Automation, refers to the idea that computers automate or mimic human thought. The term originates from Lev Manovich's 2001 book The Language of New Media. Automation is a consequence of Numerical representation and Modularity which render media able to be "programmed" and thus able to manipulated mathematically.
Early examples[]
Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine[]
Alan Turing's Universal Turing Machine[]
Turing claimed "...the machine could perform any calculation which can be done by a human."
Vanner Bush's Memex Machine[]
Low vs High level automation[]
Manovich highlights two types of automation, low-level and high-level. Where low-level automation results in automated shortcuts to repetivie computer behavior, high-level automation results in "...meaning embedded in the objects being generated."
Examples of low-level automation[]
- -auto-complete typing features
- -batch edits in photoshop
- -automatic browser updates
- -Google alerts
Examples of high-level automation[]
- -Artificial Intelligence (AI) engines and neural networks that simulate human intelligence and adaptive behavior in games
- -The idea of a Semantic Web, defined by the development of an Internet network of machine readable communication structures enabling computers to find, locate and process information without the user's direct involvement
External Links[]
- The Semantic Web category from the What's New Media blog
- Ray Kurzweil: How technology's accelerating power will transform us from the TED Talks series