Laws of the Machine
Two nice illustrations of my 3 laws of machines today:
#2 - Machines exert their own sociality. The explosive growth in online dating services creates demand for personal ad writers. But economics is only a description. It misses the effects of greater efficiency in the dating market - radically altered social structures and norms.
"...In his rewrite, he nixed space-wasters. "When they ask for five things [one has] in the bedroom" -- a standard personals question -- "don't include bed," he said. He tried to flesh out what he saw as Ms. Quattlebaum's naughty-schoolgirl side. Her original ad said her favorite on-screen sex scene was "Charlotte Gray ... passionate kissing and Secretary ... big sigh."...
...In Mr. Tesauro's hands, that answer became: "A little roughhousing in Secretary made me want to take dictation, though Cate Blanchett's Charlotte Gray reminds me that passionate kissing is enough to make a girl tingle."
#3 - Machines exert their own morality: In the UK, plans are underfoot to track the children of criminals:
"...In an interview with The Independent, Hazel Blears, the Policing minister, says she is optimistic that "tracking" and "targeting" can help prevent children becoming criminals like their parents".