Alan Kay experiences live audio feedback loop during online talk, references Shannon's noisy channel theorem

Accidental Feedback Incident

Computer scientist Alan Kay encountered an unexpected audio feedback loop during an online presentation for Kristen Nygaard's 100-year birthday celebration. His own voice was replayed to him with a 21-second delay, creating a continuous echo.

Cause and Context

The feedback occurred because a live stream of his talk was playing audibly near an open Zoom microphone. Kay was scheduled to discuss how Simula influenced his early ideas on object-oriented programming.

Reference to Shannon's Theorem

In response to the technical issue, Kay remarked, "Shannon gave us a way of dealing with noisy channels." He further stated, "I think about that almost every day. I realize what the fuck is going on and it's just so amazing." This referred to Claude Shannon's noisy channel coding theorem, which provides a mathematical framework for understanding and managing communication over imperfect channels.

Artistic Parallel

The incident drew parallels to Alvin Lucier's 1969 sound art piece, "I Am Sitting in a Room," where Lucier re-recorded his voice repeatedly in a room until only the room's resonant frequencies remained. In Kay's case, the network's delays, compression, and dropouts became part of the "performance."

Resolution

The issue was resolved by turning off the audio output on the participant's end within Zoom, eliminating the feedback loop.