How to Build a Human Page #6

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In the 19505, the visionary

godfather of British computing,

Alan Turing,

saw forward to the days when

a computer would be able to think

like us, and he came up with a test.

Could a bystander tell if he was

talking to a machine or a person?

It's known as a Turing test,

and we've adapted it to try out

on our own robot.

This is an enormous challenge.

Basically what we're doing is taking

a fictional vision

of the future and trying to bring

it here now.

She's ready for her close-up.

I've invited some journalists to

come and interview her to see

if they can tell it's not

actually me.

And we've rigged the place with

hidden cameras.

Thank you. Emily.

' Hi there. I

And I've called in a favour from

Humans castmates Emily Berrington

and will Tudor to give proceedings

an air of reality,

and the journalists will

meet them first...

I'll come back and tell you when

we've got two minutes. OK.

...before being taken into

a second room where, to give us

a fighting chance, they'll interview

robot Gemma over Skype.

Hi, Gemma. Hi. I'm

so sorry I can't be there in person.

I'll be in a room down the hall,

watching with the robot's

creators - will and Kate.

Come in. This is very exciting.

'But first, there's just time

to introduce

'robot Gemma to my castmates.'

Oh-ho...

Oh, my goodness, that's terrifying.

What's extraordinary is the tiny

movements in the face.

Are you real? Maybe.

So with everything in place,

the experiment begins.

I'm so nervous. Oh, my God.

So shall I just get started and

ask you questions?

I live in Notting Hill.

That's very interesting.

What do you me...? Could you say...?

Apology accepted.

It's not the smoothest of starts.

My name's Lareb. Got it.

How are you today? Your name is...

Jerome.

No, Lareb, L-A- R- E- B.

Could you say that one more time?

Lareb. Great.

Yeah. What's your name?

Thank you for coming on

and Skype-ing,

that's really nice of you.

Oh, thank you for taking the

time to talk to me.

How was season one for you?

I wish I could explain it to you but

I think it was just an instinct.

Ohh! No...

I think he knows.

So far, robot Gemma's responses

haven't gone as well as I'd hoped.

But gradually, she starts to find

her train of thought.

So, tell me about series two.

It's a key word for Gemma robot,

"series two".

If this journalist just keeps saying

"series two",

everything will go fine.

It seems that the scope

has got bigger for series two.

The main difference is that the

world of the show has become bigger.

And what does Mia want in

series two?

Mia's trying to find her

place in the world.

The voice is a little bit glitchy,

isn't it?

She's going though,

she's getting into it.

Do you think a synth can enjoy art?

That's a good question.

Yes, especially like sculpture.

Yes! Good answer.

Can you hear me now?

Eh, yep, I can see and hear you OK.

Lovely, perfect. OK, so, erm...

We're short on time.

OK, that's absolutely fine.

I don't think she's clocked that

she's not talking to me - yet.

What would you like to see

a robot do?

Oh, I'd love

a robot to tidy my room.

Oh, my God.

What can we expect from season two?

Eh, the synth characters have

fragmented.

In a way. Erm...

Yes, yes...I can't tell you

anything more specific

about the plot I'm afraid.

Can you tell us where we find

your character?

Mia's not with the Hawkins family,

Mia's trying to find her

place in the world.

We've got her.

She totally believes it.

And there's a new character you

spend quite a lot of time with...

She's perfect!

...what can you tell us about their

relationship, if anything?

I can't answer that.

She's not sure. That's OK,

it's OK to be evasive on that.

Who's your favourite character?

You, obviously.

'Time to meet the journalists...

'and reveal the ruse.'

Hello. Hello.

Hi. This is so confusing.

'Just how convincing was it?'

She looks so real! What did you have

for breakfast this morning?

Got dressed in...

Saturday night... Computer.

What do you think? Well, I wasn't

sure, to be honest. Yeah.

What were the giveaways?

The voice, maybe.

It fooled me when I first sat down

and looked at it, yeah,

completely fooled me.

Oh, wow. It just looks like

a kind of not best Skype connection!

THEY LAUGH:

How are you today?

I'm very good, thank you.

Did you believe you were

talking to me?

I did, yeah,

I honestly thought it was you.

Could you say that, erm,

one more time?

What's really surprised me is that

we've got as far as we have.

There was obviously something

slightly uncanny about her.

I'm really impressed that

she held her own.

I didn't know if anyone would be

convinced by our robot,

and quite a few people were,

for at least a bit,

so in that sense, that's success.

Having set out to find out how far

we are from

the unsettling

fictional world of Humans,

the answer is perhaps a bit more

complicated than I thought.

Whilst human-like robots may

well be some way away,

what's clear is that Al is

developing at speed,

and we need to debate the potential

pitfalls before it's too late.

It's very clear that these

technologies

are getting better and better.

I do think we have to understand

that we're approaching

this tipping point,

this point where it's going to have

a greatly amplified effect, and we

need to find a way to adapt to that.

The same technology can be used for

good or for bad,

and I think it's down to society and

the inventors of that technology

and the public at large to make sure

it gets used for the right things.

This is just the beginning.

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