The man-machine confrontation: The need for a humanistic viewpoint

Abstract

Popular fears about “thinking” machines have been both long-standing and persistent. While man has remained the same throughout the ages of civilization, he has increasingly surrounded himself with machines of ever greater technological capacity and complexity. Of these, computers, which in certain respects simulate human thought processes, have met strong resistance both from organizations and from the people in them. Fears of unemployment and loss of identity in automated systems are largely chimeras, however, for when considered humanistically, computers are merely highly useful tools for extending man's capabilities.