from nick eaton: I was reading TechFlash's piece on Microsoft's new "guardian angel" patent, and it stirred up a creepy feeling inside of me. In the time I've been covering Microsoft for seattlepi.com, I've had this strange shudder a handful of times. And I'm wondering if other people feel it, as well.TechFlash reported that Microsoft has been granted a patent on an "intelligent personal agent" that could predict a user's wants and actions. If the user is at a shopping mall and the software's artificial intelligence knows it's lunchtime, the "guardian angel" could search for nearby restaurants that serve the user's preferred foods, choose a cuisine based on the user's recent meals, check for seating availability, and make lunch reservations.
This is an example laid out in Microsoft's 2006 patent application, which lists Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie as two of the inventors.
But I know of an existing device that already has this function. It's called the human brain. Call me pessimistic if you want, but do we really need the artificial intelligence of a digital guardian angel to supplant the organic intelligence of our own selves?
Nick, No, you are not being pessimistic.You are merely using your natural intelligence and human instinct to question the need for the Microsoft "guardian angel".Sounds too creepy to me too. Don't know how it works-too early to tell I guess but it seems potentially invasive or inrusive in our lives and I don't believe we need the product.
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