It is important to think about effects of computers on roles played by experts in responding to queries on various fields of study. Robots might replace human beings in future because of advancements in technology. Critics argue that computers are more effective, fast, and thorough in providing information on certain areas of study. However, experts give better responses because they possess ability to synthesize, evaluate, and criticize information in order to provide best answers to queries.
First, skills of an expert are needed to feed a computer with information that it generates when presented with a query. Therefore, an expert gives better responses to queries than a computer. Information obtained from computers is secondhand because it originates from experts (Baldauf and Stair 34).
However, critics argue that computers give better responses because humans are prone to errors. This argument is erroneous because even computers make errors depending on quality of programs installed. Moreover, an expert can correct errors but a computer cannot.
Second, robots only respond to queries that contain certain search phrases. A robot cannot give responses to unclear queries if a certain phrase is not provided (Helander and Prabhu 42). In contrast, experts understand queries better than robots and offer the best answers after evaluating and analyzing information (Baldauf and Stair 37). A Computer may give a wrong response because a search phrase might be connected to a different answer in the computer’s program.
Critics argue that even experts occasionally fail to understand queries and thus give wrong answers. However, interaction between people facilitates better understanding because more information that improves comprehension can be provided (Helander and Prabhu 44). A computer cannot respond to additional information because it responds only to certain phrases. If the scope of a phrase is not inclusive of all aspects of the query, then a robot provides an insufficient answer.
Third, responses from computers are limited in scope because there is no interpersonal discourse between a user and the computer (Markoff 73). In contrast, a human expert can provide additional information on a certain query by interacting with the other person. An expert evaluates a query from different perspectives and as such, gives the most appropriate answer.
If computers give better responses to queries than humans do, they would be used to instruct students in institutions of learning. However, they are not used because they have several limitations such as inability to interact with students. Some critics argue that computers are not used because policies to allow there are nonexistent. However, there is no evidence of computer use in teaching except video conferencing between learners and instructors.
Computers cannot instruct learners because of two main reasons. First, they lack ability to learn and their functioning depends on humans. Second, they lack creativity and respond to queries based on their programming (Markoff 75). If used for instruction, they cannot answer questions from learners due to inability to interact with students. Therefore, humans are better at responding to queries than robots.
In conclusion, human experts are better at responding to queries compared to robots. Robots provide responses based on their programming that may be limited. Therefore, they depend on human intelligence and secondhand information. In contrast, humans provide responses after careful evaluation and analysis of information, functions that robots cannot perform. In addition, humans can correct errors in responses while robots cannot. Therefore, experts provide better responses to queries than robots do.
Works Cited
Baldauf, Kenneth, and Stair Ralph. Succeeding with Technology. New York: Cengage Learning.
Helander, Michael, and Prabhu, Peter. Handbook of Human –Computer Interaction. New York: Elsevier Press.
Markoff, John. A Fight to Win the Future: Computers vs. Humans. 2011. Web.