Communications in the 21st century

 

Ubiquitous Communication in an Intelligent World
Workshop, Sept. 18–19, 2009, Budapest
 
In the coming years communication chips will routinely be embedded in a great number and variety of everyday objects. Also, ever more segments in the world surrounding us become tagged with digital information. In what ways, from the point of view of the social sciences and philosophy, will the pattern of life change when ubiquitous communication extends to our inanimate environment, when information exchange, and the coordination of activities, involves not only person-to-person connections, but also person-to-object, object-to-person, and indeed object-to-object ones? It is to be expected that philosophical notions like tool, agent, and even con­sciousness, will undergo radical changes. On a more pedestrian level, looking at current technological possibilities and their effects, we can assume that when tools and objects hold enough processing power to assist their human counterpart with "behaviour prediction" and have ubiquitous communication capabilities, our coexistence with devices will become smoother, more efficient, and indeed more intimate. Artificial intelligence in cars, homes, and offices may be completely redefined if the devices in those environ­ments can freely communicate with each other.
 

 
Previous volumes in the series
COMMUNICATIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY project co-ordinated by Kristóf Nyíri and Gabriella Liptay
Conference organized by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Magyar Telekom

 

 

Created: May 27, 2009 Updated: Sept. 16, 2009 Optimalized for Internet Explorer