bucket from a creek a half mile from my house. Nor would I want to drive a team of horses in a circle all day to drill a 20-foot-deep well. But I do feel our reliance on machines may have passed a point of no return and that we should back up, take another look at the situation, and then make a careful decision as to how much technology we really need or want in our daily lives. A National Research Council committee in 1951 attempted to characterize the differences in human-computer interaction -then called human-machine interaction-prior to developing the national air traffic control system. The result was a set of characteristics called the Fitts List, which detailed the relative strengths and limitations of humans versus computers (see Table 1). This list is sometimes referred to as what "men are better at" as opposed to what "machines are better at" and provides an eye-opening appraisal of what was believed before the recent expansion of technology occurred.