Credibility and Conflict in Lem’s “The Inquest”
“The year is 2029, and machines will convince us that they are conscious and that they have their own agenda worthy of our respect. They will embody human qualities; claim to be human…and we’ll believe them.
- Ray Kurzweil
Perhaps Kurzweil slipped up when he put a date in his prediction. Perhaps he intended it to be more of a challenge than a guess. Ultimately, it separates the theorists, like Kurzweil, from the storytellers, like Stanislaw Lem. Lem’s “The Inquest” takes a glimpse into the future to show readers what it may look like some day. He uses a futuristic setting to examine the possible role of machines in our daily lives. Conflict, credulity and human nature are at the forefront of this story, all of which allude to deeper meaning in today’s world.
The level of robotics and AI in Lem’s “The Inquest” is not farfetched. That is to say, the story is not unconvincing, but simply exaggerated for our time. Though the events are assumed to be taking place in the future, Lem references no time period and forces the reader to blindly suspend disbelief. The premise of the story revolves around this fact, and gives the story its body as a work of science fiction.
The most relevant instance of computer exaggeration is in the supporting characters we meet: the non-linear officers of the Goliath. The main character, Commander Pirx, is known to be human, and must command a mixed group of humans and robots, not knowing the true identity of each. Here we have the story’s biggest assumption about AI in the future; that robotics and AI will be indistinguishable from human abilities and intelligence. This colossal inference about computer technology is only acceptable to the reader when coupled with the lack of a given time period. Pirx is asked to command these two groups on a routine space mission, all the while making inference on their actions and interactions during a variety of real world tests. He is then to make a formal report to the creators of these machines to be used as a formal test result. The fact that Pirx cannot immediately distinguish between the humans and the robots implies that all the machines have passed the Turing test. Though this story is set in the future, this test is a standard by which we judge the intelligence of machines today, and gives us some insight on the level of AI that Lem implies.
Andy Clark strongly argues for the theory that computers have the potential for being intelligent beings in his work “Mindware: Meat Machines.” The support Clark uses to defend his claims states the similar comparison of humans and machines using an array of symbols to perform functions. The main argument of his work can be interpreted as follows:
What role will computers play in the future? What happens when artificial intelligence gets to the point of actually allowing machines to give birth to original thoughts, or suppose artificial intelligence became identical or superior to human intelligence? While attempting to answer these thought-provoking questions deeper questions arise that are more pertinent in our lives such as what defines being human, or as Morpheous says, “What is…real?” The Matrix as well as the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, by Phillip K. Dick, attempt to answer these questions through different matrices. These matrices are implemented into stories to provoke thought and ask the question, what if?
Loyalty is one of the ethics that is instilled in a person at a young age. Loyalty can range from loyalty to a family member, friend, teammate, ect. In Larry Watson's, Montana 1948, the summer of 1948 tests the loyalty of each character and is told through the eyes of a young boy, David. The picture was clear to David when Marie was Murdered. Through this tragic event David was able to read each family member determining whether they were loyal or whether they would betray.
Loyalty to another person or to a cause may be an admirable trait, but it
Krill, Paul. "The Age of the Sentient Machine Is upon Us." InfoWorld. 14 Mar. 2013. Web.
The twentieth century is the century with the greatest loss of human life in the history of civilization. It was a time of mistrust and espionage. To be loyal is defined as “faithful to one's oath, commitments, or obligations” (OED). Some loyalties are bought, while others are earned. Earned loyalty tends to last while loyalty that is bought tends to fade. Two books, The Human Factor by Graham Greene and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro show this difference. While both characters demonstrate external loyalty, Stevens’ loyalty was purchased, and Castle’s was earned. Castle’s genuine loyalty allows him to risk his life, while Stevens’ loyalty is only compliance.
Kurzweil, Ray. "Reinventing Humanity: the Future of Machine-human Intelligence." The Futurist 1 Mar. 2006. Print.
“Look out for the people who look out for you. Loyalty is everything.” In the book, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher, Ms. Lemry is loyal. Ms.Lemry is a teacher and a swim coach for a school. She is a teacher who stays loyal to her students. She is loyal because she cares for her students who are in her class. Ms. Lemry stands by Sarah at all times and is there for her. Sarah is a girl who got abused by her dad when she was younger. Sarah’s father when she was younger out her face on the stove. Sarah was always scared of her father and she still is because she is afraid of her dad coming back and killing her. Sarah was about to go on the train and Lemry was there to inform her to not get on the train. Her class is called CAT known
Loyalty is one of the only things that can hold the bonds of family and friends.
In conclusion, it’s all about time. We need the old tube televisions before we can have the flat screens, the MTS before the iPhone. I cannot wait for what the future holds in the combination of robotics and philosophy. It’s great to see technology advance by leaps and bounds during our current generation. I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.
The quality of being loyal to someone or something is a choice of action that helps define loyalty as a person. Being loyal would be a person giving or showing continuous support to someone or something. Loyalty plays a major role in everyday life. Some people honor loyalty and some people couldn’t care less about having such a thing. Loyalty consists of working a marriage out, maintaining a good reputation, and keeping a steady job. According to Maurice Franks, “Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart the center of self-respect and human dignity. It is a force which leaps into being only when conditions are exactly right for it and it is a force very sensitive to betrayal.”
Today’s world is full of robots that vacuum the floor and cars that talk to their drivers. People can ask their phones to send a text or play a song and a cheerful voice will oblige. Machines are taking over more and more tasks that are traditionally left to people, such as cleaning, navigating, and even scheduling meetings. In a world where technology is becoming increasingly human, questions arise about whether machines will eventually replace humankind altogether. In Ray Bradbury’s short stories, “The Veldt” and “August 2026,” he presents themes that technology will not only further replace the jobs of humans, but it will also outlast humankind as a whole. Although this is a plausible future, computers just cannot do certain human jobs.
When most people think of artificial intelligence they might think of a scene from I, Robot or from 2001: A Space Odyssey. They might think of robots that highly resemble humans start a revolution against humanity and suddenly, because of man’s creation, man is no longer the pinnacle of earth’s hierarchy of creatures. For this reason, it might scare people when I say that we already utilize artificial intelligence in every day society. While it might not be robots fighting to win their freedom to live, or a defense system that decides humanity is the greatest threat to the world, artificial intelligence already plays a big role in how business is conducted today.
Bar-Cohen, Y. (2009). The coming robot revolution expectations and fears about emerging intelligent, humanlike machines. Springer.
Leslie Krech November 8, 2017 Is Artificial Intelligence Really a Threat? Divergent opinions exist on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. The notion of “the created,” that is, highly sophisticated robots programmed by humans, surpassing man, or “the creator,” in intellect and ultimate usefulness, is not new and is instead a recurring theme in much of our pop-culture. Humans seem to highly enjoy the thought of man’s destruction of itself by its own creation; from Frankenstein to The Matrix and very recently the (remade) program, Westworld on HBO. We want humankind to get dangerously close to the edge of extinction, but we also want it to ultimately defeat the “evil” androids who no longer wish to be subservient to their maker.