50 years of Faulty Towers
It’s 50 years since the first episode of Faulty Towers was aired on the BBC . Since then we have developed Artificial intelligence (AI) but our love hate relationship with machines hasn’t changed, even if they have got smarter
In a classic episode of the comedy Faulty Towers, John Cleese is running late for a rendezvous, his car won’t start. He turns the ignition repeatedly but the engine won’t start. He try’s again and again. He offers encouraging words but still it won’t start. He attempts to bribe it with the promise of a wash and polish even a full service if it just starts this one time. It won’t. Having pleaded and cajoled to no avail he starts to abuse it , calling it a useless pile of scrape. Now in a rage he jumps out the car and kicks the tyres, gabs a fallen branch from a nearby tree and starts beating the bonnet all the while shouting that he is going to show it who is boss.
This completely over the top reaction is funny because we have all at some time pleaded with a malfunctioning piece of equipment even though we all know that pieces of equipment don’t respond to bribes, abuse or the urgency of the situation. Buildings, equipment and information can not be self less, they can not show empathy, they can not feel valued, they don’t care but people do.
Blair McPherson former director author and blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
