The $15,000 A.I. From 1983

Why Do We Put Holes In Our Head? 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,