In the Beginning was Information

ence mechanism consisting of a rule interpreter and an applicable strategy.Such systems can only be used in cases where knowledge can be formalisedin rules, because programs cannot recognise semantic relationshipsand cannot link semantic elements.2. Robotics: Robots are the next stage of development of partly automatedmachines and they play an increasingly important role in manufacturingprocesses. They can gather data from the surroundings by means of sensorsfor pressure, heat, and light, for example, and evaluate these in terms ofstored program values. Then the programmed movements are carried out bymanipulative mechanisms. Such systems can achieve impressive effects, asillustrated by the organ-playing robot in Figure 5 (Chapter 1). It shouldhowever be emphasised that robots can do nothing more than that for whichthey have been programmed; the ingenuity and foresight of the programmerwhen he models the relevant knowledge is of crucial importance.3. Image processing: This involves the construction or reconstruction ofimages from data. Highly suitable areas of application are tomography(Greek tome = cut, graphein = write; in conjunction with X-rays) and thepreparation of satellite images. The main concern is to recognise objectsby contrasting shades of grey and by applying certain algorithms to pictures.Such images can then be erased, changed, or inserted elsewhere.Figure 40: “Good morning! I am the new medical director.Now please tell me how you’re doing today!”(Sketched by Carsten Gitt)219