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Jim Henson's Computer H14 foresaw the battle between man and machine back in 1963

Jim Henson's Computer H14 foresaw the battle between man and machine back in 1963

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The AT&T archive haas unearthed a video of Computer H14, a madcap Jim Henson creation developed for a data communications seminar in 1963.

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Computer H14
Computer H14

Although Jim Henson's best known for The Muppets and Sesame Street, a short film has been unearthed from the AT&T archives showing one of his wackier creations. Computer H14 was developed for a seminar given on data communications in 1963, designed to make light of some of the emerging tension and distrust that existed between man and the increasingly intelligent machines. The character was Henson's response to a brief by Ted Mills (a principal at InPro, which organised the seminar) who laid out the basic idea that Computer H14 "is sure that All Men Basically Want to Play Golf, and not run businesses — if he can do it better." This emotion is carried across brilliantly, and hints at some of Henson's more chaotic creations in the future like the Swedish Chef and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.