News Release 09-057 - Video
An interview with David Waltz of Columbia University on automation in science.
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As science fiction plot lines go, the unintended consequences of yielding tasks too complicated or dangerous for human hands to computers and robots is a popular one. Yet in a perspectives piece in the April 3, 2009 edition of the journal Science, David Waltz of Columbia University and Bruce G. Buchanan of the University of Pittsburgh describe how real life scientists are increasingly doing just that, creating automated systems and devices that can not only help collect, organize and analyze scientific data, but that are also able to intelligently and independently draw up new hypotheses and approaches to research based on the data they receive. They see this all as a promising trend, but caution that researchers need to consider what tasks are best suited for automation and which should be left to the human mind. Here Waltz talks about the essay and the future of automation in science.
Credit: Columbia University and National Science Foundation