October 4, 2000 Chapter Meeting
presents
David G. Stork
who will speak
to us about
"The HAL 9000 computer and the vision of 2001: A Space Odyssey"
Date:
Wednesday, October 4, 2000
Where:
Hewlett Packard, Pruneridge and Wolfe, Cupertino, Bldg. 48, Oak Room.
Time:
6:30 p.m. Refreshments; 7:00 p.m. Speaker
Free and open to all who wish to attend, but membership is only $10/year.
The HAL 9000 computer and the vision of
2001: A Space Odyssey
David G. Stork
Ricoh California Research Center
and Stanford University
"I am a HAL 9000 computer production number 3. I became operational at the HAL
Laboratories in Urbana, Illinois on January 12, 1997..."
--Arthur C. Clarke 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 novel)
It's nearly 2001: Where's HAL?
2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 epic
film about space exploration and the evolution of intelligence, was the
most carefully researched and scientifically precise feature film ever
made. Now, in its namesake year, we can compare the film's computer
science "visions" with current technological fact -- in particular those
related to its central character, the HAL 9000 computer, which could
speak, reason, see, play chess, plan and express emotions. In some
domains reality has surpassed the vision in the film: computer chess,
computer hardware, and graphics. In numerous others, reality has fallen
far short: computer speech, language, vision, lipreading, planning, and
common sense. The film missed some trends entirely: the film showed no
laptops or PDAs and HAL as large as a school bus but in reality
computers instead got small. As such, the film provides a remarkable
perspective on the sweep of developments in the modern era of computer
technology.
This non-technical talk is profusely illustrated with clips from 2001
and current research and sheds new light on key moments of the film. You
will never see the film the same way again.
David G. Stork is Chief Scientist at Ricoh Silicon Valley's California
Research Center and Consulting Associate Professor of Electrical
Engineering at Stanford University. His most recent books include HAL's
Legacy: 2001's computer as dream and reality (MIT Press) and Pattern
Classification (2nd ed.) by R. O. Duda, P. E. Hart and D. G. Stork
(Wiley).