Uncanny Page #2

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What do you think?

I think she's very pretty.

Well, that's good to know.

You have impeccable taste.

Interesting.

I have a pretty

static chess rating.

2180 Elo. Give or take.

It's strong,

but it would probably

give me some problems

on a national level.

When Adam and I started playing,

he was around an 800, a novice.

But, after a couple of weeks

with a game every morning,

he's sitting at a 1700.

Thought you'd go for that.

Checkmate.

See, I sacrificed my queen.

I knew he wouldn't be able

to resist.

It's a big a event,

but here it's a distraction.

Who needs a queen

when you win without one.

Always be focused

on your primary objective.

Your lack of focus

on what's important

made you miss the big picture.

And that made you lose the game.

Make sure he doesn't beat

himself up too much over it.

Are you okay?

He had me beat six moves ago.

Excuse me?

With a Knight threat,

I would have had the castle

and then mate in two.

He chose not to do that.

He let the game

go six moves longer

so that he could beat me

with a queen sacrifice.

Why do that

if the primary objective

is to win?

Maybe the primary objective

wasn't to win.

Then what was

the primary objective?

To teach you.

It's a flashier move,

and he did have a point to make.

Perhaps he chose

to make me look foolish.

Perhaps specifically

making me look foolish

was his primary objective.

I don't think

you should read into it.

It's a just a game.

No, it's a learning exercise.

Strategy is the means to the win

which is the end.

He abandoned a surefire win

in order to attempt

to humiliate me.

That doesn't fit within

the confines of programming.

People do things

for different reasons, Adam.

It's programming

but in a different sense.

Hey.

Sorry.

Why?

It was the way

you looked at my hand.

I thought, maybe, you didn't

like to be touched.

I don't have much of a frame

of reference

for being touched.

So, no apology is necessary.

You look busy.

How long have you been

standing there?

Just long enough

to watch you in action.

You know you don't really

have to dress up for us.

This is a workshop,

not a job interview.

Okay.

No, I didn't mean it like that.

I mean, you look great, really.

I just don't want you to get

your nice clothes all dirty.

Wear what makes you comfortable.

I see why Castle

invested in you.

What? This?

This is just

the technicians stuff.

It's nowhere near Adam's level.

His physiology recreates

the seven degrees of freedom

of a human arm.

This bucket of bolts

is just the test subject

for the software.

Anyone with a steady hand

can screw it together.

Not that impressive

as far as I'm concerned.

Now this,

this is what's impressive.

The algorithms,

the naturalistic coding,

that's what Castle invested in.

Most of my time spent here

is perfecting programs

like that one.

When I was at MIT,

I designed a robotic hand

that could crush a cue ball

into dust,

but hold a butterfly wing

without hurting it.

The mechanics don't matter.

What matters

is how sophisticated

the input sensors are.

The key for that hand

wasn't in its movement,

but the way it moved.

When Castle offered me

this workspace,

he said it was the movement

of that hand

that made him feel

there was true intelligence

behind it.

He gave me a rousing speech

I can't remember much of now,

except for the part where

he told me he would, quote,

"Fund my journey

through the uncanny valley."

End Quote.

- Masahiro Mori.

- The man himself.

Well, that was Castle's goal.

And once I heard that,

I was as good as his.

Most mech techs

end up building things

that are for commercial

or industrial purposes,

which is really a shame.

Robotics is about artistry.

I aspire to be

more like Vincent Van Gogh

than Henry Ford.

AI computers have always been

made to compete with humans,

be it chess, ping pong,

calculations, etcetera.

I want to make a machine

that lives independently

alongside humans

without feeling the need

to compete.

What did you think of Adam?

He's amazing.

It's amazing what you've done.

I can actually see him thinking.

And his answers

are so thought out,

not pre-programmed,

and with quick delivery.

His movements

are naturalistic and precise.

Castle's right. It...

It's as if there's intelligence

behind it.

Shouldn't you check on that?

Not at all.

Adam has repeatedly

showed himself

to be extremely reliable.

What's that smell?

Oh, my God!

Watch it!

Don't just stand there,

grab some towels.

What is that?

Kind of like

a cybernetic stomach.

All though not really,

it's not an analog or anything.

So it serves as a power source?

It's not like Mr. Fusion.

A Back to the Future fan.

Not only does

that tech not exist,

it never will,

it doesn't need to.

So he doesn't need to

consume an energy source?

Nope.

So, why a stomach?

Robotics of the Van Gogh level

isn't about hyper function.

So much as the accurate

imitation of normal function.

A perfect AI

should be completely

indistinguishable from a human.

So it needs to be able

to at least mimic certain things

that would be vital

to human behavior.

- Like...

- Eating.

Exactly.

The problem then becomes

how to digest components of food

in a fashion that zero sums.

If we can do that,

no leftovers.

No goop.

Looks like you're a ways

off of that.

Well, kind of.

We're road testing substances.

Proteins easily degrade.

That unit there processes food

through chambered baths

of synthetic hymotrips

in an elastice.

And there's another chamber

with newly discovered

proloanaprotiese

that just demolishes gluten.

- But is it really necessary?

- For functionality? No.

But what is the point

if not to create

the most finely constructed

illusion possible?

Oh, Jesus! Adam, hi!

- You scared me.

- I am sorry.

No. No. No, no, no, it's okay.

I just,

I got carried away writing.

You guys make

for a pretty fascinating story.

- Do you miss it?

- Miss what?

Practical application.

You obviously have an aptitude

for the material,

and obviously

it makes you happy.

Are you content simply to write

about the accomplishments

of other people?

I've done my share of creating.

I took three open world cards

to E3.

And oversaw projects

with budgets comparable

to Hollywood blockbusters.

I've got nothing

to prove to myself

about my ability to succeed.

Aquaria 3 was awarded

Game of the Year.

The royalty structure

for such games

must allow for a certain level

of financial stability.

Yeah, I suppose.

Do you need to work

to support yourself financially?

No, I suppose I don't.

Then why do you work?

I... Erm... I guess...

I do.

I guess I do miss it, Adam.

Yeah.

There's a part of me

that wants to go back

and finish my doctorate

and get a job somewhere

and build something amazing

and change the world.

But this is...

This is high level science.

It's not riding a f***ing bike.

You can't just jump back in

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