Wow!! It's been a few years (well, lots actually) since I was at college in my teens and early twenties. That was the last time I heard anyone mention COBOL - one of the programming languages I learnt. PASCAL was the other main one. Both I have now forgotten, but it does bring back memories, @steveTu
I've never had to use them. My career took me in a different direction.
That is semi the point of why I posted that - old languages to new. What didn't come across in what I said was why that worried me. For 70 years we have developed languages to tell machines what to do. The machine obeys those commands because we're the only source of those commands and we say how they have to react (hardware/firmware/software). What happens when the machine defines its own languages? You can see from the basic commands I gave that even ChatGPT could translate those into something an 'old' machine running a Cobol or Java interpreter could use. What happens when that extends to the commands being defined/created by the machine itself? How could we even break into that language to take control? Would we even understand what the language was? The only firebreak I can see at the moment is in hardware manufacture.
Edited to add: Ask the oracle (pun intended):
Could you define your own programming language that is only used by machines - so eliminates the need for any human interaction elements?
Certainly, you can define a programming language that is designed specifically for machine-to-machine communication and execution, without the need for human interaction. Such a language would typically be used for automation, scripting, or integration purposes where human-readable code isn't a primary concern.
Here's a simplified example of what a machine-oriented programming language might look like:
customlang
PROGRAM start
VARIABLE data AS STRING
CONSTANT delay AS INTEGER = 1000
SET data = "Hello, World!"
LOOP 10 TIMES
PRINT data
WAIT delay
END LOOP
TERMINATE
END PROGRAM
In this example:
<i>PROGRAM start</i>: Indicates the start of the program.
<i>VARIABLE data AS STRING</i>: Declares a variable named "data" of type STRING.
<i>CONSTANT delay AS INTEGER = 1000</i>: Declares a constant named "delay" with a value of 1000.
<i>SET data = "Hello, World!"</i>: Assigns the value "Hello, World!" to the "data" variable.
<i>LOOP 10 TIMES</i>: Initiates a loop that iterates 10 times.
<i>PRINT data</i>: Outputs the value of the "data" variable.
<i>WAIT delay</i>: Pauses execution for the specified duration.
<i>END LOOP</i>: Ends the loop.
<i>TERMINATE</i>: Indicates the end of the program.
This example demonstrates a basic programming language that lacks the complexities of human-readable syntax and aims to provide instructions for machine-to-machine interactions. The language focuses on specifying actions and behaviors without human-oriented abstractions.
Developing a machine-oriented programming language can be advantageous in scenarios where efficiency, automation, and integration are paramount. However, creating such a language requires careful consideration of the intended use cases, machine capabilities, and the specific needs of the systems involved.
Given that language has been used as a method of control throughout history - as language was the gateway to knowledge, what happens when you lose that control to a machine?
The code (all three examples) have bugs from what I can see. I haven't used a Cobol compiler for decades, so I'd guess it would depend on the compiler. There were umpteen variants of the cobol compiler even when I was using it.
BUT - ChatGPT *isn't* AI - it defines itself (at this point) as:
...As of my last knowledge update in September 2021, "true AI" is a term
that can be interpreted in various ways. If you're referring to
Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), which would be AI with human-like
cognitive abilities across a wide range of tasks, we have not yet
achieved this level of AI development. The AI systems we have today,
including the one you're interacting with (GPT-3), are more accurately
described as specialized or narrow AI, meaning they excel at specific
tasks but lack the broad cognitive abilities of humans....
...and if a specialised language 'narrow' tool can knock out code (and people at Unis now us this type of tool - see https://www.epcc.ed.ac.uk/whats-happening/articles/exploring-world-chatgpt-code) that works to a level that it stops the need for the mundane coding, what will even an advanced version of the tool be able to do, let alone true AI?
I never expected to see posts about AI or chatgpt on GW!
However as I do know COBOL, am currently reading the Foundation series by
Asimov for the second time, I was a bit intrigued. The idea that chatgpt could
produce COBOL code was fascinating, just wish it could have saved me having to
fill in code sheets to go for input, only to fail due to a missing full stop
days later. But I digress and must get back to catching up on other garden posts
Yorkshire, ex Italy and North East coast. Growing too old for it!
Posts
I've never had to use them. My career took me in a different direction.
Certainly, you can define a programming language that is designed specifically for machine-to-machine communication and execution, without the need for human interaction. Such a language would typically be used for automation, scripting, or integration purposes where human-readable code isn't a primary concern.
Here's a simplified example of what a machine-oriented programming language might look like:
PROGRAM start VARIABLE data AS STRING CONSTANT delay AS INTEGER = 1000 SET data = "Hello, World!" LOOP 10 TIMES PRINT data WAIT delay END LOOP TERMINATE END PROGRAMIn this example:
<i>PROGRAM start</i>: Indicates the start of the program.<i>VARIABLE data AS STRING</i>: Declares a variable named "data" of type STRING.<i>CONSTANT delay AS INTEGER = 1000</i>: Declares a constant named "delay" with a value of 1000.<i>SET data = "Hello, World!"</i>: Assigns the value "Hello, World!" to the "data" variable.<i>LOOP 10 TIMES</i>: Initiates a loop that iterates 10 times.<i>PRINT data</i>: Outputs the value of the "data" variable.<i>WAIT delay</i>: Pauses execution for the specified duration.<i>END LOOP</i>: Ends the loop.<i>TERMINATE</i>: Indicates the end of the program.This example demonstrates a basic programming language that lacks the complexities of human-readable syntax and aims to provide instructions for machine-to-machine interactions. The language focuses on specifying actions and behaviors without human-oriented abstractions.
Developing a machine-oriented programming language can be advantageous in scenarios where efficiency, automation, and integration are paramount. However, creating such a language requires careful consideration of the intended use cases, machine capabilities, and the specific needs of the systems involved.
Given that language has been used as a method of control throughout history - as language was the gateway to knowledge, what happens when you lose that control to a machine?If machines DO get that far, then there really isn't much point worrying.
I never expected to see posts about AI or chatgpt on GW! However as I do know COBOL, am currently reading the Foundation series by Asimov for the second time, I was a bit intrigued. The idea that chatgpt could produce COBOL code was fascinating, just wish it could have saved me having to fill in code sheets to go for input, only to fail due to a missing full stop days later. But I digress and must get back to catching up on other garden posts
I too remember that pain.