Damien Broderick <damien@ariel.ucs.unimelb.edu.au> wrote:
> Anyone have an URL to a medical diagnostic expert system? I'd like
> something where I could plug in an array of symptoms and get out a set of
> provisional diagnoses, perhaps with associated probabilities.
I have a feeling that one of the last noble acts of nation states will be to purchase these [commercial] items off-the-shelf (including all patents and copyrights) and make them available for "free" to the citizens (it is *their* money, after all). This would extend to the whole body knowledge, including digitized versions of all media properties.
Distributing this stuff is another matter. Cascades of solid state proxies are needed, along with flat panel displays, and a local fiber infrastructure capable of handling the bandwidth required for all the video clips (e.g., an avatar of compatible language, vocabulary, and personality saying, "here's how you do (x)").
The importance of the multicasting (and realtime archiving) of high quality video can't be overstated. The system will need to be extremely responsive.
A extremely useful activity for the citizens then will be to translate all these video clips into the optimal form for the individual self-healer. Different people respond to different presentations of the same material.
Rather than trying to synthesize all these various presentation forms, a more efficient approach will be create a convenient automated system for acquiring and archiving the data.
In terms of opportunties for activity, a knowledge worker could access small chunks of content (e.g., a sentence at a time), then paraphrase or rephrase that information back into the system, to give the archive the diversity of styles reflected in society.
Rather than attempting to synthesize avatars, it's probably more useful on a social level to simply record real people being honest, particularly in the context of performing helpful actions.
I've always wanted to have books read to me, not by computers, but by people. Imagine the same book, read aloud by a thousand different people, in a thousand different voices and styles.
It will be wonderful to be able to walk around freely while absorbing knowledge. In my case, it's very difficult for me to "sit still" while reading. This would do much to improve my education, since my eyes need to move spontaneously while storing and accessing memories. When I'm listening, my eyes are moving all over the place. When I'm reading, they're paralyzed by the linearity of writing.
In terms of where to put the money, manufacturing facilities for RAM, optical fiber, and flat panel displays would be a better investment, in the long run, than into obsolete institutions like the FDA, DOE, FCC, DEA, and others. A broadband internet obviously eliminates the need for these agencies, since self-representation is made possible.
By the way, about that URL...;
geek@ifeden.com