Die späte Entdeckung der Schrift im Kontext von Robotik

 Die Schrift ist eine sehr alte Erfindung der Menschheit. Die erste Bilderschrift, die Ägyptischen Hieroglyphen entstanden um 3200 v. Chr. Insgesamt ist Schrift und natürliche Sprache sehr detailiert erforscht. Es gibt umfassende Wörterbücher, Darstellungen welche die Geschichte der Sprache zeigen und Untersuchungen bezüglich Wortherkunft.

Vereinfacht gesagt sind Wörter Referenzsysteme zur Realität. Substantive stehen für Objekte wie "Himmel, Tisch, Apfel", Adjektive stehen für Tätigkeiten wie "Laufen, springen, geben" und Adjektive werden als Eigenschaftswörter verwendet wie "gelb, groß, schnell, feucht". Das Wissen bezüglich Wortarten und die Nennung von Beispielwörtern ist banal, allerdings nur für die Sprachwissenschaft selber. Im Bereich Computerwissenschaft und Mathematik wurde natürliche Sprache lange Zeit ignoriert. Es gab zwar Versuche chatbots zu programmieren, aber das war nur ein Teilbereich der Künstlichen Intelligenz.

Erst in jüngerer Zeit stellte sich heraus, dass natürliche Sprache womöglich das fehlende Puzzleteil darstellt mit der man künstliche Intelligenz inbesamt realisieren kann. Und zwar indem man Sprache als Technologie verwendet. Insbesondere dessen Eigenschaft auf die Realität zu verweisen macht es zum idealen Abstraktionsmechanismus. Es müssen keine neuen Sprachen erfunden werden sondern vorhandene Sprachen wie English, Deutsch usw. bieten bereits ein umfassendes Vokabular was von Robotern ähnlich wie Menschen verwendet werden kann. Alles was eine Maschine dafür benötigt ist eine Übersetzungstabelle von Bildern zu Sprache und in umgekehrter Richtung. Mit Hilfe dieser Bild zu Wort Tabelle kann man einem Roboter ein Kommando geben wie "Fahre zum Tisch". Und der Roboter übersetzt den Satz dann in Bilder und in Aktionen.

Bis ungefähr zum Jahr 2000 hat die KI Forschung nach Algorithmen gesucht mit deren Hilfe sich denkende Maschinen konstruieren lassen. Typische Algorithmen waren Lernverfahren für neuronale Netze, SLAM Algorithmen zur Selbstlokalisierung, A* Pfadplanungsalgorithmen oder Momdel predictive control Algorithmen. Die Annahme lautete jeweils dass mit diesen Algorithmen denkende Maschinen konstruiert werden könnten. Diese Annahme ist jedoch falsch. Es liegt zusätzlich der Verdacht nahe, dass es generell keine Algorithmen gibt, die Künstliche Intelligenz erzeugen, weil ein Algorithmus per se nicht mächtig genug ist um Roboter zu steuern. Was man stattdessen verwenden könnte wäre natürliche Sprache als zentrales Koordinierungsinstrument. Sprache ist ein Interface zwischen den Wortsymbolen einerseits und der Realität andererseits. Dadurch kann die komplexe Realität in wenige Wörter komprimiert werden.

Erst durch diese Realitätskompression ist es möglich den Handlungsraum für Roboter zu verkleinern. Der Roboter plant nicht länger in einem 3d Raum mit Trajektorien sondern der Roboter plant mit Hilfe von Verben und Substantiven in einem abstrakten Sprachraum. Seit der Erfindung von Word embeddings wie Word2vec mag dieser Ansatz selbstverständlich klingen aber bis zum Jahr 2000 war der Fokus auf Sprache eine Revolution.

Noch immer steht natürliche Sprache ein wenig außerhalb der klassischen Computerwissenschaft. Es hat nichts zu tun mit Elektrotechnik, Mathematik oder Algorithmen, sondern die Sprachwissenschaft hat ihren Ursprung in den Geisteswissenschaften. Nicht nur in der Dewey Dezimalklassifikation wie sie in Bibliotheken verwendet wird, sondern auch in der Gliederung von Universitäten sind Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften unversöhnliche Gegensätze die getrennt betrachtet werden.

The transition from mechanical typewriters to modern computers

Historians have the tendency to describe decades on an objective basis. It's possible to tell the story of the 17th century. On the first look it make sense to divide time into pieces of similar durations, 100 years are always 100 years. The problem is, that in the recent history the development of mankind has accelerated, which means, that in the same 10 years much more events are taking place than before. A well known example are the 1980s which are known as a very influential decade.

To understand why we have to snapshot first the situation before the advent of the 1980s in terms of media history. Until the 1970s the most common tools for producing information was a mechanical typewrite. This machine was used in private households, companies, by journalists and by scientists. Compared to a manual driven pen, a typewriter provides a higher typing speed and allows to create up to 3 copies of the original work. In general the speed of information distribution was slow, and the number of produced new letters, journals and books was low.

With the advent of the first home computers the situation changed drastically. The killer application for the first IBM PC was not it's ability to emulate a turing machine, but the first home computers were used as a modern typewriters. The early word processing tools were running only in textmode but they were powerful enough that in under 10 years the computer has replaced typewriters. Even people who were familiar with mechanical typewriters recognized very fast the advantages of the computers. It allows them to create information more efficient. Sometimes the early 1980s are described from a literature perspective as the beginning of the Cyberspace novels. What happened in that time, that the authors thrown away their typewriters, used a computer and wrote a new kind of stories. It's not possible to write a story like Neuromancer (1984) on a mechanical machine.

The replacement of typewriters was not the only benefit of the computer revolution. At the end of the 1980s a second revolution was visible at the horizon which was the Mailbox and Internet community. This kind of innovation was more drastically than using a computer as a typewriter. It was equal to replace the former postal service. All of these development took place in a single decades. In the 1980s there was more technical revolution available than the 3000 years before. That means, if somebody likes to describes in the correct depth, he has to write about the 1980s the same amount of books like about all the centuries before.

The assumption is, that this kind of revolution game has repeated in the 1990s. That means, in the recent history the amount of innovation has become bigger and a single decade contains of more facts than in the past.

Typewriters are helping to understand what innovation is

The most interesting feature of typewriters is, that his technology is obsolete. This makes it much easier to analyze it's past from an objective standpoint. According to different sources, mechanical and electric typewriters were popular until the late 1980s. This was the time in which the first users switched over to IBM PC together with dot matrix and laser printers. Up to the early 1990s a typewriting machine was a common tool used by individual and companies as well.

The reason why the typewriter was a success was because it was wore more advanced than using the alternative which is a manual pen. Writing a letter with a typewriter is more comfortable than using a pencil and the typing speed is higher. Additionally, the typeface is easier to read which makes the typewrite to the perfect choice for journalists and writers.

Surprisingly the typewriter was replaced by the computer for the same reason. Creating a letter in a wordprocessing software is much easier then typing it with a typewriter. So the typewrite was a transition process between a pen and a desktop pc. It was used in a certain period and it's possible to tell this story for a wider audience.

The reason why the history of typewriters is attractive for many people is because it has a long history. The first commercial models of mechanical typewriters were built around 1890 and the last typewriters were sold on the market around 1990. This is equal to a timespan of 100 years. In that time, the typewriter was produced unchanged, with some minor modification in the 1970s with the advent of the first electric typewriters. This sort of long duration is a luxury which is uncommon for modern computing industry. The lifespan of recent technology is lower than hundred years. Even the famous Commodore 64 was sold only for less than 10 years.

The interesting aspect of ttypewriters was, that in that area the inventors were not in hurry. One typewriter was produced in 1890 and then 10 years happend nothing and smaller improvements were made in 1900. That means, the typewriting machines were easy to understand and there was no need to go forward and discover which is completely new. This has changed drastically in the computer industry. The normal behavior of computer evolution is, that every 4 years a new technology is introduced into the market which is working different from any product known before. A machine like the Commodore 64, the 286 IBM PC and a more 4 core PC have nothing in common. They are used for different purposes and the internal working has evolved a lot.

Transitions in media history

Media studies is strongly connected with the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. The past can be divided into the time before books were available and after them have become a mainstream good. The interesting point is, that the time after inventing the Gutenberg press has become faster. Revolutionary inventions were made which have made the original press obsolete. The first one was the steam driven printing press in the 19th century which has reduced the costs dramatically. This sort of machine made it possible to print apart from books newspapers.

Another important invention was the first typewriting machine. This machine democratized the writing of books. Anybody who likes was able to write a book by it's own. He needs only an empty sheet of paper and a bit language skills. The next revolutionary device after the mechanic typewriter was the homecomputer. The businessman Jack Tramiel is a good example for this transition. In it's early years he worked for a company who produced typewriting machines, later he founded Commodore Computers and sold the famous homecomputer with 64kb of RAM. The transition from trypewriters to homecomputers was made during the early 1980s. The transition was much faster, then the invention of the first printing press 500 years ago. In less then 10 years, the desktop computers have replaced former typewriters at homes and in business.

After the homecomputer was on the market the next revolutionary invention was even bigger, it was the internet which was introduced for the mass market during 5 years. It took only 5 years from the release of the first WWW server in 1993 until the Internet was available widespread in the year 1998 which resulted into the dot com boom.

On a longer timespan the time between two revolutionary inventions has become shorter. It took 300 years from the Gutenberg press to the steam driven press. It took only 100 years from modern printing press to typewriters but it took only 15 years until the homecomputer replaced the typewriter and it took 5 years until the Internet was available worldwide.

Typewriters

In the year 1968 the Commodore 2200 was widespread available. It wasn't a homecomputer, but a home typewriter. From a technical perspective the machine wasn't very advanced, it looks like any kind of typewriters from that period. The fascinating feature was the brand name because only 20 years later, Commodore has evolved from a typewriter company to a computer manufacturer. In the year 1968 it was rare or not possible to become the proud owner of a homecomputer with 64kb of RAM. In that time, the computer hardware nor the software wasn't invented yet. That means, a personal typewriter was the most advanced technology the people can buy in this time.

Even a mechanical typewriter looks outdated for today's eyes in the 1960s it was a modern technology. Because the typewriter allows for anybody to create a book. It was similar to today's word processing tool. Instead of using a pen, the user was using mechanical keys. This allows him to write faster and more accurately. An additional was that a typewriter can be utilized for photocopy tasks by using a special sort of paper.

The social aspect of mechanical typewriters is amazing. It allowed the people to educate themself. If somebody has written some letters and complete books on the machine it was able, that he was trained as a writer. He was using language not only passive by consuming existing information, but in a active fashion. It was not a coincident, that mechanical typewriters were widespread used by students, in the office, by teachers and by play writers. It was a tool for improving the own mind. The interesting point is, that without such a tool it was not able to become educated as well. Writing lots of letters only with a manual pen is not possible. And if somebody hasn't written many letters, he wasn't trained in using language efficient. This was equal to missing education. So the most powerful of a typewriter was not located in the hardware of the machine, but in the effect on humans who are using the tool on a regular basis.

Touch typing tutorial for Linux

Welcome to the introduction in touch typing. The first what you need is a fresh installation of Fedora Linux. It can be downloaded here https://getfedora.org The correct ISO file which can be downloaded for free is “Fedora Workstation 28, 64bit, 1.7 GB, live image”. After installing the software (which takes around 5 hours for Linux experts, a typing trainer can be installed with:

dnf install klavaro

Until a newbee gets familiar with the software it can take around a year. The good news is, that it is not necessary to run the course until end. Complicated keys like numbers 0,1,2,3 are not needed to type also with touch typing. In reality, it is enough to learn the basic 26 characters from A..Z in small and big caps and the space bar, of course.

After the user is familar with touch typing with 10 fingers, the next challenge is to become familiar with the Lyx software. It can be installed with “dnf install lyx”. After he is an expert in this tool, he can try to improve his English skills. The best way in doing so, is to write academic papers in English and use a bilingual dictionary for unknown words.

Other typing tutorials

The Klavaro software is not very advanced, for example a measurement of the typing speed is not available. Other programs like Ktouch and online tutorials which runs in a browser window have such feature, but they are more complicated to use. The main problem with all typing trainers is, that using them is a repetitive boring task. The progress of the learner is low and in the worst case, he gets serious injured in his hand because he types too fast.

My advice is to use the most simple typewriter software, which is Klavaro, type in the examples in the slowest possible time and make many breaks between the training. IF something feels wrong in the hand, stop the training and reduce the speed further. In most cases a writing speed of 100 chars per minute is enough. If somebody is able to type in a essay in that speed blind he has finished after 20 minutes (2000 words), which is very fast compared to long tail handwriting.

How can somebody typing large amount of text without using touch typing, without using Lyx, without using the English language, without using Fedora Linux and without using Google Scholar? Right, there is no way. If somebody is not familiar with these skills he is not able to write anything or get knowledge about any subject. I would call these capabilities the basic skills every student should master, otherwise he is not a student but a gamer ... That means, if somebody is arguing that touch typing is not important, that mastering the Lyx software is not important and that he never noticed of Google Scholar he can do so, but then is not a real student.

Choosing the right keyboard

I can not recommend any of the ergonomic keyboards offered by Microsoft and Logitech, because the keys are break down after some weeks of typing and the consumer is forced to buy a new model. But, the technology is better than using pen&paper or a mechanical typewriter because both have no usb-connection.

Typing speed

Again, I want to explain how to prevent Injuries in the hand. The most important aspect is to reduce the typing speed. That means, even a newbie can type very fast, for example 200 chars per minutes it is important to artificially slow down the speed to 100 and below. Because, if somebody is typing with a speed of 300 chars per minute for a while he may be fast, but after some minutes his fingers can get be broken. The better approach is to type slow but constant over longer periods. That means, the user should take around one hour for typing in a small text, and if he is done, he will get no physical problems with his fingers.

In reality, the most interesting feature in touch typing isn't the raw speed, but the ability to type in the words blind. Because usually many errors are happening while typing, that means somebody wants to write a word like “Hello” but he is typing “jekko”. The trick is to recognize typing errors early and correct them life, this is only possible if the eyes are focussed on the monitor and the finger stay on the keyboard. In the example word, the user types in the first letter “J”, recognizes that the character is wrong, press' the backspace key and types in the correct “H” key. Even if somebody reaches only a slow speed in touch typing he is able to doing such operations on the fly, which increases the overall speed.