HAL 9000 - The Future of Computing

The Future of Computing

HAL's capabilities, like all the technology in 2001, were based on the speculation of respected scientists. Marvin Minsky, director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and one of the most influential researchers in the field, was an adviser on the film set. In the mid-1960s, many computer scientists in the field of AI were optimistic that machines with HAL's capabilities would exist within a few decades. For example, AI pioneer Herbert A. Simon at Carnegie Mellon University, had predicted in 1965 that "machines will be capable, within twenty years, of doing any work a man can do", the overarching premise being that the issue was one of computational speed (which was predicted to increase) rather than principle.

As 2001 approached, it became clear that the film's depiction of computer technology was too optimistic. Capabilities such as natural language processing, lip reading, and commonsense reasoning on the part of computers were still science fiction, although some advances in natural language processing can be seen in voice recognition and synthesis software on computers and smartphones.