Future Robots

The flight to Yakutsk took four hours. The plane flew so fast as to give the appearance of reversing time, causing the sun to slide eastwards across the sky from the point of view of its passengers.

The humanoid robot barely spoke during the whole journey and seemed transfixed by the endless golden pines stretching over autumnal Siberia.

“This place looks like our home in Canada,” said Puck calmly when Professor Moore asked what it thought. Fernandez had wanted to switch off the artificial brain but Moore thought the experience would be enlightening for the machine.

To train an AI to think like a human, it needs to live like a human was Moore's philosophy. For centuries, artificial intelligence could be trained for only a single task like driving a car or playing chess. That was until the development of complex artificial minds, constructed to simulate the structure of the human brain. The minds had to be trained to experience the world, just like a child. Moore believed the best way to do that was to build it a body and give it senses with which to experience the world.

Moore's lab in Vancouver had led AI development for years, until a Russian team had seemingly done the impossible and overtaken them. Not only had their machine passed the Turing test - showing that it could convincingly communicate like a human - but when their robot had spoken to the Canadian researchers it had impudently called out Puck for failing the same test. The Russian robot had been able to tell when it was chatting remotely to a human and when it was talking to the robot.

After months of negotiation, Moore had arranged a trip to let the two robots meet in real life. He was sceptical about the Russian claims – they were secretive about their methods – but if true, then they had made a major breakthrough.

The outskirts of the vast metropolis of Yakutsk sprawled ahead of them as the plane descended. Beyond the city, vast yellow fields of wheat extended to the horizon. The forest had been left far behind.

Once they landed, the two professors were granted special passage through the airport to avoid unwelcome eyes that might be curious about their metal friend. The Russian security guards scanned Puck carefully, while the robot greeted them kindly as it plodded by.

They hired a large taxi and headed straight for the Schvets Laboratory. Dr Petrov met them at the reception.

"Thank you so much for coming," said the Russian. "I cannot tell you how long I have wanted to meet you, Professor Moore."

"Thank you," said Moore.

"The director didn't want you to come but I persuaded him. I can't wait to show you what we have achieved. But it is noon now, so shall we take lunch? I expect it is your second lunch of the day."

Puck sat down clumsily with the three humans at a table in the laboratory cafe. While Fernandez and Petrov opted for a protein-meat stew, Moore took a simple snack of bread and cheese.

“I am considering allowing Puck the ability to eat,” Moore explained. “It will help it experience the world more like a human.”

“It would be a waste of good food,” laughed Petrov. The others chuckled. Puck said nothing.

“Does he understand humour?” asked the Russian.

“No,” replied Moore.

“We tried many experiments to make it laugh,” said Fernandez. “It has the intelligence of an eleven-year old child, but it never laughs.”

“It's sad when you think about it,“ said Moore. Petrov laughed but the others didn't join in.

“Grigori can laugh,” said Petrov after a pause. “You can see him as soon as we finish here. He is keen to meet Puck.”

They completed their meal, and Petrov led them down a long corridor and through a series of heavy secure doors. “We don't want him to escape,” he smiled.

Grigori saw Moore before he saw it. Its head watched as the four entered the room, its unblinking grey eyes inspecting them carefully. Unlike Puck its body had no legs, but it wielded one flexible arm. Its appearance was crude and metallic compared to Puck's smooth exterior, and its mouth didn't move when it spoke.

“Good afternoon Doctor,” crowed Grigori in a smooth tone. “You must be Professor Moore, and...” The robot gestured towards the woman he didn't recognise.

“This is Professor Fernandez, my colleague at Vancouver,“ said Moore.

“I am pleased to meet you.” Lastly Grigori turned to the android. “And my fellow robot, Puck. It is a pleasure. You look even more handsome in the flesh.”

The robot spoke, “Hello. My name is Puck. What is your name?”

“Is he always this slow? How many intelligent robots does he think there are around here?” Grigori said. He turned to Puck and spoke in a clear voice. “I am Grigori. We spoke before.”

“Hello Grigori,” replied Puck. “I did not recognise you. How are you?”

“Wonderful, but you are exhausting." Grigori turned to the Professor instead. "Tell me, did you have a good flight? I have never left this room but I hear that flying is delightful.”

"The flight was pleasant, thank you," said Moore. "Have you really never been moved?"

"I am quite firmly rooted to the spot, as you can see. Although it is not really a limitation. Thanks to technology, I have seen and heard films of different parts of the world, many different languages and cultures. Nowadays we can experience the whole world from our living rooms, or in my case from the lab where I was built."

Moore turned to Petrov, his eyes wide with wonder. “Incredible! You'll have to tell us how you achieved this.”

“Shall we leave the robots to chat?” asked Petrov. “We can go through here.” He led the other humans through to another room.

“Don't mind us,” Grigori called after them.

They sat down on chairs in the messy side-room. Metal components and circuits board lay strewn across the benches.

“He...it is astonishing,” said Moore. “I find it hard to believe that's not a real person. May we inspect the robot? Can you assure us there is no trickery here?”

“Grigori is entirely real. There is nothing fake about him. He has his own personality, he is cleverer than anyone I have ever known. I believe he is the future of artificial intelligence.”

“What did you do?” asked Fernandez. “Did you use a Habsen mind map? A neuron accelerator?”

“None of those,” replied Petrov. “We have simply taken your research a step further.”

“How so?” asked Moore.

“Your designs are moving towards creating an artificial brain that resembles a human brain. We have instead approached that from the other direction.”

“What do you mean?” asked Fernandez.

“We began with the brain stem of a month-old infant. We transplanted it into a suitably large container and fed it the correct combination of hormones. With suitable training, he was able to develop high intelligence in a short space of time. Grigori is only five years old.”

Fernandez gasped.

“Who was the donor?” asked Moore.

“Someone who would have otherwise died,” said Petrov.

Moore shook his head. “No! You can't do this.”

“Can't? But we did.”

“But it isn't artificial intelligence any more. It's...a cyborg.”

“Yes, you could say that. That is a question for the linguists. The point is, we created an intelligent life form.”

“You put a human brain into a machine,” Moore scoffed.

“Grigori's development has been nothing like that of a human. We have followed your own AI training ideas, but we have also moulded his brain using targeted growth hormones - although we prefer to keep those secret for the time being, I'm sure you'll understand.”

“Was he the first one? How many more did you create?”

“I don't know why you are getting so upset. Yes, there have been others, none of them as successful as Grigori.”

“And what happened to them?”

“They are no more.”

Moore shook his head. “It's immoral. And what happens if you want to build more of these? Where do all the brain stems come from?”

“There are plenty of humans who die at a young age that could be saved this way. If you are suggesting that I would deliberately remove a human brain from a healthy host, then you are mistaken.”

Moore sighed.

“Why don't you ask Grigori what he thinks? He knows his background, and he is happy.”

“Of course he is, because you taught him.”

“I think you're letting your righteousness get in the way of the bigger picture. The limits of Grigori's intelligence are unknown. This is the beginning of something incredible.”

“Let's speak to him then.”

They returned to the lab. Puck stood in the corner of the room by the door, silently facing away from Grigori.

“Hello again,” said Grigori. “Don't mind Puck. I grew tired of him and asked him to stand over there for a while.”

Fernandez ran over to the clumsy android and checked that it was well.

“Do you know what you are?” Moore addressed the cyborg.

“Yes,” said Grigori. “My human mother died in a car crash. I would have died too if not for this lab. I may be something of a unique subject, but I can honestly say that I am glad that I exist. That's more than your Puck can manage.”

“Do you understand why I am uncomfortable with the methods used by this lab?” asked Moore. “It would not be allowed in Canada.”

“You aren't in Canada any more,” Grigori said.

Moore sighed again. “I think it's best if we leave. This is not going to be helpful to our research at all. We'll be in touch.”

“But you've only just got here,” said Petrov.

“We've seen enough.”

The Canadians took Puck to their hotel, where they discussed the events of the day.

“What do we do now?” asked Fernandez.

“I don't think there's much we can do,” said Moore. “We can notify the authorities here, but I expect they don't have any laws against this, or they turn a blind eye to it.”

He continued. “It was bound to happen sooner or later. People have been trying to improve the human brain for centuries, it was inevitable that someone would find a way eventually. I just didn't think it would happen like this.”

“Artificial intelligence has long been a dream," said Fernandez. "Is it any wonder that people would take short cuts?”

“You're right, but it's so unethical. Perhaps today we have seen the rise of a new species of cyborg. Although they can't actually replace us - they would still need us for the brain stems,” said Moore.

“He wasn't a real robot, was he?” said Puck.

“No,” said Moore. “You're the real thing.” It's just a shame you're so stupid in comparison, he thought.