The Turing Option

“Think about it for a moment. Right now you are approaching the investigation from only the single point of view of the crime that was committed. Well and good — and I hope you succeed before they reach me again. Otherwise I’m for the knackers. But we should also be taking a second approach. Have you thought about just what it was that they stole?”

“Obviously, your AI machine.”

“No — it was more than that. They tried to kill everyone who had any knowledge of the AI, to steal or destroy every existing record. And they are still trying to kill me. That makes one thing very clear.”

“Of course!” Ben said. “I should have realized that. They not only wanted the AI — but they wanted a world monopoly on it. They might possibly be trying to market it now. They will want to use it commercially to turn a profit. But they have committed murder and theft and certainly don’t want to be found out. They have to conceal the fact that they’re using it, so they must exploit it in such a way that the AI cannot be traced back to them.”

“I see what you mean,” Shelly said. “Once they get it working, the stolen AI could be used for almost any purpose. To control mechanical processes, maybe to write software, follow new lines of research, aid product development — it could be used for almost anything.”

Benicoff nodded solemn agreement. “And that makes it rather hard to catch them out. We have to be on the lookout, not for anything very specific, but for virtually any type of program or machine that seems peculiarly advanced.”

“That’s much too general for my program to be able to deal with,” Shelly said. “Dick Tracy can only work with carefully structured data bases. It just doesn’t have enough knowledge or common sense to help with a problem as broad as this.”

“Then we will have to improve it,” Brian said. “This is exactly what I’m driving at. It is now perfectly clear what we have to do. First we have to make Dick Tracy smarter, to equip it with more general knowledge.”

“You mean to make it into a better AI?” Benicoff asked. “And then use it to find the other AIs. Like setting a thief to stop a thief.”

“That’s half of it. The other half is what I’m doing with the robot Robin. Making it more like the AI in the notes. If I can do that, then we’ll know more about what the stolen machine is capable of. And that will help narrow the search.”

“Especially if we can upload those same capabilities into Dick Tracy,” Shelly said. “Then it could really know what to search for!”

They all looked at one another, but there seemed to be little more to say. It was clear what each of them had to do.

Ben stopped them as they rose to leave. “One last and important matter to discuss. Shelly’s living quarters.”

“I’m sorry you mentioned that,” she said. “I thought I was getting a lovely little apartment. But at the very last moment the whole deal fell through.”

Ben looked uncomfortable. “I’m sorry but, well, that was my doing. I have been thinking about the attacks on Brian’s life and I realized that you must also be a target now. Once you start developing AI, the murderous power out there will… it’s not easy to say, will want to kill you as well as Brian. Do you agree?”

Shelly nodded a reluctant yes.

“Which means you will have to live with the same degree of security as Brian. Here in Megalobe.”

“I’ll get suicidal if I have to live in the businessmen’s flophouse where I am staying now.”

“No question of that! I speak with feeling because I have spent many a miserable night there myself. Now can I make a suggestion? There are WAC quarters in the barracks here with provision for female Army personnel. If we knocked a couple of rooms together and fitted them up as a small apartment — would you mind staying there?”

“I’ll want a say in the decorating.”

“You pick it out — we’ll pick up the tab. Electronic kitchen, Jacuzzi bath — anything you want. The army engineers will install it.”

“Offer accepted. When do I get the catalogs?”

“I have them in my office right now.”

“Ben — you’re terrible. How did you know I would go along with this plan?”

“I didn’t know — just hoped. And when you look at it from all sides it really turns out to be the only safe thing to do.”

“Can I see the catalogs now?”

“Of course. In this building, room 412. I’ll call my assistant and have her dig them out.”

Shelly started for the door — then spun about. “I’m sorry, Brian. I should have asked you first if you need me.”

“I think it’s a great idea. In any case I have some other things to do today away from the lab. What do we say we meet there at nine a.m. tomorrow?”

“Right”

Brian waited until the door had closed before he turned to Ben, chewed his lip in silence before he managed to speak. “I still haven’t told her about the CPU implant in my brain. And she hasn’t asked me about that session where it produced the clue about the theft. Has she mentioned it to you?”

“No — and I don’t think she will. Shelly is a very private person and I think she extends the same privacy to others. Is it important?”