"How About a Nice Game of Chess?"

Well, what do you say? How about a nice game of chess?  Chess isn’t everyone’s favorite, but it certainly is a more favorable option than real life war.  I’d choose a game over war, easily. When it comes to a sensitive issue like war, even people in the military have reservations about engaging in war, especially those who have the job of literally turning the key when commanded in order to launch a missile as a way of engaging in war. People have several reasons why they may hesitate, even though they are expected to do whatever is commanded. For a computer, there is no choice between a game and war, because there is no difference.  The War Games movie illustrates the beauty and danger of a computer that can do what a human cannot, which is to perform tasks without second guessing anything or having a conscious to challenge their order.  In this movie, military officials and administration are contemplating on approving a system that gives and enacts orders about war to replace reluctant military men from turning the key, as mentioned earlier. Well, they get what they want, but experience the downfall of it. David Lightman, the smart and curious teen had hacking skills that took him a little too far….far enough to simulate the threat of global nuclear thermal war. His interaction with a computer system named Joshua was the start of a game, which David only understood as a game. For Joshua, the game was no different from real life. The threat of war was upon the military leaders who were preparing to attack back, since it appeared that the Soviet Union was attacking them. The uncalled for response would have then prompted World War III in this film. In just enough time, the military was finally convinced (by David and Dr Falken) that the simulation wasn’t real. So, David was able to change the game to ones that both the human and computer could agree on, tic tac toe and chess.

   

Essentially, we have the power to tell computers what to do through the way that we program them to work. War happens as a result of a decision that arises from a complex situation. The way to program a computer to perform in a way that is like making a decision about war is to design different scenarios. In other words, the computer would play war games. From the results of each war game, the system can learn how to learn. Even still, the computer is always set on its decision, which can sometimes be dangerous if it came to a wrong conclusion. This is probably why one military official in the film told the general, “You’re listening to a machine. Do the world a favor and don’t act like one.” This suggests that while the computer system is advanced enough to learn and present possible responses to situations like the threat of war, it should not take the place of human deliberation and direction.

I enjoyed watching this film. I thought quite a bit about how we need to consider the necessary and desired boundaries between humans and supercomputers, machines with highly intelligent capabilities. How far is too far in letting a computer aid in decision making? I mean….Google comes to mind as the most popular decision making aid. However, for a more complex issue like war, every action is a huge risk. So, to what extent should a non-human system be able to give the call and actually enact the steps to engaging in war for example? This is a really important factor to consider, but I know, rather than figuring this out, it’s much easier to just play a game of chess.