Academic

Skynet Comes to Hillsborough (the machines really are taking over)

By Alfred Brophy

Well, I was up Hillsborough recently to check out some of the historical sites up there.  (I wrote a little bit about Thomas Ruffin's grave not too long ago.)  On the way back, there was a crew working on the power lines.  And you know what?  They had a machine directing traffic: the machine was a portable stop sign, which eliminates the need for a person to stand there with a sign and shift from stop to slow.

So I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it. I'm not sure if the guy on the right in the background is controlling the arm or not--which I suppose has some bearing on just how similar this is to Skynet of Terminator fame.  However, it certainly seems like the NC Department of Transportation has figured out some more ways of cutting costs and human jobs.  Now that computers are taking over the role of college counselors and traffic signals at road construction, they're probably not too far behind taking over law professor jobs, too.

Hey, the New York Times is reporting that scientists are worried about this.  So one question I'd have about this is, how do we start making nice with the machines before they get too angry with us?

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on July 27, 2009 (boomark / email).