GARRY KASPAROV, HUMAN VS. DEEP-BLUE, MACHINE

Victor Bloom MD

For those who have a lively science-fiction, futuristic imagination, the fact that the computer recently defeated the chess-master brings delight or dread. Recent movies reveal the horror of computerized humanoids run amok. An older motion picture, Kubrick's famous "2001" depicted an ultimate computer, "HAL" that was the 'brain' of an entire space station, imbued with a personality as well as a far-reaching intelligence. And so it was human-like and resisted being disabled as part of dealing with a real emergency, in which a human pilot made the judgment to over-ride the computer.

The implication was, that when push came to shove, a real, intelligent, highly trained human was superior to any 'artifical intelligence' (AI). Dramatic dilemmas like this frequently occurred in the Star Trek series, and ultimately the human audience was reassured that no computer was superior to its own capacities for cognitive thinking. In the growing field of computer-technology-philosophy, there are debates about whether any computer could be so programmed as to be superior to human intelligence. The AI proponents argued that it was only a matter of time, and IBM's "Deep (RS/6000 SP) Blue would seem to be the answer.

A reporter for the New York Times writes on page one, "Its inscrutable face gave nothing away. There were no rows of little lights to blink exuberance, no rich beery voice to gloat. Under its smooth metal skin, the chips, wires and electronic circuits were tightly packed and almost alive with invisible blips, but there was not even a radiator's clank or gurgle to whisper sympathy, nothing to show a caring or a cruel heart."

He goes on, "It would be wrong, of course, to imagine that RS/6000

SP has no personality. Throughout its six game match with Mr. Kasparov over the last ten days--- indeed for most of its four year existence--- it has exhibited qualities of scrupulous care, unshakable calm and remarkable powers of concentration and endurance."

"Unlike its opponent, an emotional Russian whose frustrations over the board were often on display, RS/6000 SP never agonized, was never tired, never showed joy or disappointment, though its handlers were seized with elation or concern as it evaluated 200 million chess positions a second and flashed its moves and evaluations over a small screen in a room off the playing venue."

This writing is an example of the temptation of a human to anthromorpize; that is, to project human qualities onto inanimate or abstract concepts. For example, the sun is constant, and the moon, inconstant. God is Love and Good, while the Devil is hate and evil, incarnate. We might say, 'incarnate' even though a deity is an abstraction, a concept. The Heaven's Gate cult members lost the difference between an abstract concept and a tangible, concrete existence. There is a difference between fantasy and reality, an idea and a thing, a fact and an opinion.

The fact is that the IBM computer did what computers are programmed to do. They are programmed by humans, they do not take on a personality of their own. In this case, a small army of chess-computer geniuses worked for years programming a computer to 'think' many moves ahead and discount any move which might lead the opponent to checkmate. Up until now, the best chess masters could out-think this hardy band of dedicated computer-nerds, who were able over time to take advantage of advances in technology to speed up the play. It would be no contest if a computer took hours to makes its move; it had to play like a human, in human time. It wouldn't work if the human made his move in an hour and the computer took weeks or months to discern and block the strategy.

We are all aware of computer glitsches, gremlins and foul-ups. The answer is, 'garbage in, garbage out'. In the case of Deep Blue (1997) it was brilliance in, brilliance out. The computer engineers worked out all the bugs and increased its range and efficiency, till it was only a matter of time before technology would win in this instance. Think of the technology that enables our spaceships to land on the moon or mars, or visit a moon of Jupiter.

Mankind has developed science and technology to an amazing degree; for example, the Internet is fast becoming like a globe-sized brain with its massive data bases, multiple networks and instant communication. But the fact is that Deep Blue can only do chess, while Mr. Kasparov, like the rest of us, can think about a wide variety of subjects, feel a wide variety of emotions, and make judgments, based on an interplay of intelligence and emotions.

We work and play, love and hate, build and destroy, hope and plan, based on billions of neurons and interconnections in our brain. Each one of these neurons is more complex than the entire IBM computer.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, as they say.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis.