Hamas War

Friday, November 4, 2011

Technology Isn't The Solution to Security

Just like the Iron Dome isn't really protecting Israel from the Arab terrorist attacks, these new hi-tech robots won't protect our soldiers from kidnap attempts.

Relying on technology has been ruining the minds of the younger generation, ok younger than me which includes a large percentage of people.

I'm of the generation that was taught to do math, calculate in our heads.  At work, when we are having a sale, like a 60% off, I quickly and out-loud in Hebrew multiply the price by 4 to get the reduced price to be paid by the customer.  It's very rare that a young person can even guess what I'm doing.  Too many people are dependent on their calculators, today the cellphone or whatever electronic gadget used to calls, calculations etc for what is for me a fun, totally enjoyable mental exercise.  I don't even consider it an "intellectual" exercise, because it's really easy, necessary and fun.  It's like standing up from sitting without leaning on anything.  Both these things are effortless for me and should be for everyone without a diagnosable disability.

Israeli security is based on human intelligence.  Those who work professionally in security are trained to judge human reactions, body language etc.  It's not something a robot can be programmed to do.  We must never, ever trust that a robot, a machine can substitute for humans in terms of judgment and defense.  True, human beings also make mistakes, but robots aren't superior.  Technology is just a tool, not a "savior."

2 comments:

Alan said...

I feed myself by repairing military automation equipment. Every day here at sea, I place my life in the hands of that equipment.

So no one knows better than me, your concern.

On the other hand, I would quote one of my engineering professors: "all problems are people problems".

It wasn't a machine which talked Vanunu into committing treason.

And it isn't the Tel-Aviv-born Hebrew-native-speaker foreign-nationality children whose mothers are caring for your mothers, who talked the Haredim into drawing a welfare check whilst evading military service.

It is not the job of Hilonim to resolve the internal paradox's and logical inconsistencies of "Torah Law" applied to a modern nation-state.

That is the responsibility of those who cloak themselves in Talmud-based politics.

Evading that responsibility, degrades (in the eyes of the rest of Clal Yisrael) the relevance and the credibility of your messages.

Batya said...

There are datiim, religious in all realms of Israeli society today. People make the decisions, and sometimes they are awful ones.