From: Ken Meyering (ken@define.com)
Date: Fri Oct 09 1998 - 07:37:44 MDT
Damien Broderick <damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> Anyone have an URL to a medical diagnostic expert system? I'd like
> something where I could plug in an array of symptoms and get out a set of
> provisional diagnoses, perhaps with associated probabilities.
I have a feeling that one of the last noble acts of nation states will
be to purchase these [commercial] items off-the-shelf (including all
patents and copyrights) and make them available for "free" to the
citizens (it is *their* money, after all). This would extend to the
whole body knowledge, including digitized versions of all media
properties.
Distributing this stuff is another matter. Cascades of solid state
proxies are needed, along with flat panel displays, and a local fiber
infrastructure capable of handling the bandwidth required for all the
video clips (e.g., an avatar of compatible language, vocabulary, and
personality saying, "here's how you do (x)").
The importance of the multicasting (and realtime archiving) of high
quality video can't be overstated. The system will need to be
extremely responsive.
A extremely useful activity for the citizens then will be to
translate all these video clips into the optimal form for the
individual self-healer. Different people respond to different
presentations of the same material.
Rather than trying to synthesize all these various presentation
forms, a more efficient approach will be create a convenient
automated system for acquiring and archiving the data.
In terms of opportunties for activity, a knowledge worker could
access small chunks of content (e.g., a sentence at a time), then
paraphrase or rephrase that information back into the system, to give
the archive the diversity of styles reflected in society.
Rather than attempting to synthesize avatars, it's probably more
useful on a social level to simply record real people being honest,
particularly in the context of performing helpful actions.
I've always wanted to have books read to me, not by computers, but by
people. Imagine the same book, read aloud by a thousand different
people, in a thousand different voices and styles.
It will be wonderful to be able to walk around freely while absorbing
knowledge. In my case, it's very difficult for me to "sit still"
while reading. This would do much to improve my education, since my
eyes need to move spontaneously while storing and accessing memories.
When I'm listening, my eyes are moving all over the place. When I'm
reading, they're paralyzed by the linearity of writing.
In terms of where to put the money, manufacturing facilities for RAM,
optical fiber, and flat panel displays would be a better investment,
in the long run, than into obsolete institutions like the FDA, DOE,
FCC, DEA, and others. A broadband internet obviously eliminates the
need for these agencies, since self-representation is made possible.
By the way, about that URL...;
ken@define.com
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