An agent working for a rival corporation could be programmed to give you very good advice for a time, until your agent came to rely on him. Then, just at a critical moment, after you had delegated a lot of responsibility to your agent who was depending on the double agent, the unfriendly agent would be able to hurt you badly. So the Internet will be the site for intelligence and counterintelligence operations.
When Richard Nixon taped conversations in the Oval Office, he felt sure that only he and historians in the distant future would have access to them. I want to make sure that I can shut my agent off. I even want a periodic check on whether the agent holds any sensitive information. Sort of a security clearance for my agent.
Agents learn through receiving feedback on their performance. In some Maes programs, agents evolve … Maes believes that user trust is built up most quickly when agents can communicate the basis for their decisions … In the case of mail-sort agents, Maes says that users “gradually build up a trust relationship with agents,” much as one would with a new human personal assistant. Maes’s agents may be given a human face.
The computer culture’s center of gravity has shifted decisively to people who do not think of themselves as programmers. The computer science research community as well as industry pundits maintain that in the near future we can expect to interact with computers by communicating with simulated people on our screens, agents who will help organize our personal and professional lives.
Third parties might compile movie ratings or restaurant reviews and make them available. Eventually advertising would become obsolete. “When you have self-promotion, you have biased information, low-grade information.”
You’ll be able to see “Terminator 2” at any time of the day or night … I don’t know that the world is going to be greatly changed [for the better by this opportunity].
The U.S. government and industry should proceed with caution in entering the new digital age. High-capacity fiber systems probably will become a mainstay of all developed countries’ telecom infrastructure at some point in the next millennium. For the moment, however, it might be wise to slow the whole process down a bit.
The educational benefit of a high-capacity network is less than clear. The image of “Johnny” calling up full-motion video material along with a classroom or textual discussion of a major historical event is quite attractive; but it is difficult to see what this would add to Johnny’s understanding of the Treaty of Rome. Much of this function can be – and already is – handled through relatively low-tech equipment, such as VCRs.
It seems questionable whether providing U.S. homes and schools with 20-30 gigahertz of capacity would accomplish much, since most lack terminal devices … Personal computers are not predominantly found in inner-city, low-income residences or schools. Indeed, most U.S. public schools have a difficult time in supporting enough technology to teach the fundamentals of computing.
The best schools, teachers and courses would be available to all students, without regard to geography, distance, resources or disability. Services that improve America’s health care system and respond to other important social needs could be available online, without waiting in line, and where you needed them.