APG(ID:8192/)for Applications Programming Generator Extension of the ATS system at Cornell, used for CAI, outputting APL Related languages
References: Computers are machines that play a unique role in modern technology in that they tend to amplify man?s mental power rather than his physical power. If they are to be considered an ?intellectual appendage,? why are they so difficult to use? Note that we are not asking why it is difficult to understand how they work, but merely why there is a communication gap between man and machine. This question recalls some words written by one of the authors over thirty years ago, while trying to explain why knowledge of the human brain lagged so far behind the physical sciences: ?Something in the Mind?s Complexity, does not like to admit its Simplicity.?? In this paper we use our medical environment as an example of man-machine communication. Here we find that there are three alternative ways of bridging the communications barrier as we have observed it. - Teach the physician and medical administrator the language of the machine, i.e., teach them to become programmers. We have not been too successful with this approach. - Provide them with their personal interpreter or programmer. Not only is this expensive, but it also serves to remove them from direct control over what they want to accomplish. Teach the machine to speak the language of the physician, i.e., English. - We have chosen to teach the machine to speak the language of the physician. Techniques for our man-machine dialogues form the main theme of this paper. |