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Why Do We Put Holes In Our Head? https://youtu.be/NnHaAZAFATo Before responsive, voice-controlled assistants like Alexa and Siri, we had the “Butler in a Box” -- which its maker Mastervoice and its creator Gus Searcy described as “The world’s first artificial intelligent environmental control system for the home.” It… wasn’t very intelligent, despite claiming it could control all your devices, call 16 people, speak 4 languages, and provide home security. 1983 was the beginning of the era of the personal computer, and the Commodore64 was a bestseller. Video games and electronics of all kinds were fascinating. If we could digitize work and fun, why couldn’t we have a futuristic helper to at least turn on the lights for us? It really was the stuff of science fiction: a little bit HAL-9000, a little bit Star Trek, and some of a horror movie called “Demon Seed” that you’ve probably never even heard of. How do we get the best out of that technology while avoiding the bad parts? That is, if it works at all. The story of the Butler in a Box is more interesting than the technology itself. It’s the story of a teen financier who became a magician, a man who owned a 7-11 and invented a cannon to feed fish -- until he was involved in a murder trial. It’s the story of having a great idea and then finding out that the real cost is about 20 times higher than you thought it would be. It’s the story of the promise of being first… and all the problems that come with it. And it’s the story of Kevin trying to turn a lamp on 40 years later (nearly impossible). ** SOURCES / FURTHER INVESTIGATION ** “Popular Science” March 1987: https://books.google.com/books?id=3AAAAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false CelGenStudios, “The Butler in a Box”: https://youtu.be/9o3oFXbSqWw CelGenStudios, “Reverse-Engineering the Security Module in a Mastervoice Butler in a Box”: https://youtu.be/4LGx4QsDprY ** SPECIAL THANKS ** Guitar-Making Wizard: Tom Lieber Electronics Wizard: Neal Newman #ai #artificialintelligence #technology #science #innovation