Intellectual Property Law

Evil Talk at Stanford

I feel duped. The title was undeniably catchy: Computing and the Problem of Evil!!!
The speaker undeniably well-reputed: John Mitchell, whose citation rank is 31 of a cast of tens of thousands..he ranks as the 31st most cited author in the filed of computing...
The room comfy, the lighting good, and the talk - disappointing. Not because Dr. Mitchell was not a clear and compelling speaker. Not because the tales of teaming with the Secret Service and Homeland Security to apprehend thieves prowling the internet is not germane.
The work of defeating identity thieves is interesting and valuable. The internet user needs to be as conscious as a pedestrian crossing a large intersection without the benefit of traffic lights. I found myself squirming when Dr. Mitchell said a common silly thing for otherwise intelligent and cautious users to do is to re-use the same password, mainly because its easy to remember - ooopppps!!!! The audience, whose average age would be, say, "comfortably retired", seemed eager to know how to avoid spam and scam scoundrels, and other internet highway sneakthiefs. Perhaps I alone was disappointed.

Frankly, even though I read the talk description, I expected something else. I wanted a talk on "can computing/artificial intelligence BE evil."
Great title. Different talk.

Full post as published by Idea Lawyer Blog on November 09, 2007 (boomark / email).