HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015923.jpg

Silver Bullets
Can’t be Fired

Human brains are wonderfully creative things. We can compose music, play golf, write novels, and turn our hands to all manner of problems. Many people use their brains to write software. In our modern-day lives we use software all the time: when we access the web, type on a word processor or play a computer game. Software also inhabits many apparently dumb devices. Modern cars contain dozens of computers quietly working away; providing entertainment and navigation, controlling the engine, and helping the car brake safely. In my living room I count over a hundred computers. Many are tiny, like the one in my TV remote control, while others are hidden as parts of larger machines. The laptop on which I write has over twenty computers inside it, besides the main Intel processor.

One thing all these computers have in common is that a human being sat for many hours writing their software. Software is formal logic written in something resembling English.

If I go to my ATM and try to withdraw cash, a programmer will have written out the logic for the transaction as a set of rules.

When I put my bankcard in the slot, and type in my PIN, a line of software will ask: If the bank balance of ‘James Tagg’ is less than twenty dollars and I have pressed ‘withdraw’ for an amount in excess of twenty dollars, then display, “We are sorry we cannot process the transaction at this time.” and return the card. There seems to be an unwritten rule that the things a computer says should be accurate but unhelpful!

HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015923