Bøger af Jill Fain Lehman

A story of intrigue, romance, murder, and artificial intelligence... She was almost out, her life of enforced seclusion nearly over. She'd go to college at MITI, make a name for herself in Machine Intelligence (MI), and develop personal MIs to solve the world's problems by building on the technology her grandfather had secretly invented. But the house was on fire when Paloma arrived home. Her grandfather, beaten and tortured, lay dead on the floor. Someone knew about Marlowe, Paloma's MI, and would clearly kill to acquire it. They'd come for her next. They'd come for Marlowe. Paloma has no choice but to run, at least until she can figure out who is after them. A tech corporation? The government? Anti-tech terrorists? As she encounters each, her grandfather's arguments about the dangers of a Marlowe-like MI in the wrong hands begin to make sense. But after 15 years together, Marlowe has become both her best friend and, for better or worse, part of who she is. A new take on classic noir themes, Private I is a mystery thriller rooted in today's headlines and driven by characters with distinct answers to the questions those articles ask: what do we mean by machine consciousness? Would we recognize it if we saw it? Would we want it if we could have it? It is the story of a dead body, a society in decay, and the internal monologue of a voice that is still young enough to care and naive enough to stumble. Of course, in our case, that internal monologue has two voices.

As the computer gradually automates human-oriented tasks in multiple environ- ments, the interface between computers and the ever-wider population of human users assumes progressively increasing importance. In the office environment, for instance, clerical tasks such as document filing and retrieval, and higher-level tasks such as scheduling meetings, planning trip itineraries, and producing documents for publication, are being partially or totally automated. The range of users for office- oriented software includes clerks, secretaries, and businesspersons, none of whom are predominantly computer literate. The same phenomenon is echoed in the factory production line, in the securities trading floor, in government agencies, in educa- tional institutions, and even in the home. The arcane command languages of yes- teryear have proven too high a barrier for smooth acceptance of computerized func- tions into the workplace, no matter how useful these functions may be. Computer- naive users simply do not take the time to learn intimidating and complex computer interfaces. In order to place the functionality of modem computers at the disposition of diverse user populations, a number of different approaches have been tried, many meeting with a significant measure of success, to wit: special courses to train users in the simpler command languages (such as MS-DOS), designing point-and-click menu/graphics interfaces that require much less user familiarization (illustrated most clearly in the Apple Macintosh), and interacting with the user in his or her language of choice.

As the computer gradually automates human-oriented tasks in multiple environ­ ments, the interface between computers and the ever-wider population of human users assumes progressively increasing importance. In the office environment, for instance, clerical tasks such as document filing and retrieval, and higher-level tasks such as scheduling meetings, planning trip itineraries, and producing documents for publication, are being partially or totally automated. The range of users for office­ oriented software includes clerks, secretaries, and businesspersons, none of whom are predominantly computer literate. The same phenomenon is echoed in the factory production line, in the securities trading floor, in government agencies, in educa­ tional institutions, and even in the home. The arcane command languages of yes­ teryear have proven too high a barrier for smooth acceptance of computerized func­ tions into the workplace, no matter how useful these functions may be. Computer­ naive users simply do not take the time to learn intimidating and complex computer interfaces. In order to place the functionality of modem computers at the disposition of diverse user populations, a number of different approaches have been tried, many meeting with a significant measure of success, to wit: special courses to train users in the simpler command languages (such as MS-DOS), designing point-and-click menu/graphics interfaces that require much less user familiarization (illustrated most clearly in the Apple Macintosh), and interacting with the user in his or her language of choice.

The authors argue that theory must be combined with data for it to be used effectively in developmental intervention. Aimed at professionals and parents, the authors explain how to write basic developmental goals, how to collect data and analyse it and how to use the results of analysis to inform the next round of intervention decisions.