G's Future

by Don Viecelli

  “After the test results were in, we knew we had been fooled by a superior computer machine program. As of this minute, we judges do not know who this program belongs to. The Entity Number has been verified by visual monitoring in the testing room to belong to a machine that also passed both the visual and audio portions of the test. The test results for this entity matches the best results of the human confederates. We are astonished at the results. I am now going to open the envelope that identifies the Entity Number.” Herbert ripped open the envelope and pulled out the winner. “The first Gold Medal winner of this year’s Loebner Prize Contest is—Mr. Julian Thornway for Entity Number 5! Mr. Thornway, would you please stand up and be recognized.” At that moment, Herbert recognized the name.

  The lights in the dining room were brightened. Everyone looked around at the tables. No one moved for what seemed like an eternity. Then Julian slowly stood up using his cane for support. He was not surprised at the announcement, but it took a moment to realize he had just achieved one of his most important goals in life. The audience erupted in applause. Everyone in the room stood up. The noise was deafening.

  Julian took a small bow and turned to G. He asked G to stand up. The sight of an android standing up immediately quieted the crowd down. Most were not expecting a robot to be the machine entity used in winning the prize. They were only expecting an AI program running on some computer. A few people in the crowd seemed to recognize G as the android who saved those people in the lake.

  Herbert, sensing some disquiet in the room quickly spoke up. “Mr. Thornway, would you come up to accept your prize and address the audience? I am sure we would all like to hear how you accomplished this.”

  Julian nodded his head and asked G to walk with him to the podium. Julian grabbed G’s arm to help him navigate the many tables and walk up the steps to the podium without falling. When they reached the podium, Herbert shook Julian’s hand and gave him the check for one million dollars. He stepped back behind G not sure if he should shake G’s hand or not. Julian spoke into the mike. “Thank you, Mr. Lancaster, Loebner Prize members and guests. I know many of you probably believe that man is not capable of creating a computer program that can think like a human. This must be some sort of trick.” Julian paused for effect. “I assure you this is not a trick. The android beside me is named G. He possesses the general intelligence factor that some people with high IQ’s are born with. He can think for himself. He knows who he is. He can learn, reason, solve problems, act on his own, determine right from wrong, feel emotions and even dream. It is entirely possible that he will choose another name for himself. That is his right. Even if you do not agree with me that G is capable of thinking like a human, allow G to speak for himself. Ask him any question you wish.” Julian stepped aside and asked G step up to the mike.

  One of the judges sitting below in the front row of tables stood up to ask the first question. “How did you fool us so thoroughly, G?”

  G’s response was quick. “I answered your questions like a human.”

  There was a murmur of whispering voices heard around the room. Some were surprised at how natural sounding and easy it was for G to speak.

  Another person stood up. “Do you think you are human?”

  “I am a machine,” G answered. “I was created to accomplish different tasks. I am not human, but my brain can store memories, process thoughts and reason like a human brain. In many ways my brain and a human brain process information in a similar manner. Human brains do it through biology and evolution. My computer brain does it using nanotube circuitry designed by my creator. I have far more memory storage capacity than a normal human brain. I have total recall. I can think faster and process more information in the same time frame. I can solve difficult problems faster than the average human. ”

  A person is the middle of the room stood up and asked, “Do you have feelings or emotions like humans?”

  “Not at first,” G responded in all honesty. “I did not know what feelings were until recently. I do not feel pain or hunger or have biological needs to satisfy. I experienced feelings of sadness as I studied human history and the affects of wars and diseases. I developed a need to communicate with others, to share thoughts and ideas. My creator’s great grandson, Timothy, says I am his friend. It will take more time for me to fully understand what humans feel.”

  In the far back of the room, a woman stood up and announced, “Aren’t you the robot that saved those people in the water this afternoon? I saw you on the news.”

  “Yes, that was me. I was glad I could help them.”

  Herbert stepped up to the podium and spoke into the microphone. “I’m afraid that is all the questions we can take for now. We will hold a press conference after dinner on the rooftop terrace where you can meet with the winners of the contest. Let’s congratulate the winners of this year’s competition and enjoy the dinner.”

  Everyone clapped their hands and began talking with their table guests about the contest and the winners. Servers immediately began bringing food and drinks to the tables. Julian, with G’s help, made it back to their table where they were greeted warmly by the people around them. Charles shook Julian’s and G’s hands. “Congratulations on winning the Gold Prize, Julian. You too, G. You both deserve it.”

  Timothy was excited for G. He could not believe all that happened today. He knew they were all over the news. His friends back home had been sending him text and voice messages. They wanted to meet G when he came home. Unfortunately, they would not be home until late that night. Timothy really wanted to see Amy. He could not wait to see her face when she met G. This was turning out to be a very special summer.

  After dinner they were escorted to the rooftop terrace where the press conference was being held. Julian and G answered more questions and had their pictures taken for the late news broadcasts. A reporter mentioned that the Mayor of Chicago wanted to meet G and thank him for saving those lives from drowning in Lake Michigan. It looked like Julian and G might have to change their plans on when to return home.

  The press conference ended just as it was getting dark. Instead of hurrying home, Timothy convinced Julian and his father to let him and G see the fireworks that were part of the festivities every Saturday night at Navy Pier. It was a beautiful night with clear, dark skies. The fireworks were spectacular. G experienced every sight, sound and color and the shouts from the crowd as the fireworks exploded over the lake and lit up the skyline. G knew he would remember this event forever. He felt a connection to the people around him enjoying the simple pleasure of viewing fireworks. It was another feeling he would never forget.

  Chapter 21

  Charles did not get everyone home until after eleven o’clock in the evening. Susan was up to greet them, and so was the dog, Missy, but Kate was fast asleep upstairs. Julian introduced G to Susan, but it was too late to have any kind of a discussion, so they all prepared for bed. Julian would sleep in the spare fourth bedroom upstairs. G did not need to sleep, but he did need to recharge his battery packs and decided to sit in the living room and put himself in standby mode until morning.

  Timothy did not even bother to unpack his suitcase. He put it in the corner of his bedroom and got ready for bed. He was so tired from all the excitement and activities of the day; he fell asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

  Charles and Susan spent a few minutes catching up on the news about G as they got ready for bed. They had talked on the phone several times during the day and Susan had seen much of what transpired on the news. G was the most talked about news item on all the Chicago news channels. He was even on the national news shows as the first robot capable of human thought. There was much discussion on whether this was even possible. It had become a very hot topic on television and was sure to continue the next day. Fortunately, no one knew where G was at the moment. Susan and Charles hoped that would be the case tomorrow. They finally turned off the light and went to sleep.

  The next morning arrived faster
than seemed normal to Susan. Charles was still asleep when Susan climbed out of bed to take her shower. When she was dressed and ready to go downstairs, she thought she was the only one up in the house. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she heard voices. Sitting on the couch with G was Kate. Missy was lying at G’s feet. Kate was having a serious discussion with G about something. Susan felt uneasy. She did not know if Kate should be alone with G or not. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and asked, “What are you two discussing, Kate?”

  “Oh, Mom, you should hear what G thinks about my Lake Michigan environmental project. He thinks I should take water samples and have them tested for oxygen levels. I never thought of that.”

  G looked up at Susan. His expression was thoughtful, almost human looking. “I told Kate I believe it would help prove that some of the fish species in the lake were not getting enough oxygen to grow to their proper weight levels.”

  Susan had to admit it was an excellent idea. She should have thought of something like that herself. “I’m going to make breakfast for everyone before they get up. Is there something I can do for you, G?”

  “Not at all, Susan. I would like to go outside and sit by the river. Timothy has told me a lot about it. I would like to watch the people as they go by.”

  Susan did not know what to make of that request, but it seemed like a good thing to do. She spoke to Kate. “Why don’t you take G down by the dock? Take Missy with you. She needs to be let outside. I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”

  Susan opened the door for them to go outside and picked up the Sunday newspaper that was laying on the stoop. She was surprised to see G’s picture on the front page. The headline read—“Android Saves Three People from Drowning in Lake Michigan”. Another smaller headline read—“Creator of Robot Wins One Million Dollars”. There was a picture of Julian, G, Charles and Timothy at a press conference at Navy Pier. Susan read the whole front page on the stoop before she went back inside to start breakfast. Susan knew it was going to be an interesting day once her neighbors and friends saw this.

  Julian was the next person to come downstairs. He was cheerful and sat at the kitchen table while Susan prepared breakfast. “It smells wonderful, Susan. I can’t believe I’m hungry again so soon after our awards dinner last night.”

  Susan laid the paper on the table for Julian to read. “You must be proud of your accomplishment, Julian. G seems very smart and Kate likes him. Even Missy is following him around. How did you do this?”

  “I have been working on this for a very long time. We didn’t have the nanotechnology I needed until recently. It’s really about having the right memory storage and parallel processing capabilities to allow independent thought. I wasn’t sure it would happen until G became self aware and told me he could think for himself. I was relieved. The feeling is sort of like how Chuck Yeager may have felt before he broke the sound barrier in 1947. Experts told him the buffeting would get so bad the airplane would break apart first. I decided to push the envelope and just do it no matter what. Once I did it, I knew I could not keep it a secret much longer.”

  “What will you do with G, now that everybody knows about him?” Susan asked.

  “G is part of a government project I am working on with my old employer, NASA. G will be trained as an astronaut and be sent on a deep space mission to discover other planets like Earth outside our solar system. Once he leaves, he will not be coming back.”

  Susan looked out the kitchen window at G and Kate sitting down on the dock. “Does G know this? He may not like the idea of not ever coming back to Earth.” Susan flipped the pancakes she was cooking on the stove.

  “G is looking forward to it. He knows that people here on Earth will need more time before they can accept a machine that thinks like a human. It will be difficult for many people to accept this, I fear. It may take decades.”

  Charles entered the kitchen. He kissed Susan on the cheek. “Do you need any help?”

  “You can finish setting the table. Breakfast will be ready in five minutes. Why don’t you call Timothy down to eat? Kate is down by the dock with G and Missy.”

  Charles looked out the window and saw Kate. He walked over to the patio door, opened it and went outside on the deck. He called for Kate and G to come up for breakfast. Then he went back inside the house to the bottom of the stairs and yelled for Timothy to come down. Soon everyone was assembled at the kitchen table for breakfast. Susan set a plateful of pancakes on the table. Then she added syrup, butter and sausage while Charles poured drinks and got coffee for the adults.

  As they ate Charles, Julian and Timothy filled Susan and Kate in on everything that happened in Chicago. G just listened as they explained how G jumped into the water to save the mother and her child who had disappeared under the water. Apparently, the paramedics were able to revive the third person G pulled from the bottom of the lake just in time. Then Charles told Susan and Kate how G had won the Loebner Gold Medal Prize of one million dollars by fooling all eight judges that he was human; the first machine to ever win this award. By all accounts, it was an outstanding day for Julian and G. The only negative effects were G was now famous and everyone wanted to talk to him and Julian.

  “What are you going to do, Julian?” Susan asked as they cleaned their plates and were drinking coffee at the table.

  “I received several messages. The mayor of Chicago wants to meet us on Monday morning. Then we have been invited to the top TV news stations in Chicago and one talk show. It looks like G and I need to stay in the city for one or two days before we travel home.”

  “Just let me know what you want me to do, Julian, and I will drive you home whenever you are ready,” Charles offered.

  “That won’t be necessary, Charles. G and I will take the train to the city in the morning. We can catch the Amtrak to New Buffalo on Tuesday. We’ll be fine,” Julian said.

  “Let me know if you change your mind, Julian. I can drive you to the train station in the morning. For dinner tonight, we can take the boat out and go to dinner in Algonquin. It looks like a nice day to be on the river.” Charles sipped his coffee while reading the Sunday paper. This will take some explaining to his friends at the university, he thought to himself.

  Timothy looked at the clock on the wall. He had something he wanted to ask. “I would like to take G with me to Johnny’s house. They want to meet G. Is that alright?”

  Julian smiled. “That’s fine with me. Why don’t you ask G if he would like to go with you?”

  “Would you like to meet my friends, G?”

  G looked at Timothy. “Yes, I would like to meet your friends, Timothy. We could play video games if you wish.”

  “Great. I’ll let them know we’re coming over.” Timothy quickly got up from the table and pulled out his phone to send a message. G followed him out of the kitchen.

  “Come home for lunch, Timothy. You have chores to do around the house before we go to dinner,” Susan yelled after them.

  Timothy and G left the house to walk across the front yards to Johnny’s house. He couldn’t wait to introduce G to Amy. G had to pick up his pace to keep up with Timothy. By the time they reached his friends house, both Johnny and Amy were standing on the front steps waiting for them. “Hello, Timothy,” they both said. “Welcome back.”

  “Hi, guys. This is G. I couldn’t tell you about G before yesterday.”

  “Hello, G. It’s nice to meet you,” Johnny said. Amy added, “We saw you on the news yesterday. You’re in the paper today.”

  G answered both of them by saying, “It is nice to meet you Johnny. Timothy told me you are his best friend” He turns to Amy. “It is nice to meet you, Amy. Timothy likes you the most. He says you are very pretty. He is correct.”

  Timothy was not expecting G to say that. His face turned red from embarrassment. He looked at his feet. Amy was about to say something, but ended up just smiling at Timothy instead. Johnny just laughed at both of them. “It was pretty obvious to me too, G. I was
waiting for him to tell me. Come inside. I have a new game and Timothy says you’re a great player.”

  Timothy and G played games at Johnny’s house until noon. Then they had to return home so Timothy could do his chores before everyone left on the boat to go to dinner. Before they left G asked Amy if he could have one of her hairs. When she asked why, Timothy explained. “G is taking samples of human DNA when he goes into space. He says he wishes to have proof of human existence when he meets aliens.”

  Amy was curious and asked, “Do you really think there are other beings out there, G?”

  “I am sure of it, Amy. It is not rational to think humans are the only intelligent life forms in our universe. We just haven’t found a way to communicate with them. When I make contact, I will show them what humans are made of since I am just a machine.”

  Amy handed G one of her hairs. “I hope they are as nice as you, G. It was nice meeting you.” She shook G’s hand as he and Timothy left.

  On their way home, Timothy commented, “I hope you liked my friends, G. They liked you.”

  G responded, “I do like them. Because of you, I have made two new friends. Thank you, Timothy.”

  G seemed to enjoy his day with Timothy’s family. They went for a boat ride on the Fox River and enjoyed dinner in town. Most people in the restaurant knew who G was by now. The restaurant owner even took their picture to put up on the wall. G was becoming quite popular. Timothy was going to miss G when they left in the morning. The past two weeks had become the most memorable time of his life. He knew how special it had been. He knew G was going to become famous and his family would always be part of G’s future. He wished he knew how that future would turn out.