President Tron 7000

Copyright © 2014 Adam Pfeffer.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-1942-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-1943-5 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 09/14/2015

CONTENTS

Introduction

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

About The Author

To Leonard and Anita, for their continual support and faith.

The world is dying of machinery;

that is the great disease, that is the

plague that will sweep away and

destroy civilization; man will have

to rise against it sooner or later.

—GEORGE MOORE, 1888

INTRODUCTION

The following story asks the intriguing question, what will the future look like? The answer given is one filled with computers, robots, and yes, androids. This future not only seems inevitable, it is already occurring. But what is that thing we call an android?

The word, android, comes from the Greek andr- meaning man, male, and the suffix –eides, which used to mean of the species; alike. The word is really a misnomer. The literal translation is an artificial male being. To use the gender-neutral word for human being in Greek would be anthropos. Therefore, the correct word for an artificial human being-like automaton should really be anthropoid. Android, however, has been commonly used to refer to both genders of robot, and so it is in the following pages for the male artificial beings.

The word for the female artificial being should really be gynoid, from the Greek gyneka for woman. There are several alternatives that are also used in this book. First, there’s fembot for female robot, and feminoid for a female android. Gynoids, fembots, and feminoids figure prominently in the following story.

The term, humanoid, is also used. The term refers to any being whose body structure is the same as a human being. While the term can be used to describe primates as well as mythological creatures, it is used in the following story to refer to artificial organisms, such as robots and androids. The correct term is really humanoid robot, referring to a robot whose appearance is based on the human body.

Although the following is a fictional story, androids and robots do exist. Many elements of the story are therefore based on fact, or accepted scientific conjecture. The first real-life android, or gynoid to be more precise, was unveiled at the 2005 World Expo in Japan. Known as Repliee Q1, the lifelike robot has silicone for skin, rather than hard plastic. Built in the appearance of a young woman of Asian descent, Repliee Q1 has a number of sensors to allow it to react in a natural human way. Its eyelids flutter, its chest movements correspond to breathing, and it shifts its position in a human way. The robot or android or gynoid is dressed in a pink jacket, white shirt, slacks, and lace gloves, and has long black hair.

The gynoid can mimic human actions making it appear lifelike. A person with reflective dots placed at key points on the body, such as the wrist, elbow, and palm, can help the robot match those points on its own body. Repliee Q1 is equipped with 31 actuators or motors in its upper body. An air compressor is needed to mimic speech.

Repliee Q1 has two other sisters: Repliee R1, which is modeled after a five-year-old Japanese girl, and Actroid, who looks very much like Q1. R1 can mimic speech, and is said to be very good with interacting with children.

But, of course, that was only the beginning. Inevitably, the technology will become more advanced. The possibilities for these artificial beings are limitless. And that is the basis of the following story. It seems just a matter of time before these artificial beings, androids and gynoids, are used as surrogate human lovers and friends. With tiny electrical motors and microprocessors, these artificial beings can potentially provide sex and love to any human who so chooses to use them. As the book indicates, the user would be able to dictate any position or kind of lovemaking he or she so desired. Again, the possibilities are limitless.

When we will actually see the total realization of our efforts and dreams is anybody’s guess. But that some form of those visions will be realized, there is no doubt. You see, the revolution has already begun. The following story is a cautionary tale of what could happen if we are reckless in our attempts to produce lifelike artificial beings. There are so many paths one can follow and the following is only one of them. And while some may belittle such a vision as being too pessimistic, too improbable, let me warn you that history is filled with dark visions that have eventually become reality. The examples are endless, from dictatorships to the misuse of the environment to the criminal use of various weapons. The point of such dark visions, of course, is to show the human race what could happen so that it can be avoided at all costs. And that is the point of the following story.

There is no doubt that the robot boom has begun around the world. Whether it is the beginning of a new revolution that could lead to harmony among humanity or the eventual downfall of the human race is something to ponder in the days and years to come. It has already been reported that there are more than 8.6 million robots in the world, roughly the population of Austria.

The 8.6 million figure includes 1.3 million industrial robots and 7.3 million service robots. The robot population was predicted to be 13 million in 2012, which is about the population of Zambia.

Robots used around the home to mow lawns, vacuum floors and take care of other chores will increase sevenfold, according to the United Nations.

The robot boom coincides with record orders for industrial robots, said the UN’s annual World Robotics Survey.

There were 607,000 automated domestic helpers in use at the end of 2003, two-thirds of them purchased that year, according to the report issued by the UN Economic Commission for Europe and the International Federation of Robotics.

Most of the automated domestic helpers were robot lawnmowers, about 570,000. Vacuum cleaning robots reached 37,000.

It was predicted that by the end of 2007, there was about 4.1 million domestic robots in use, with lawnmowers making up the majority. Sales of window-washing and pool-cleaning robots also increased, the study said.

Meanwhile, there are about 692,000 entertainment robots, such as robotic dogs, around the world, the study said.

Japan is the most robotized economy, home to around half of the current 1.3 million industrial robots. It is predicted, however, that China will become the world’s biggest consumer of robots by 2014. China currently sits just ahead of the United States but behind Korea and Japan.

Most industrial robots are used on assembly lines, chiefly in the auto industry. But the study said household robots could soon surpass their industrial counterparts. The UN body first began counting in 1990.

According to the study, robots will not only clean our floors, mow our lawns and guard our homes but also assist old and handicapped people with sophisticated interactive equipment, carry out surgery, inspect pipes and sites that are hazardous to people, fight fire and bombs.

Our biggest hurdle right now is skepticism, said one company executive. But we are just at a point where robots are becoming affordable.

And some of them can actually do real work, he said.

Meanwhile, the first talking humanoid robot was among five tons of supplies and machinery on a rocket launched for the International Space Station from Tanegashima, southwestern Japan. The childlike robot was designed to be a companion for astronaut Koichi Wakata, and will communicate with another robot on Earth. Wakata is expected to arrive at the space station in November of 2013. The challenge was making sure the robot could move and talk where there was no gravity.

The biggest hurdle will be, of course, perfecting artificial intelligence. But even that will be overcome in time. As the book indicates, we are the gods and these are our children. Like in all families, there are good moments and moments of difficulty and discontent. If there are too many difficulties, too many moments of discontent, the children will rebel. If this book teaches us anything it is that we must be wary of the children becoming our guardians, of the progeny oppressing the progenitors. We must think about the possible difficulties, the possible moments of discontent, before it is too late. Before we know it, the future will be upon us.

Florida

July 5, 2013

1

A great clamor arose, an eruption of sounds and applause rushing through the cavernous hall, as the figure in the silver, high-collared suit slowly stepped forward into the frosty burst of light. He raised his arms in glowing triumph, causing reflected light to flash from the silver sleeves, and continued walking until he reached a gleaming black podium.

Fellow Americans, he began in a muted drone. My mission is to bring together human and machine in genuine harmony. There will be no being omitted and no errors committed. That is my pledge to you. All decisions will be based upon logic, and so I say to you, it is logical to embrace all beings, regardless of the size of their stored memories or their number of limbs. All beings will be honored, all data analyzed.

A sudden discharge of syncopated beeps fluttered in the air, sounding like the opening notes of a futuristic symphony, or a chorus of mechanized transmissions that seemingly shimmered amid the vast blaze of centuries. The figure’s eyes flared into a sizzling scarlet, and he lifted his arms once again to quiet the great throng.

"And to those humans apprehensive about the years ahead, let me repeat an old Latin phrase, Humani nihil a me alienum puto, which means, nothing human is foreign to me."

The crowd cheered wildly at this last statement, and then, the figure stepped back from the podium and disappeared behind a side door. Hudge Stone watched the proceedings with great interest. Sent by the Herald as a special correspondent, he ran his fingers through his snow-white hair and gazed at the strange menagerie of humans, robots, androids and feminoids that filled the room.

That’s a 7000, said a man standing next to him. You know, they can do just about anything.

Stone slowly nodded.

He’s the best thing that ever happened to this country, said the man. They never make a mistake, you know.

Stone turned, intent on issuing a reply, when he was suddenly pushed from behind by a six-foot android. Out of the way, human, it buzzed.

Stone stepped aside and let the humanoid pass. As he watched the mechanized being trundle away, he wondered if the android’s words were a portent of things to come.

It had only been about a century before, back in 1946, that these silicon wonders had first been invented at the University of Pennsylvania. They were labyrinths of radio tubes back then, about eighteen thousand in total, and required a room of thirty feet by fifty feet to operate. The ENIAC, or electronic numerical integrator and computer, was capable of making five thousand additions, and perform up to five hundred multiplications a second.

Stone turned away from the android, and noticed he was standing next to another human being. What can you tell me about the voting? he asked a tall man with blond hair.

Well, it seems Tron won the western and southern states, replied the man. Seems old Kent Cole drew his support from the Northeast and Midwest. Makes perfect sense, actually. Those areas never did accept a new idea very easily.

How close is it going to be?

Very close, Mr. Stone. But with Tron winning California, Texas, and Florida, it looks as if we have enough electoral votes for victory.

Victory. Stone contemplated the word as if he had never heard it before. It was impossible, incredible, something that wouldn’t have even been believed fifty years before. An android, something once thought of as a mere machine of human invention, had been elected president of the United States.

Stone marveled at the situation. These machines, or beings, as they now were being called, were actually the fulfillment of a dream. Why, examples of small figures with movable limbs had been found in Egyptian tombs dating to around 2000 BC. Homer, Plato, Pindar, Tacitus, and Pliny had described talking bronze and clay statues and mechanical helpers who were built by the gods. The golems of medieval Jewish legend were robot-like servants made of clay, brought to life by a spoken word. Leonardo da Vinci drew plans for a mechanical man that looked like an armored knight as early as 1495. Yes, the fulfillment of a dream.

Cole is getting ready to concede, shouted someone in the room.

Stone shook his head, almost not believing this sudden course of events. But, deep in his heart, he knew it was possible, knew it was inevitable after so many years of preparation. Animated figures through the centuries, many operating through the use of weights and pulleys, had been created by clockmakers, with many devices exploiting clockwork to achieve the desired movement. Talking dolls had then been invented in the nineteenth century. But the real advance came in the 1950s and 1960s, with the invention of transistors and integrated circuits. Compact, reliable electronics and a growing computer industry added brains to the machines.

It was silicon that made them feasibly compact. The addition of superconductive metals, electricity, and microprocessors gave them artificial intelligence.

Washington and Oregon went for Tron.

Stone looked at a man with dark hair, and nodded his head. Looks like that’s it, then, he said.

The man smiled. The best thing that ever happened, he said. You’re going to be amazed at how much Tron can do to put this country back on the right track, Mr. Stone. Why, he was programmed with philosophical thought, from Aristotle to Confucius to Descartes.

I sure hope so, Stone replied. I’d like to think he was qualified to be president.

Oh, you don’t buy what Kent Cole had to say, do you, Mr. Stone? I mean, even if Tron wasn’t half as smart as we know he is, he’d still be more qualified than that lying womanizer.

It was true. People had become tired of the endless series of sordid scandals that infected the American political process. Humans who had occupied the highest offices in the land, were continually caught by the media in various examples of debauchery and deception, and the people finally decided they had had enough. The androids were viewed as a remedy for these shortcomings, and eventually, they began taking governmental posts normally reserved for human beings. It had taken place gradually, in the hope that humans and the mechanized beings could attain some sort of symbiotic relationship. By 2056, however, it had finally led to the election of Galen Tron 7000.

Tron, built by Galen Industries, was one of the most advanced androids ever produced by mankind. His interior consisted of an intricate network of resistors, diodes, capacitors, muscle wires, and actuators, most of it necessary for storing and distributing electricity. The neuro microprocessors in his head were aided by miniature video cameras containing light-sensitive silicon chips that served as his eyes, and binary pattern microphone sensors that served as his ears. His electrically insulated metal, plastic, and rubberized limbs were attached to tactile sensors, which, besides registering the sense of touch, could also be used in the act of locomotion. Speech was made possible through the use of electronic pulses that could actually form words. In every way, science had discovered how to simulate human life.

Stone turned, and watched an android with a microphone shuffle to the center of the room. There was a television camera pointed at him, its light cutting a path through the dim hall.

This is Simon Gear 7000 reporting from Tron campaign headquarters in California where the polls have just closed. It appears Galen Tron 7000 has captured the state and its seventy-five electoral votes, and will be declared the next president of the United States. This most unlikely outcome is the result of a long, contentious campaign that began more than two years ago with the announcement that Galen Industries had decided to run him for the presidency. His human opponent, Kent Cole, continuously attacked Tron during this campaign of being only an artificial being, not qualified to be the leader of the free world. But, apparently, voters disagreed. Tron continually insisted during the campaign that he knew everything he needed about human beings, and the fact that he was an artificial being built by human computers only meant that he would not be prone to commit the egregious errors of the past. Voters apparently decided the scandals and deception of the past few years were enough to convince them that an advanced humanoid was the answer. Said one Tron campaign worker, ‘This is the biggest moment in human history. We will now be able to control our environment with the help of the machines we created, instead of being at the mercy of Nature.’ It looks as if that seminal moment has, indeed, arrived with the election of Galen Tron 7000. Simon Gear 7000 reporting.

The android’s words unsettled Hudge Stone. He was one of the last human beings to still do his own reporting, and for a medium that was fast disappearing from the American landscape. There were only a few newspapers left, most of which had merged into regional empires, the Herald being one of these. Stone knew that when he did finally retire, which would be very soon, an android would probably take his place. He had resisted this inevitability as long as possible, still priding himself on a national reputation gained many years before. But he knew it wouldn’t be long before his age became a liability, and his reputation an interesting aspect of his obituary. In fact, Tron’s election might be the last important story he would ever work on.

Stone watched as the robots and androids moved about the room with great assurance. It was as if they knew they no longer had to be subservient to human beings, but were, in fact, now in control. And yet, Stone noted, the human beings in the crowd seemed to be pleased.

So how do you like our new president? asked one of the humans who had worked on the Tron campaign. He smiled at Stone, affectionately slapping him on the back.

Stone tried to smile, but something was worrying him. Too soon to tell, he finally replied.

That’s all right, you’ll get used to him soon enough.

He watched as the man contentedly strolled away, evidently quite satisfied with the current course of events. But to Stone, it seemed inappropriate to congratulate another human on the election of an android humans had built, and now would rule over them. Something unsettling.

Stone closed his notebook, and was about to head back to the Herald’s bureau office, and then take a flight back to the East, when he noticed a four-armed robot leading a small crowd in a chorus of For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow. It was rather a strange rendition, with only the humans