To our human minds, computers behave less like rocks and trees than they do like humans, so we unconsciously treat them like people.... In other words, humans have special instincts that tell them how to behave around other sentient beings, and as soon as any object exhibits sufficient cognitive function, those instincts kick in and we react as though we were interacting with another sentient human being.
Interpretation
Humans instinctively treat computers like they are sentient beings due to their cognitive functions.
This quote by Alan Cooper explores how humans naturally respond to machines that display cognitive functions, similar to how they interact with other humans. As technology advances and becomes more sophisticated, our inherent instincts drive us to perceive and treat these machines as entities with personalities and needs, highlighting the blurred lines between human interaction and our engagement with technology.
In practice
In a technology conference, discussing how AI advances compel us to rethink our relationship with machines.
Run for your lives-the computers are invading. Awesomely powerful computers tackling ever more important tasks with awkward, old-fashioned interfaces. As these machines leak into every corner of our lives, they will annoy us, infuriate us, and even kill a few of us. In turn, we will be tempted to kill our computers, but we won't dare because we are already utterly, irreversibly dependent on these hopeful monsters that make modern life possible.
Design principle: Take things away until the design breaks, then put that last thing back in.
If we want users to like our software we should design it to behave like a likeable person: respectful, generous and helpful.
No matter how beautiful, no matter how cool your interface, it would be better if there were less of it.
When the Internet publicity began, I remember being struck by how much the world was not the way we thought it was, that there was infinite variation in how people viewed the world.
Technology is rooted in the past. It dominates the present and tends into the future. It is a real historical movement - one of the great movements which shape and represent their epoch.
A breakthrough in machine learning would be worth ten Microsofts.
You have to combine both things: invention and innovation focus, plus the company that can commercialize things and get them to people.
You don't get to cut that chain of evidence and start over. You're always going to be pursued by your data shadow, which is forming from thousands and thousands of little leaks and tributaries of information.
I have always been convinced that the only way to get artificial intelligence to work is to do the computation in a way similar to the human brain. That is the goal I have been pursuing. We are making progress, though we still have lots to learn about how the brain actually works.
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