HAL's Long, Long Run: Computers and Social Performance in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 Phil l ndy "Underman~2001 '~hup://www,underview.com/2OOl.html underman@unckrview.com Michael Nof Department ofSociolog~ University of Wisconsin - Fond du Lac mnofk@uwc,edu he year 2001. Can we even think of it, the real begin onstrate emotional expression, are becoming apparent. More ning of the next millenium, without remembering the and more, computers will perform with their users' personcinematic 2001 of the late Stanley Kubrick? Curi- alities and preferences in mind. HAL, as much as any media ously persistent, this film continues to haunt our hopes for celebrity, makes clear the message that life (and technology) the future. This is especially so in the area of computer tech- can indeed imitate art. nology. Back in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us some Much of the groundwork for creating computer systems glimpses, both optimistic and sobering, of how computers that interact with humans in natural, sociable manners is might affect our lives. well underway. At the forefront of this effort is MIT profesCentral to that sprawling science fiction epic was a com- sor Rosalind Picard (1997), who has authored the book, puter named HAL. "He" (and we realize our anthropomor- Af~ctive
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