DATE: Monday, May 19, 1997                  TAG: 9705170055

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Larry Maddry 

                                            LENGTH:   66 lines

LET'S NOT CHECKMATE OURSELVES WITH TECHNO MARVELS

THOSE OF US who bum our way through cyberspace, drifting to web sites like hoboes on a train, had to take notice last week when the IBM computer Deep Blue deep-sixed chess champion Gary Kasparov in a match.

As an occasional cyberspace hobo, I wondered where the train was going - where computers would take us and what the landscape would be like.

Interestingly, two views of the match's significance were expressed.

C.J. Tan, head of the winning IBM team that programmed the computer, crowed that the Deep Blue victory was an important milestone.

``A hundred years from now, people will say this day was the beginning of the Information Age,'' he said, ignoring NASA's man-on-the-moon mission, which would have been impossible without computers.

Others compared Kasparov's defeat to a Greek tragedy, a view difficult to fathom. A human-created device capable of beating another human at chess is not a tragedy in any sense that I understand. Years ago, I read a poem by Robert Frost, titled ``Kitty Hawk.'' The poet marveled at the ingenuity and imagination of humans - capable of fashioning a vehicle that flies through the blue sky like a bird.

And the ingenuity of the IBM team in creating Deep Blue is worthy of admiration, despite Tan's exaggeration.

Reaction to the chess match was more interesting to me than the event itself, because of the remarkable - and oddly defensive - character of the responses.

A friend who failed to share my enthusiasm for the extraordinary ability of Deep Blue seemed to take the defeat personally.

``Computers lack the ability to love, they can't cry, and no dog would want to curl up on the bed with one,'' she said.

All true. But that doesn't mean a human brain isn't clever enough to make them appear loving or actually drip tears. And, trust me, one day a manufacturer will make a computer with a dog's hair, warmth and other doggy qualities. That computer will serve as a snuggling companion for the family pet when the owner is away. The Microsoft Mutt.

After learning of Deep Blue's victory, I watched a discussion of the match on TV. A computer expert asked one of the participants to name a task a computer would be incapable of performing. It was addressed to a skeptic who dismissed Deep Blue's accomplishment because it was a feat involving mathematical calculations, not creativity.

The skeptic's point was true enough. But that doesn't mean a computer could not write a poem as well as Frost or paint a picture as splendid as a Picasso. It's merely that a Picasso or Frost would have to program the computer.

The fear of computers is real. And it's more than the chilling knowledge that millions of wage earners doing unskilled work will lose jobs to them with no hope of re-employment. They are isolating.

So far, the glimpses of a computer-driven world we have had are less than comforting. It's a little scary to be alone in one of those computerized trains, like those in the Atlanta airport that whisk from terminal to terminal with recordings announcing locations and warning riders to remain seated until the train has come to a complete stop.

What happened to those flesh-and-blood train conductors who punched tickets, patted the heads of babies, and had a smile now and then? One of these days those trains will come equipped with robots like R2D2 from ``Star Wars'' that will do more than parrot trip information. They will - one prays - lighten up a little, sidling up to passengers from time to time and cracking jokes like Groucho Marx.

``So you're from West Virginia, eh? Is it true the front yard antenna is your state flower?''

User-friendly. If that ain't the ticket, let's don't go.

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