Dr. Stephen Hawking was diagnosed at the age of 21 with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)and wastold by his doctors that he probably would live only for two more years. Within a short while he losthis voice and power to move. But he managed to survive for another 55 years and produced some of the most important cosmological research of our time. Throughout his life it is his wheelchair and touch screen computer that allowed him to move or communicate by the use of the movement of a single musclein his cheek, the voluntary muscle left in his body that he could control. But he never allowed ALS or the AI or any technology he used to define him. In these days when social media and communication technology are becoming an inevitable part of daily life; even to the extent of controlling our ways, the life of Hawking reminds us that technology could be harnessed to bring out the best of us, provided we are aware of its limitations.
Artificial Intelligence, Health Informatics, Medical Informatics, Medicine, DiseaseAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, ALS, Motor Neurone Disease, MDS, Progressive Muscular Atrophy, PMA, EZ Keys, Speech synthesiser, Assistive Context-Aware Toolkit, ACAT, Intel Corporation, Speech-Generating Devices (SGD), Equalizer
