Edmund Berkeley and the social responsibility of computer professionals / Bernadette Longo.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Longo, Bernadette, 1949- author.

Series:

ACM books.

ACM Books

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Computers and civilization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (223 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

San Rafael, California : Morgan & Claypool Publishers, [2015]

Summary:

This book is the first full-length biography of Edmund Berkeley, a computer pioneer and social activist who has been called "the conscience of the computer industry." Through his work with other early computer developers, he became aware of the potential dangers of these machines to society at large. He believed that computer developers had an obligation to address the complex social problems facing a Cold War world; the threat of suicidal nuclear war and the ethics of computer professionals using their expertise to build self-guided weapons systems. This is an historical narrative of a man ultimately in favor of engineering peace, instead of war, and how his career was ultimately damaged by politicians determined to portray him as a Communist sympathizer. Berkeley's life work provides a lens to understand social and political issues surrounding the early development of electronic computers which ties directly to current debates about the use of autonomous intelligent systems.

Contents:

Contents

Preface

Introduction: A Struggle of Ideas

With the Perspective of Time

The Myth of Autonomy

1. Modern Methods of Thinking, 1927–1941

A Modern Method of Thinking

Becoming an Insurance Actuary and a Husband

Applications of Symbolic Logic in the Insurance Industry

2. Navy Assignment at theHarvard Computation Lab, 1944–1946

Joining Aiken’s Crew

Conflict inside the Harvard Lab

3. Establishing Open Communication Channels for Technology Development, 1945–1948

Public-Private Partnerships

Prudential Explores Electronic Computers

Technology Development, Communication, and Public Policy

Opening a Professional Association for Computer People

Future Catastrophe Hazards

4. Robots and Giant Brains, 1942–1961

Problems of Language and Intelligence

Speaking of Machines as Human

Bringing Giant Brains to the People

Computing on a Small Scale

A Preview of the Robot Age

5. National Security Investigations, 1948–1955

Fighting the Communist Threat at Home

The Rosenberg Case

Defense Against Unnamed Sources

Questions of Constitutional Rights

The Oppenheimer Case Generated by AI.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references.

Part of the metadata in this record was created by AI, based on the text of the resource.

ISBN:

9781970001372

1970001372

OCLC:

1048183268