Fortran was still needed for physics in 1990. In fact, it is still needed in many subfields of physics in 2017. That was my first programming language too.

It doesn't matter at all. The developer is still responsible and liable for the usage of these unpredictable and unverifiable algorithms in his products. You cannot hide behind the unpredictability of an algorithm if you decided to use it in a critical part of a product that needs predictability to keep someone safe. You decided in first place to play with the life of someone else.

I suppose you think you deserve a chocolate medal for it?

Exactly. The manufacturer is responsible to use wisely technology into its own products. It is liable for failing to do the right decisions about where, when and how AI should be incorporated into a product and what kind of AI should be embedded into a product. The wide range and diversity in technology, existing and to come, prevent lawmakers to keep legislation current for each technology if they had to do so. The lawmaker is not in the best position to weight the advantages and disadvantages of using AI in a product and hence, cannot be liable for its usage.

This isn't self-awareness what you are talking about. You can try to redefine what awareness is for your sole purpose, but AI as we know it today is far, far away from self-awareness. Interacting with the environment is not self-awareness.

Pretty much stupid comment. Getting more oxygen into the lungs is not the most important factor in running fast. As narrow nose is not the most important one in swimming fast. Nerd you are not.

Spamfiltering solutions exists at an insignificant cost and as open/free software as well.

Even if I share your comments, the original point about Web Assembly has nothing to do with what the poster complained about. I mean, Web Assembly doesn't introduce that problem, it is already there for decades. So, I welcome Web Assembly for what it is, a mean to increase the performance of applications in the browser. Now, should we or shouldn't we have complex applications in the browser and which ones is another matter.

However, the browser is a convenient way to distribute applications inside an enterprise. In that case, you don't have thousands of unknown parties trying to hack your browser and making it crawling instead of running.

I would probably prefer enterprise applications based on Web Assembly than on Flash or even mostly Javascript.

Considering I am hearing impaired I would even use such a device to order at La Tour d'Argent.

It's an ad in disguise, it's not news at all.

News for Nerds my ass! Fucking lame thread, kill it now!

I was once asked in an interview to write on paper a C program to solve sudoku (I even had to check the spelling I wrote soduku) while I just don't know this game and have absolutely no interest in it and the job was for a Perl programmer.

Probably the same who are spending over $1000 on a pair of skis or $30000 on a motorboat or $15000 on an hot air balloon or $50000 on car tuning or ...

I'm 54. I learnt on a IBM 4341 submitting compilation in batch off office hours, then on a CDC Cyber 180.

Good question. I am wondering the same. This is clearly the job of the compiler's optimizer to do this kind of things.