The Motto of the present period is Artificial Intelligence ( AI). As with several phrases that extend from specialized academic fields into general circulation, the use of the term is followed by substantial confusion. But this isn't the standard case where the public doesn't understand the scientists -- here the scientists are just as puzzled as to the public. The thought that our age is somehow seeing the rise of a digital intellect that rivals our own entertains us all -- enthusiasm us and scaring us in equal measure. There's a particular story about the present period that one can tell. Consider the following story which involves decisions about people, computers, data, and life-or-death, but where the emphasis is something other than fantasies about intelligence-in-silicon.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the mantra of the current era. The phrase is intoned by technologists, academicians, journalists, and venture capitalists alike. As with many phrases that cross over from technical academic fields into general circulation, there is significant misunderstanding accompanying use of the phrase. However, this is not the classical case of the public not understanding the scientists--here the scientists are often as befuddled as the public. The idea that our era is somehow seeing the emergence of an intelligence in silicon that rivals our own entertains all of us, enthralling us and frightening us in equal measure. There is a different narrative that one can tell about the current era.

In "Artificial Intelligence – The Revolution Hasn't Happened Yet," University of California at Berkeley professor Michael I. Jordan injects such a note of caution. "The idea that our era is somehow seeing the emergence of an intelligence in silicon that rivals our own entertains all of us --enthralling us and frightening us in equal measure," he writes. "Whether or not we come to understand intelligence any time soon, we do have a major challenge on our hands in bringing together computers and humans in ways that enhance human life." Tools have played a critical role in the evolution of humans since our ancestors first developed stone tools a few million years ago. "We shape our tools and they in turn shape us," observed noted author and educator Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the mantra of the current era. The phrase is intoned by technologists, academicians, journalists and venture capitalists alike. As with many phrases that cross over from technical academic fields into general circulation, there is significant misunderstanding accompanying the use of the phrase. But this is not the classical case of the public not understanding the scientists -- here the scientists are often as befuddled as the public. The idea that our era is somehow seeing the emergence of an intelligence in silicon that rivals our own entertains all of us -- enthralling us and frightening us in equal measure. There is a different narrative that one can tell about the current era. Consider the following story, which involves humans, computers, data and life-or-death decisions, but where the focus is something other than intelligence-in-silicon fantasies.