The Jacobs Project: In Search of Pinocchio (SYMBIOSIS) (2 page)

"
Well, why not err on the side of caution. Just in case he's more than you think."

"
In your typical arrogance, Dempsey, you've assumed that I don't know what we've created. I know exactly what Hal is and how it does what it does. You're just determined to see it as a person, and I'm not, that's all. It's a lump of protoplasm hooked up to some very sophisticated electronics. Period."

"
But he could be so much more."

Schultz chuckled.
"I've got an old saying for you."

"
Yes?"

"
You can put a sailor suit on a monkey, but that doesn't make him an admiral. You catch my point, son?"

Deflated, Dempsey sighed and answered,
"Yes, Sir."

"
Good, now back to business. Here's how I see it. We gave it an AV interface, an incredible achievement, by the way, and then, once it could see and hear, it just
had
to speak. Well the AV thing was clearly related to our work, the speech thing, less so but still justifiable. This? No way.
This
is simple robotics. If they're interested, let them build it a platform—as part of our project of course."

"
They'll never agree to that."

"
Tough. Hal stays put, then."

"
Maybe not."

"
Huh?"

"
We were thinking about something less mechanical."

"
What do you mean less mechanical?"

"
Well, we've been kicking around the idea of hooking him up to a holo system."

"
Bullshit!"

"
No, really. It's a pretty elegant solution actually—no moving parts. Most of it is just double "E" stuff, connecting his AV and Mic interfaces to the holo system I/O. The only thing of any consequence is designing a motor control interface to drive the holo image. We'll need the cybernetics people for that. It's perfect really. H
e
gets to move around while his array and all the other hardware stays put."

"
Ooh, I like the sound of that," Schultz replied, laughing. "The robotics people will shit a brick. Our project walking around with ease, while their dumb clunkers keel over every other time they make a turn."

Dempsey laughed politely. Schultz
's hatred of the Robotics Department was legendary, rumored to have been the result of a nasty break-up with that department's chairwoman. Still, it all seemed so unprofessional.

"
What a great idea, Dempsey."

"
I wish I could claim it, but I'm afraid, like most great ideas, it belongs to one of the grad students."

"
But of course it does. Some things never change. Well, pat the kid on the head, give him an attaboy—"

"
Her…"

"
Right. Give
her
an attagirl then get to work on this. I want to hear more next week."

"
Will do."

"
Anything else?"

"
No, that pretty much covers it."

"
Good," Schultz said. "I'll see you next week then."

"
Okay." He rose to leave.

"
Uhhh, Dempsey."

"
Yes?"

"
You're doing good work for us. I appreciate it."

"
Thank you, sir." He left the office, closing the door behind him, surprised at just how much Schultz's praise had pleased him. Maybe some things never changed, but his opinion of the man certainly had.

With a
new found sense of satisfaction he set off to find the brilliant young woman whose insight had led to his good fortune. He'd give her that "attagirl" and perhaps dinner as well. After all, some things never changed.

III. Enter the Money Men

15 August 2133

Executive Conference Room A

General Holographic Corp. Headquarters

Fred Horton rolled his eyes
as the noisy ventilation system did its best to drown him out. The small but ostentatiously appointed meeting room had seemed the perfect place for his dramatic presentation, but the racket was threatening to ruin everything. "Gee, do you think they could have given us a noisier room?"

When neither
member of his audience responded he shrugged and continued, pointing to a holographic display suspended several feet above the floor. The sales projections contained therein promised considerable profits if only they would agree to his plan.

"
I'm telling you, this is a goldmine," he said. "The possibilities are endless."

His suit was trendy and expensive, befitting the Vice President of Marketing. Good looks, acquired for a price, and a million dollar smile completed the package.
"We need to get on this, and fast."

Gary Toshima, Vice President of Research and Development, leaned back in a plush chair, stretching his long legs. Tall for a man of Japanese ancestry, his good looks were all his.
"I don't know. Seems like we're buying ourselves a lot of trouble."

"
Come on, Gary, get with it! This should be a walk in the park for your wizards."

Toshima shook his head.
"I'm not talking about technical trouble. I'm talking about public relations, politics, liability. Putting these things in people's homes could be dangerous."

"
You sound as if they're not already in people's homes. Holovision and Cyber World both have products that combine these brains with holo systems—
our
holo systems by the way."

"
Small potatoes, "Toshima replied. "For hobbyists only, people who have a scientific or technical interest. What you're contemplating is a whole different ballgame."

"
It's only a matter of time before one of them comes up with a true commercial system. They could end up beating us at our own game."

"
It's only one application, Fred. We control the hardware. Like you said, they're
our
customers."

"
It's a fundamental principal of tech marketing, my friend. Application is king. Has been ever since an upstart outfit called Microsoft came along a hundred and fifty years ago."

"
Ancient history."

"
And it's still applicable today," Horton replied.

"
Maybe, but I know my head of Engineering won't like it."

"
That old dinosaur? He should have retired years ago."

The room fell silent
as Toshima, obviously upset, studied the ceiling. "Well, dinosaur or not," he said, finally. "He knows all about them. He was chief engineer on the MIT team that first hooked the brain up to a holographic system. That's how he got his expertise with hologram technology."

"
So?"

"
So, he's got a special reverence for the things. He worked with people who actually knew Jacobs.

Squinting, Horton asked,
"Who?"

"
Irwin Jacobs, the father of the organic neural array." Toshima leaned forward in his seat. "Gee, Fred, maybe you should know a little more about the things you want to integrate into our business."

Horton laughed, refusing to take the bait.
"You're wrong there, buddy. I don't have to know who invented the airplane, to fly my Vette to work in the morning."

"
Not the same thing."

"
Oh, I think—"

"
Alright, alright! Enough of this crap." Art Fuller, Executive Vice President, broke his silence. Of African descent, he was a giant of a man who kept his body toned even well into middle age. A man of few words, his very presence usually kept any meeting he attended under control. "So, let me get this straight. You want to attach a brain to one of our systems?"

"
That's right," Horton answered.

"
And why in God's name would you want to do that?"

"
Any number of applications."

"
Name one."

"
Well, they'd make some slob a nice girl friend for one as well as two, three and four."

"
Girlfriend? You mean sex."

"
Indeed, I do."

"
Why the hell do we need a brain for that? Unfortunately, we've been in the sex business ever since Gary's people adapted the high-res force field generator."

"
And the Energy Manipulation Unit works fine," Horton replied. "It's the other side of the equation. No disrespect to Gary's software people, but there's only so much they can do with programmed ooh's and ah's."

Toshima nodded.
"He's right. Just like the rest of our characters, sex models respond by rote. Very little AI there."

"
People complain that the response is obviously canned," Horton said. "Either too wooden or too exuberant, never quite right for the situation." He pointed to the display, and a new set of sales figures appeared. "Sales of our sex models have dropped off precipitously over the last year… bad word of mouth."

Fuller scoffed.
"So you want to attach a brain to our system so some freaks can feel good about screwing a hologram. Do I have it about right?"

"
Like I said, it's a goldmine."

"
And Holovision and Cyber World have already done this?"

"
Not the sex part. Like Gary said, their products are for hobbyists. They each sell an integrated, single purpose package. We can market our smart individual just like any other holo character, plug and play."

"
I still don't see how adding a brain is going to change anything," Fuller said. "You'll just have a smarter character. If that's what you want, why not enhance what you've already got? Faster processors, improved programming, larger database—that sort of thing."

Horton turned to Toshima, who sat forward in his chair, adopting a professorial manner.
"You're missing the point, Art," the head of "R&D" said. "He doesn't want smarter characters, he wants thinking characters."

"
I don't get it."

"
True artificial intelligence is just that, artificial. By using all the tricks you just mentioned and giving the system the ability to make billions of decisions per second, it appears to be intelligent, but in reality there's no there, there. It's just a computer… input, process, output. The organic neural array—"

"
That's the brain?" Fuller asked.

"
Yes, and it isn't just a computer. It isn't programmed, it learns, just like we do."

"
I've heard all this crap before, but is it true, or is it some computer scientist's wet dream?"

Toshima laughed, shaking his head.
"No, it's real. I've read all about it in the tech journals." He paused and glared at Horton. "I've also talked at length about it with Dempsey. These things can really think. They're aware of their own existence."

"
Damn!" Fuller exclaimed. "So how does all of this help your sex product? Are these brains sexual?"

Pleased with Toshima
's explanation, Horton re-entered the conversation. "Not yet, but I have it on good authority that the AI people at MIT worked on it. I'm betting that for a little grant money we can get them to take that research off the shelf and dust it off."

Fuller turned to Toshima.
"You can do this?"

"
Sure, if you want to."

"
I don't see how I can turn it down, especially with these numbers," he said pointing to the display. "How long will it take to marry this brain to one of our systems?"

"
We can probably get you a prototype in a year," Toshima replied.

Snorting, Fuller asked,
"Is that a can do probably or a maybe, if the stars are aligned probably?"

"
Probably a can do probably."

All three men laughed.
"Wise ass," Fuller muttered. "Alright, Fred, get the paperwork to me, and I'll sign off on it. Gary, I want weekly progress reports and expense figures. I don't want this thing blowing a hole in our research budget. Understood?"

"
Right."

"
You made the right decision, Art," Horton assured him, beaming.

Fuller rose from his seat and stretched, dwarfing the marketing chief.
"I hope you're right. We need some good news." His brows furrowed with concern, he stared at the slumping sales figures and rubbed his forehead. "I'd be lying if I told you I thought this is going to work, though. Frankly, I think it's all bullshit."