The idea of a sentient computer is a staple of science fiction. Some of the more famous ones such as HAL have been engineered single computers with intentionally programmed self awareness, but in Robert Heinlein’s “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress�? and more recently in the Terminator movies the concept was that of intelligence as emergent behavior from a sufficiently-complex computer network.

I hadn’t thought about that concept for a while, until I read an article in the latest edition of Wired magazine. The article talks about the Internet as a turning point in history, the evolution of mankind as an organism rather than as a species. The end of the article speculates on the emergence of intelligent behavior as a result of the directed activity and stored information on an evolving Internet.

Does this mean that I am expecting the next Governor of California to show up in a sizzling ball of light and start trying to change the future to ensure the domination of humanity? Hardly. But there is the fascinating possibility that emergent behavior of some kind may begin to occur as networks of sensors and devices respond to coordinated stimuli. In a very real way we may be creating the next generation of something.

Larry Mittag