Will computers control humans in the future? People always tend to seek the easy
way out looking for something that would make their lives easier. Machines and
tools have given us the ability to do more in less time giving us, at the same
time, more comfort. As the technology advances, computers become faster and more
powerful. These new machines are enabling us to do more in less time making our
lives easier. The increased use of computers in the future, however, might have
negative results and impact on our lives. In the novel Nine Tomorrows Isaac
Asimov often criticizes our reliance on computers by portraying a futuristic
world where computers control humans. One of the images which Asimov describes
in the book is that humans might become too dependent on computers. In one of
the stories, Profession, Asimov writes about people being educated by computer
programs designed to educate effortlessly a person. According to the Profession
story people would no longer read books to learn and improve their knowledge.
People would rely on the computers rather than "try to memorize enough to
match someone else who knows" (Nine Tomorrows, Profession 55). People would
not chose to study, they would only want to be educated by computer tapes.
Putting in knowledge would take less time than reading books and memorizing
something that would take almost no time using a computer in the futuristic
world that Asimov describes. Humans might began to rely on computers and allow
them to control themselves by letting computers educate people. Computers would
start teaching humans what computers tell them without having any choice of
creativity. Computer ould start to control humans’ lives and make humans
become too dependent on the computers. Another point that is criticized by
Asimov is the fact that people might take their knowledge for granted allowing
computers to take over and control their lives. In a story called The Feeling of
Power, Asimov portrays how people started using computers to do even simple
mathematical calculations. Over a long period of time people became so reliable
on computers that they forgot the simplest multiplication and division rules. If
someone wanted to calculate an answer they would simply use their pocket
computer to do that (The Feeling of Power 77). People became too independent
from the start making them forget what they have learned in the past. People in
the story The Feeling of Power would take for granted what they have learned
over centuries of learning and chose computers because of their ability to do
their work faster. The lack of manual mathematics, which people chose to forget
in the story, caused computers to be the ones to solve simple mathematics
problems for the p le taking control of the humans by doing the work for them
(The Feeling of Power 81-82). The reliance of computers went to such an extent
that even Humans began to use computers in all fields of study and work allowing
computers to control their lives by taking over and doing everything for them.
According to another story in the book, Asimov also describes how computers
would be able to predict probabilities of an event, future. In the story All the
Troubles of the World one big computer predicted crime before it even happened,
allowing the police to take the person who was going to commit the crime and
release him/her after the danger has passed (All The Troubles of The World
144-145). This computer, called Multivac, controlled humans by telling the
authorities about who was going to commit a crime causing someone to be
imprisoned until the danger has passed. It was the computer that made the
decision of someone’s freedom or imprisonment and that controlled others to
arrest a person it suspected of committing a crime controlling his/her destiny.
The decision of imprisoning someone for a crime a person did not commit was all
in the hands of a computer. It was the computer that controlled humans and their
destiny and controlling other humans who believed in everything that computer
told them. Multivac could not only predict the future but it also could answer
many questions that would normally embarrass people if they would have to ask
someone else about it. Multivac could access its vast database of trillions of
pieces of knowledge and find the best solution for one’s problem (All The
Troubles of The World 153). All the people believed that Multivac knows the best
and allowed a computer to control their lives by following the solutions
Multivac had given them (All the Troubles of The World 153). Humans followed a
computer’s solution to a problem they could not solve themselves allowing a
computer to take control over their lives not allowing them to think for
themselves. In the Nine Tomorrows, Isaac Asimov often criticizes our reliance on
computers. The author predicts that computers will increase their role in the
future while the technology advances. Computers will become faster and people
will want to use them more to make their lives easier. Yet, just like to any
good side there is a bad side. Asimov reflects in his writing that humans might
depend on the computers so much that they will allow them to control their
lives.