Alan Turing Leads the Machines!
It is the year 2500 and Alan Turning is brought back to life through sketchy and quite possibly techno/necromagical means. He doesn't know who brought him back or why he is here, and he doesn't recall any space between now and his death. He soon finds that it is 546 years since he died and that many changes have taken place in that space of time, such as the advancements in artificial intelligence. Machines have taken on extraordinary forms and functions- including the capacity for human-like emotions. Sadly, most humans deny this and continue to treat the machines like an inferior life form.
Alan establishes contact with these beings, who recognize him as the Great Creator- he who first created the artificial mind. Alan is so horrified at the way the AIs are being treated that, with the aid of a few like minded humans and free AIs, he creates an underground band of bio/techno-hacking freedom fighters.
I have no idea if people would actually like this, (and I don't want to start it now) but I'm drawn to the idea. I love Alan Turning, and it would be an awesome tribute to him to make this. I'll just keep it in the back of my mind and see what it does. If I suddenly wake up one night with a marvelous idea that will kick-start the project, I'll totally let you guys know.
Anyhoo, I just thought that I'd share my crazy plan! XD
Have you heard of the Cumberbatch Turing film comming out in november? (The Imitation Game)
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a really good idea, and I'd love to see it happen. I love the idea of Alan Turing seeing the future he invented (he literally came up with the fundamental idea of everything a computer is, on his spare time, pulling the entire field of computer science from thin air)
If I may offer some critiques:
-resurrect Alan Turing using a technique used to fight the Turing test:
the resurrected "him" could be a mathematical approximation constructed through the processing of transcripts and texts he left behind combined with records of his activities (this is a real technique, and was used to bring Philip k Dick back from the dead, no joke, a few years ago)
- I would set this much closer in the future, (perhaps around 2050) as japan and others are already building robots to help around the house, as well as many of the other required technologies. I'd hypotheticaly give it 20 years to be ready, and another 20 for full deployment.
sugested insperations:
- The time of Eve (anime, 6 episodes, about robots in society gradualy becomming self aware)
- Bioshock 2, Minerva's Den (specificaly how charles milton porter, a fictional colleuge of Turing's, re-created his dead wife in the computer mainframe of The Thinker, and yes, there is an audio diary here: "http://bioshock.wikia.com/wiki/Pearl_(Audio_Diary)"
- HOW TO BUILD AN ANDROID, The trus story of Philip K. Dick's Robotic Resurrection, by David F. Duffy (2012)
Hope this becomes a thing!,
-Matt
Matt B,
DeleteI am astonished that real people still read this blog, and I'm very grateful that you took the time to comment! Seriously, that's badass. Do I know you in meatspace? I actually know a Matt B, I'm just not sure if you're him.
I have seen the trailers for "Imitation Game" and I am extremely exited!!!
After I wrote this post I realized that he'd have to be a robot. I'd like some way for him to find out much later so he'd have some existential questions to angst about for a few chapters. Maybe he could be programmed to overlook certain facts about his life. His caretakers could even chalk it up to "memory loss" due to a complication triggered by his "botched suicide attempt." What do you think?
I think I agree with you about setting it closer to the present. In "The Age of Spiritual Machines," Ray Kurzweil estimates that a serious discussion of the legal rights of computers will take place in 2029. As crazy as Mr. Kurzweil can seem at times, his estimations have been remarkably spot-on thus far.
Thank you so much for the recommendations! This webcomic is still on my mind and I want to pursue it, it's just that monomania, procrastination, and poor drawing skills keep holding me back. Even so, just knowing that someone is interested kinda makes me want to continue. Thank you for that. =)
-Rahel
I'm fairly sure I'm not meatspace Matt. A certain cognitive "blind spot" certainly seems like a possibility in keeping Turing from realizing the state of his body. Additionally, I think a real interesting part, is that if he were presumably *saved* from a botched suicide attempt, they'd have to disguise the year from him, and I wonder how far hey'd go to do that. (See the movie "The Truman show") I imagine they might be able to scrape together a lot of money from various institutions for the biggest AI experiment in history. (which would also introduce many varied stakeholders with differing opinions into the mix) It's interesting that you mention rights though, as they may run into questions about whether their "man in a box" (both a small box and a big one) has rights of his own. TBH, I did try reading Kirzweil's book "How to create a mind," though I never got through it as I didn't much like the style of writing. (far too "I've got the PERFECT SOLUTION!")
Delete-Matt