The Turing Option

19 January 28, 2024

“Today is knowledge base day,” Dr. Snaresbrook said, checking the controls to be sure that the connection between Brian’s brain and the machine was complete. “Might I suggest that we begin with the latest edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica? The nineteenth is really a doozy. Almost all the illustrations involve animations and all the text is hypertext.”

“Too general for me. I want specifics.” He punched up a data-base menu and pointed to the screen. “Here is the sort of thing I mean. Technical handbooks. I want everything on this list from material science to geology and astrophysics. Hard facts. That is if my implant has the RAM for it?”

“More than enough. Just download the ones you want me to work with.”

It took a long time and Brian almost dozed off in the comfortable chair. Did close his eyes and started when Snaresbrook spoke.

“More than enough for today,” she said.

“If you say so. Can we see now things went?”

“Run a benchmark, you mean? Why not? Wait a moment while I load one of the texts at random into my machine, then I’ll hit it with a random page number. Everything here looks medical—”

“Dorland’s Medical Dictionary, forty-fifth edition.”

“That’s it. Have you ever heard of parendomyces?”

“That’s a genus of yeastlike fungi species of which some have been isolated from various lesions of man.”

“And kikekunemalo?”

“An easy one. It’s a resin, like copal.”

“You have it, Brian. Everything we downloaded, it’s all there. And you can tap into it at will.”

“Just as if they were real memories.”

“They are real memories as far as you are concerned. Just filed away in a different manner. Now — I’m sorry, but we’ll have to break off here. I have an appointment that I must keep.”

When he got back to his room there was a message from Benicoff waiting for Brian; he dialed the number at once.

“I got your call…”

“Got a moment to speak with me, Brian?”

“Of course. You want to come up to my room?”

“I would prefer the tenth-floor hanging garden.”

“Fine by me. I’m on my way now.”

Brian arrived first, was halfway through his beer, a Pilsner Urquell, when Ben arrived, dropped heavily into a chair.

“You look beat,” Brian said. “Want one of these?”

“Thanks, but I’ll take a rain check. Now the news. You’ll be pleased to hear that a company of the Eighty-second Airborne has moved into the Megalobe barracks. Their commanding officer, Major Wood, is a combat veteran who takes a very dim view of research scientists being shot. He doesn’t want you to get there until he has his security arrangements and rosters set — and has run a few tests. After that the choice of a move is yours. And Dr. Snaresbrook’s of course.”

“Has everything been ordered that I asked for?”

“Ordered and shipped and in the lab. Which leads us to the next item. Your assistant.”

“I’ve never had one.”

“In this brave new world you will. Make your work that much easier.”

Brian finished his beer and put it down, looking closely at Ben’s expressionless face.

“I know that look. It means that there is more — but I should be able to figure it out for myself. And I can. They have made three attempts to kill me. I might not live through the fourth. So everyone would be very much happier if there was at least one other person who knew what was going on with the AI research.”

“Security — you figured it out. The tricky part mat comes next is getting someone who can do the work — but who can be trusted as well. Industrial espionage is a graduate course in most universities now, a major growth industry as well. Something like AI can be very tempting — as you have unhappily found out. I have narrowed my short list down to an even shorter list — two. I am off in the morning for a meet with a very promising lead, a graduate student at MTT. But until I get to see him I won’t know. So let us run with the other possibility. How do you feel about the military?”

“Outside of our friend the General I don’t have much feeling one way or the other. Certainly the Navy and the Marines have done a good job here. And I assume the Army will do the same at Megalobe. Why do you ask?”

“Because I’ve tracked down a Captain Kahn who is in the Air Force and has a very responsible job in the Expert Program section at the academy in Boulder, Colorado. Second-generation Yemenite greenie — slang term for a greenhorn, an immigrant. Kahn is working on programs for aircraft control. Interested?”

“Why not? Contact Boulder and…”

Ben shook his head. “No need. In the hopes you would say yes I had the Captain flown here.”

“Well wheel him in and let’s hope.”

Ben smiled and made the call. The officer must have been waiting close by because the marine guard appeared a moment later.

“Your visitor, sir.”

Ben climbed to his feet; Brian turned and saw why. He stood as well.

“Captain Kahn, this is Brian Delaney.”

“Very pleased to meet you, sir,” she said. Her hand was cool, her grip good. One quick shake and back to her side. She was a firmly built and attractive woman, dark-haired and dark-skinned. And very serious. She stood straight, silent, her face set and unsmiling — as was Brian’s. Benicoff realized that the interview was not going that well.

“Please sit down, Captain,” he said, pulling over a chair. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, thank you.”

“I’m going to have a beer. You too, Brian?” A quick shake of the head no was his only answer. He dropped into his own chair. “Well then, Captain — that can’t be your first name?”

“It is Shelly, sir. At least that is the name most people use. Shulamid is my name in Hebrew, which is not that easy to pronounce.”

“Well then — Shelly — thanks for coming. I’m afraid I didn’t tell you much about the work, since security is tight. But now that you are here I know that Brian will be able to explain much better. Brian?”

Memories were getting in the way. Benicoff should have told him that the Captain was female. Not that this was bad. Or was it? Memories of Kim were too recent. But recent only to parts of him now. To the adult Brian those unfortunate events were long gone, part of his past, best forgotten. He realized that the silence had lengthened and that they were both looking at him.

“I’m sorry. My mind was wandering — it does that a bit. I think I will have a beer, Ben, join you.”

While Ben was ordering, Brian tried to get his thoughts and emotions straightened out. The Captain was not Kim — who by this time was probably fat and old and married and five kids. Forget her. He smiled at the idea and took a deep breath. Start over, forget the past. He turned to Shelly.

“I’m not sure where to begin — except to tell you that I could use some help on a research project that I will be launching soon. Could you tell me what you are doing now, about your work?”

“I can’t tell you about it in detail because everything that I do is classified. But the overall program is public knowledge and easy enough to explain. It was originated because modem military planes are entirely too fast for the pilot’s reflexes, the instrumentation too complex as well. If a pilot had to personally monitor all of the electronic systems, there would really be no time left to fly the plane. In order to assist the pilot, Expert Systems are always being developed and improved that assume as many as possible of his responsibilities. It is very interesting work.” Her voice was low-pitched and ever so slightly hoarse and she spoke with self-assurance, sitting straight-backed on the front edge of the chair, her hands clasped in her lap. Brian was the one who felt a little unsure; she certainly wasn’t. Not exactly what he had imagined he would get as an assistant.

“Have you ever worked with artificial intelligence?” he asked.

“Not really. Unless you consider that Expert System development is a part of AI. But I keep up with the developments since some of it is applicable to my own work.”

“That’s all for the good. I would rather have you learn than unlearn. Have you been told what the work is to be?”

“No. Only that it is important and relates to AI. Mr. Benicoff also explained to me about the violent industrial espionage that has been involved. His main concern was that I should know what I was getting involved with physically. He let me read a copy of his report on the unsolved crime. He also said there had been other attacks on your life since that time. If I work on the project I might be at risk myself. He wanted to be sure I knew all about this before I was even offered the job.”

“I’m glad he did that. Because there is a real chance that there might be physical danger.”

For the first time there was a change in her stern expression as she smiled. “An Air Force officer is assumed to be ready for combat at any time. When I was born Israel was still an armed camp. My father and mother, like everyone else, fought in the Army. When I was six years old my family emigrated to America so I was lucky to grow up in a country at peace. But I still like to think that some of their strength and ability to survive was passed on to me.”

“I’m sure it was,” Brian said, almost smiling in return. He was beginning to like Shelly, liked her air of self-assurance. But he was not sure that he really wanted to work with a woman — no matter how qualified she was. Memories of Kim still got in the way. But if Shelly was good enough to do Expert System work for the Air Force she might be qualified enough to help him. And the fact that she had never done AI research was an asset. Some scientists developed tunnel vision after a while and believed that their approach to the problem was the only one — even after they were proven wrong. He would just have to try to forget her sex; he turned to Ben with a question.

“Is there any reason I can’t give Shelly some information about what I’m doing? She deserves to know what she will be involved in before she makes her mind up.”

“The Captain has an absolutely top security clearance,” Ben said. “I’ll take the responsibility. You can tell her whatever you think she needs to know.”

“Okay then. Shelly, I am in the process of developing an artificial intelligence. Not the sort of program that we call AI now. I mean a really complete, efficient, freestanding and articulate artificial intelligence that really works.”

“But how can you make an intelligent machine until you know precisely what intelligence is?”

“By making one that can pass the Turing Test. I’m sure that you know how it works. You put a human being at one terminal, talking to a human being on another terminal, and there are numberless questions that can be asked — and answered — to convince the human at one end that there is another human at the other terminal. And as you know the history of AI is filled with programs that failed this test.”

“But that’s only a trick to convince someone that the machine is a person. It still doesn’t give us a definition of intelligence.”

“True enough, but that was precisely Turing’s point. There’s really no need to have a definition and, in fact, we really don’t want one. You can’t define things, but only words. We tend to call someone intelligent if we think that they’re good at solving problems, or learning new skills, or doing what other people do. After all, the only reason we consider other people to be intelligent is that they behave intellectually like human beings.”

“But couldn’t something be intelligent and yet think completely different from a person? Like maybe a porpoise or an elephant?”

“Certainly — and you can call them intelligent if you want to. But for me, the word intelligence is just a handle to describe all the things I wish I were better at — and everything I’d like our future AI to do. The trouble is that I don’t know just what those are yet. The reason for using those terminals is simply that it shouldn’t matter what the thing looks like, so long as it responds to all questions asked, with answers that cannot be told from those of another person. Sorry about the lecture, for telling you what you already know. But I am developing an AI to pass that test. So my question is — would you like to help?”

For the first time since they had been talking Shelly lost her composure, was more woman than military officer. Her eyes had widened while Brian spoke and she touched her fingertips to her chin, shaking her head slightly with disbelief. “I hear what you are saying — though it sounds both completely impossible — and incredibly exciting. Do you mean to say that you are working on a machine that I would recognize as intelligent?”

“He is,” Ben said firmly. “I can assure you that a real AI has been designed and that it will be built.”

“If that is the case, then I do want to be part of it! This is such a momentous and important development that there is no question in my mind.” She frowned. “Are there many others applying for the post?”

“I’m seeing someone else tomorrow,” Ben said. “That’s the entire list.”

“I am sure that I can control my impatience for a while. But if you will let me help, there is something I can do to be of assistance right now.”

“We won’t be able to get into the lab for some time yet,” Brian said.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m talking about the overall security matter.” She turned to Ben. “That report you showed me of the theft — is it complete?”

“I took out all the references to artificial intelligence. Other than that, yes, it’s complete.”

“I don’t mean that. I’m referring to the investigation of the crime. Do you know who was in charge of it?”

“I certainly do. Me. I can guarantee that that part of the report is complete.”

“And since the theft and Brian’s being shot — there have been two other threats on his life?”

“That is correct.”

“Then it seems to me that solving the crime should take top priority.”

Benicoff did not know whether to laugh — or be insulted. “You do realize that I am in charge of the investigation? That I have been working on it full-time for some months?”

“Sir, please don’t misunderstand! I was not denigrating your efforts — just offering to help.”

“And how will you do that?”

“By writing an Expert Program with only one aim in mind. To solve this crime.”

Benicoff dropped back into his chair and rubbed his jaw in silence for a moment — then nodded happily. “Captain — my thanks. I have been very, very dumb about this. I don’t intend to be in the future. How soon can you transfer here?”

“I’m part of a team. They are very good and I know that they’ll be able to carry on without me. I could be here in a day or two. I’ll first have to make some notes of developments that I am working on so they’ll have that input. Then, as long as they can contact me in the future, I could transfer here almost immediately. The end of this week if you want. The work there is important — but not as important as this. If you would let me I would like to develop this Expert Program for you. And keep myself available for further work on the AI. Is that agreeable?”

“Perfect. I’ll organize all the material so you can access it at once. And I’m going to kick myself around the block for not thinking of it myself. An investigation like this one is mostly a dumb, boring, sorting of facts and running down endless leads. Which is a job for a computer — not for a human being.”

“I couldn’t agree more. I’ll be back as soon as I can. And thank you again for asking me.”

They stood when she did, shook hands, watched her leave — as did the marine guard who allowed only his eyes to follow her.

“She is one hundred percent right about that program to solve the Megalobe crime,” Brian said. “If we can get my first AI back it will make my job an awful lot easier.”

“Your job will be a lot easier if you stay alive. I want to stop the attacks — and solve the case.”

“When you put it that way — I agree.”