INTERVIEW:
Question 1
I’ll start with a simple, basic question. What is a neural network?
Answer
A neural network is the use of the computer to try and duplicate or simulate how our brain
works. So instead of looking at things as based on values or statistically based, it looks
for patterns. That is what makes it a neural network technology; it is a computer
simulation of how the brain would actually work.
Question 2
What is the difference between neural network and classical artificial intelligence?
Answer
Neural network is a branch of artificial intelligence, because obviously it uses
technology to simulate the way we would think or the way it makes us more productive.
It’s just the newest in the science of artificial intelligence. We have gone from
statistical models, expert systems, inference engines and all of those things and now
this. And this seems to be the one that really works. From all our research it seems to be
the one that really can be applied to business, to technology and so forth.
Question 3
A neugent will really do this without manual help?
Answer
A neugent is Computer Associates’ term. It is a neural network agent. You cannot
create the infrastructure and so forth every time you use neural network technology. For
example, you want to know how well your computer is doing, whether it is going to go down,
to start to use it to predict. We place a software agent on that server or on that
computer. And if it’s a neural network agent, we call it neugent.
Question 4
The neural network will enable the computer to learn from experience and to answer like a
human being in a way. Computer Associates will use this to control the information system
from a company. What do you think will be the next development?
Answer
When you look at the future of neural network agents or CA’s neugents, you see that
we’ve applied it in the operation of computer systems and the information technology
area. But this kind of technology can be used anywhere for any kinds of data: in
predicting when transmission towers are going to fail, in predicting things like what the
attendance will be at sporting events, predicting elections. All of these are based on
patterns. The longer history you have, so that you can train this neugent, the better your
prediction will be. So we have barely scratched the surface of the application of this
neugent technology. All we have done so far has been in the application of IT. Now we are
beginning to work with many clients to look beyond that, looking at business applications.
Question 5
Can you give us some examples of practical applications?
Answer
For example in printers: it would be nice to know what the pattern of usage of printers
is, when will they have to be replenished in terms of toner, cartridges and so forth. This
is not a thing where you can just set thresholds, it’s more like looking for
patterns. You can look, for example, for cheque fraud to see what kind of patterns there
are, how people are using this to do what we call in the United States " cheque
kiting", which is writing one check to a bank and then writing another cheque from
the second bank and the third bank. You start to find these kinds of patterns.
Question 6
You have said that you think that in the next 20 years the technology won’t change
too much; you don’t think technology will change everything. What do you think will
be the most important contribution of technology to our standard of living?
Answer
I think there’s a misunderstanding here. Technology changes but the issues
surrounding technology are always pretty much the same. We still have the same issues of
security, of backing up our data, of communications; all of these kinds of issues still
stay the same. It’s just more complicated now because it’s more distributed and
so forth. We are still looking at technology today in the world of accounting applications
of: people use computer technology for accounting, payrolls, inventories, ERP and so
forth. I think that technology is only beginning to extend into homes. Our homes in the
future will be completely networked. It will be completely wireless because most people
don’t like to redrill holes in walls. So it will be a wireless network controlling
all of the different devices. It will change the way we live. But then we have the same
issues again. How do you secure this network? How do you backup the data, etc.? So
technology will change, but the issues surrounding the use of it, those still pretty much
remain the same.
Question 7
Computer Associates is very involved in social problems; I heard that you work a lot on
people’s problems. What is your main objective in social life?
Answer
When you say main objective I think it is important that Computer Associates is like any
other person in the sense that it has a position and a place in society among the people.
It is a company, so it has to give back, like all of us do. We reap all these benefits of
what we do. We can make the world better. And to make the world better means we give
something back. Computer Associates fortunately has such great technology that it can help
use this technology for the betterment of humanity. So this is why we are involved in a
lot of these projects. Number two, Computer Associates - and myself personally - have the
very strong belief that our future is our children. So we really want to help the
children. If you look at all the projects of Computer Associates, they’re almost
always centered around our children.
Question 8
So technology really helps, for example, to find missing kids or other problems. Do you
think technology can really help?
Answer
I think that there are things you could not do without this technology. The impact is
tremendous. One example I use is our project in developing countries. You can send doctors
into all these countries and operate and help the children. That’s wonderful and
there are many different organizations throughout the world doing that. But you may go to
a place where such an agency may operate on 2000 kids over a period of 8 years. There are
2.4 million children in China alone that have this kind of problem, so if we don’t
empower and train the local doctors, we will never get at the problem. We are using
computer technology, the use of virtual reality technology, to help train these doctors.
In this way the faster we can train the doctors, the faster we can start to really solve
the problem.
Question 9
Computer Associates is now working a lot also in two-dimensional graphics, for cinema and
entertainment, with films like Independence Day, Magnum, Godzilla. What is
the relationship between the software for business and cinema?
Answer
I think that the difference is that both of them ask the world that is created on the
screen to be more real. It has to be 3-D, and to be 3-D means you are creating models. The
models can be used in advertisement, the models could represent cars on an assembly line,
for example, models could represent offices. So we are really using 3-D to create a more
realistic world, an easier world for people to interface the technology.
Question 10
Let’s talk about the year 2000 problem. All companies are trying to prepare for this
date with a taskforce. What is your view of this problem? Will it be a problem for
computers and also for other technology systems? Will there be a catastrophe?
Answer
I don’t think there will be a catastrophe. I think if you look back just last year
when everyone who worked with satellites said that if one of the satellites fell out of
the sky, the world would stop: the same kind of doom and gloom catastrophe they had
predicted. It is interesting to know that we did have a satellite fall out of the sky last
year. The world went on. I think there will be some issues, there will be inconveniences.
I think we will overcome them. It is just a matter of time. I do not believe the world
will come to a stop. I personally am not stocking up with canned goods and all of those
things so I will be able to live in some basement just in case. I don’t believe that
will happen.
Question 11
What is the situation in companies, for instance in Italy or other countries? Do you find
that companies are in danger or are they working to solve this problem?
Answer
I think most companies we speak with are in final tests in the middle of this year. At
that point it will be proven whether they are or are not ready for the Y2K or the year
2000 issue. I think that most companies are in pretty good shape. They are working on it.
I think what we have done, as we usually do in our industry, is we start off with a grand
plan: we’re going to make everything Y2K compliant. Since then I think more and more
companies are focussing on what are the most critical things that keep our business
running. They are making sure that those work. Governments are another issue. If you and I
have to get a passport, for example, where it used to take, say, 3 weeks, if they are not
ready, it make take 4, 5 or 6 weeks. We don’t have many choices. We cannot go to
another country and say we need a passport. So I think in those kinds of areas of
government there may be some issues. But I think it will all be overcome.
Question 12
And in everyday life, what do you think will happen?
Answer
I think we’re going to have a very big New Year’s Eve party since it is the turn
of the century. Computer Associates people will be working that day just so that we are
ready for clients in case they run into a problem. But I don’t think it’s going
to be a catastrophe or anything like that.
Question 13
But you give your clients this millennium watch to try to solve also the problems in their
homes?
Answer
Well, the millennium watch is very important. What we do there is to make our technical
people available to them. If we have to solve problems at that point, there is a big
problem then. I think what we’re doing is to give them the comfort that our technical
people are there, that they also know in the company who to contact if there is a problem
with one of our products. So this gives them an extra, added level of confidence and
assurance. CA, as a company, because we understand our software, is behind this process
for the year 2000.
Question 14
With solutions like Genie will it be possible to control your fridge and things you use at
home?
Answer
I think that the use of computers in terms of what they can do is only beginning. Today,
for example, you do have computers in your microwave oven. Some in refrigerators already.
There are computers in our cars, there are computers in our stereos systems. Eventually,
all of that will probably be linked through a wireless network. We will have more control
of it. We will have control, for example, with better, smarter thermometers. The
thermometers that regulate more in terms of what your requirements are, if there are
people in the room, and so it will be energy saving. Lights will all be controlled. All of
that is coming, and it will be much easier in that sense. And I think the cost-saving will
be there, because we will use resources in a much smarter way.
Question 15
I read that in some ways you try to defend people from technology. You let the people who
work for your company uses the mail just in some hours of the day and not every day. Is
this because you think that technology can reduce human relationships?
Answer
I am concerned about technology for our children, because I think it is still more
important for children to go out and play with friends than play computer games. I think
it’s more important for children to learn to socialize with other children than to
socialize through e-mail or chat rooms. With people on the business level, I think,
because we are in a very creative business, our business is to create good software
solutions. And creativity comes about because you have interaction. Otherwise, if you
start to develop things in a vacuum, by yourself, it has no relation to what the world
needs or what people really require. So my concern is - and I preach this to my people -
to make sure we also have the human element. E-mail and computers are wonderful tools;
they should not be your way of life only. You should use them as a tool and they will make
your life better, easier, with better, more accurate communication. But you should not
allow them to take over your life and that has always been my view on it.
Question 16
You also work a lot to build a personalized program for commerce on-line. Do you think it
will be a great business?
Answer
I think that it will be a great business, I think that you can see a lot of different
companies are already doing that. We do that today. You can order products from Computer
Associates on-line, you can report problems, you can attend conferences, register for
conferences, get technical help. But again, it’s just another distribution or another
communication vehicle. It should not be thought of as the only way to do it. Today we have
telephones, personal meetings, fax, video conference, we have many different tools so we
should understand that those are only tools. We in the technology world tend to think of
things as either 1 or 0, because it’s a binary world, digital. The real world is not
like that. The real world is really different shades of color; it’s not black or
white, it’s not yes or no, it’s different shades. I think that’s what I try
to promote.
Question 17
You work also in different partnerships, for instance with McLaren-Mercedes. Why do you
like to work in this field? What is your view of this partnership?
Answer
What we try to do there is to take this technology and apply it to things people would not
traditionally associate software technology with. What I like to do is open people’s
vision to what can be done beyond just thinking of it as accounting, word-processing
documents, spreadsheets and so forth. So this opens up a whole new world. We are able to
use it to win races. This technology is a whole different thing. We can use it for example
to track missing children. That’s a different kind of world. If we can use it to help
an office supply company to make them more competitive, it’s a different use than
what people usually think that computers can do.
Question 18
You have a sort of partnership with the Italian post office. What do you want to do with
the Italian post office?
Answer
There is a lot of opportunity there. The Italian post office, after having spent a lot of
time reviewing all the technical options to them, decided that CA had the best in terms of
an infrastructure. Together we can build something that will eventually help the Italian
post office, and perhaps in the future other post offices, become more commercially
successful. We were able to get together with the post office and do a joint venture with
them to do exactly this. Obviously, it’s much easier if you’re doing a joint
venture where both will have a stake in the success, rather than just as a supply or a
vendor to a client. This is why we’re doing it. So we are very pleased that the post
office after much research selected Computer Associates to work with them on this.
|
