Word: paperclip
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...there's been little worry of wily computers inventing ways to outsmart (and replace) their owners. The annoying little paperclip in Microsoft Word is no great testament to the progress of artificial intelligence. But the claim that computers can't create has been challenged by two recent experiments, in which the output of computer programs--rigid algorithms with little room for intellectual freedom--was judged to be indistinguishable (or even better!) than the attempts of unconstrained human imaginations. In other words, originality may be a little more unoriginal than we thought...
...wouldn't necessarily argue that voting booths be done away with and that church basements be replaced by Compuserve. But for those of us who are 3,000 miles away, automatic absentee ballots seem the least that technology can do for me. In the meantime, I'll poke a paperclip through some paper and hunt for a stamp...