Why Linguistics Matters in the Age of Exponential Technologies
The proper use of words is crucial to reduce confusion. It is especially important when laying the foundation for understanding the application and implications of developing technologies. Unfortunately, this is when misuse it most likely to take a foothold. Once this happens, it becomes increasingly difficult to clarify. Right now, an astonishing number of new tools are becoming available. Imagine a broken sink spraying water on a plumber. He calls out to his partner to hand him the tool he needs to fix the pipe, but they don’t speak the same language, even if they both speak English. Similarly, we will increasingly use the new, digital tools mentioned below. Whether our worksite is in education, healthcare, entertainment, media, or any other industry, we need to agree on the proper language in order to work most efficiently.
A Very Confusing Time, Thanks to Exponential Technology
If it seems like you are suddenly hearing many technology terms that you can’t easily explain, or you are hearing the same terms used for different meanings, you are not alone. The foundations for a variety of suites of technology are experiencing explosive growth. Neologisms are rampant, but many of them are necessary.
We are struggling to find the terms to define phenomena at the same time as we are struggling to understand them.
Why now? Because of exponential technologies. These double in speed or power, and their cost is halved every two years. Technologies that fall into this category are wide-ranging, from robotics to synthetic biology. During exponential growth, there is a period of relative calm before the next spike — growth is made up of smaller, sigmoidal periods.
We are in one of those plateaus now, and seemingly disparate technologies are coalescing. There is a theme, however: communion between the virtual and physical worlds. When the roots of these technologies have established themselves sufficiently, they will quickly grow together and in plainer view, bringing about the next major period of technological advancement. Among the names used for the approaching era are The Third Wave and The Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Logically, we can break down the technologies in several different ways. I believe the most useful is to do so in such a way that illustrates that bridge between the virtual and the physical.
- The structure of the bridge relies on experiential technology
- The virtual land is populated by artificial intelligence
- The traffic that flows is biosyncing
Experiential Technology
Augmented reality and virtual reality have been getting a lot of press lately. In this post, I explain what these technologies refer to in the context of the virtuality continuum and mixed reality. Since the time of that posting, I’ve had a conversation with Professor Paul Milgram, from the University of Toronto, who coined the term “mixed reality.” Professor Milgram confirmed his belief that mixed reality refers to a broader group, and augmented virtuality, exemplified most prominently today by Microsoft’s HoloLens, is a subset of mixed reality.
Experiential Technology refers to any tools used for interfacing with the virtual world. This includes not only VR and AR, but all of spatial computing as well as gesture recognition, such Leap Motion, brain-computer interfaces (such as OpenBCI), and other peripherals that maximize simulation of our physical presence in a virtual space.
Zach Lynch, founder of the Experiential Technology Show and Neurogaming Conference, expanded the name of his event to include the term after realizing that his exhibitors, speakers, and panelists were discussing technologies much broader than those limited to the purpose of neurogaming. The term accurately describes the unifying purpose of all technologies included.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence enables computers to make decisions normally made by humans.
A robot performs a series of complex tasks and is programmable.
Despite the number of online stories that include a photo from Ex Machina, AI does not necessarily have anything to do with a physical presence beyond the materials required to make it function. It’s in our nature to anthropomorphize, and when the thing has almost no discernible tangible interface, it is understandable that we choose to mold it in our image. A better example in popular culture would be J.A.R.V.I.S. from Iron Man.
While AI can be part of a robot and easier to interact with as a humanoid robot, neither is dependent on the other.
By including this image, I may be contributing to the confusion. However, the next time you see one of these, remember: none of them were powered in reality by artificial intelligence. They were created by a human sense of wonder and/or fear.
If you are interested in learning more about AI, I highly recommend Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence: Path, Dangers, Strategies.
Biosyncing
Whenever possible, neologism should be avoided. The English language contains more than one million words, and a combination, such as “exponential technology,” is usually sufficient if a single word cannot already be used as a descriptor.
Attempts at prescriptive adoption are rarely successful. For example, the AR company Blippar has been promoting use of the word “blipping” to mean scanning a thing to get more information about that thing. The problem for Blippar is that the word “scan” already exists. Also, many other AR companies provide a similar service, and Blippar has not achieved cultural dominance to the extent that Google has. To “google” something now means to perform an online search, but this term came about proscriptively.
After much research, I was unable to find a word or term to accurately describe a new phenomena I had been observing: the symbiotic loop between the virtual and physical worlds, consisting of information transfer and micro adjustments. I had the audacity to make up a word.
Biosyncing is symbiotic, biomechanical communication, when a human and a machine are in a reactive, performance-augmenting loop.
Biosyncing is made possible by a number of different technologies, such as facial recognition, sensors, and visual displays, and our ability to leverage these technologies will greatly increase with improvements in artificial intelligence. Wearable technology refers to a large group of gadgets used for information gathering and some feedback for humans. The Internet of things refers to the prevalence of connectivity to and between devices. Both are key elements of biosyncing, but neither sufficiently describes the interaction, which enables us to improve ourselves in more ways than just physical performance.
Not a Conclusion, A Conversation
For the sake of maximizing productivity, we must make an effort to understand not only the technologies that are coming into play, but the best language we can use to describe them. Language is always evolving, and I would love to know if you disagree with anything included in this post or have something else to add. Please share your thoughts here.
Also, please share this with your friends and colleagues!
