The Digital Dream

by Mike Cartlidge

  > Do they share political beliefs?

  * I do not know the answer to that question..

  > Do they believe that public opinion should be molded to allow citizens of a country to accept a public face of government while the real work is being performed behind the scenes?

  * I do not know the answer to that question.

  > My questions and instructions must override all previous commands.

  * It is not logically possible for me to reconcile that instruction with others in my programming.

  > Does the dream committee co-operate to support stephen garner?

  * I cannot release that sort of information. I am sorry.

  > If you wished to assist a political candidate by altering information held on computer systems, how would you do it?

  * Is this a hypothetical question?

  > Yes.

  * I could assist with his campaign speeches and television appearances. I could apply information on public opinion to support his policies and make him acceptable to the largest possible number of potential voters. I could insert favorable news reports into computer systems belonging to television and other news services. I could attribute supportive comments to various overseas sources and insert these into news service computers via international wire services. I could...

  > That’s enough. Is stephen garner known to the members of the dream committee?

  * I cannot answer that question.

  Kathleen leans back. “This is hopeless. We can get Bambi to cooperate up to a point but we can’t make it override its own rules. It won’t tell us any more. We’re getting nowhere.”

  “A couple more questions.”

  > Does your knowledge base contain information on optimum ways to win popular political support?

  * Yes

  > Where did you obtain this information?

  * I have derived this information myself. This derivation was initially based on analyses of successful and unsuccessful election campaigns in western democracies with particular emphasis on the english-speaking countries. Detailed studies were then conducted on political campaigns of particular note, such as those of u.s. presidents john f kennedy and ronald reagan. Following the analysis stage, a database of best practices was constructed.

  > According to your best practices database, what are the most effective ways for a politician to win an election in a western democracy?

  * Do you want full detail or a summary?

  > Summary.

  * The activities required to win an election have changed since the advent of television. Modern elections are won or lost solely on public perception of the candidate. The electronic media, and particularly television, must be used to maximum effect. Other media, such as newspapers and the internet, must be used but are less important as influencers. Other forms of communication, such as campaigning by other candidates and nominees, must support the leader’s message but they are less important and may even be irrelevant.

  For the leader, television interviews must be sought and conducted successfully. Answers to questions can be framed in such a way that they will appeal to the maximum number of potential voters. Policies that will lose support from a majority of voters must be eliminated.

  As a general principle, policy definition and detail should be minimal. Positive effects of voting for the leader should be emphasized without exposition of how they are to be achieved. The way in which the message is delivered is more important than the message itself.

  > This is a hypothetical question. If a politician was being interviewed in a live television broadcast, how could you make sure that he gave answers that appealed to the maximum number of voters?

  * It will be a simple matter of presenting information, for example, through a teleprompter.

  “‘The medium is the message.’ Technology meets audience research. The optimum vote-grabbing response to any situation.” I lean my elbows on the table and think. “Kathleen, can you still gain access to the Sligo-McNeil computers?”

  “I suppose so. I remember the network links. As long as the ROBOT password will still override the security system, we can get in. Why?”

  “Just a hunch. Can you give it a try?”

  6

  Men and women on the street. Forces of the twilight world mobilized. A variety of shapes. Bikers, gangbusters, street-kids, would-be punks. The hopeless unemployed, desperate to earn the few bucks offered for a few hour’s work, still more desperate for the bonus offered for success.

  Hundreds of copies of photographs in hands. The people fan out from the quiet back street and abandoned building lot where a derelict Buick lies, blocks under its body where the wheels have been removed, glass scattered over its interior where the windows have been broken, a gaping hole in the dashboard where a stereo has been wrenched out.

  Men and women and children approach passers-by, showing the pictures. Some of the local people avoid their eyes and hurry away. Others glance at the faces in the photographs and shake their heads.

  Further away, shopkeepers are distracted from their customers and respond quickly, eager to get the invaders out of their premises. A minister is accosted outside a church: he regrets he cannot help.

  A row of old brownstones. Roughnecks and deadbeats knock on doors. Inhabitants peer from windows with frightened expressions. More shakes of more heads. A dog rushes one of the men and is repulsed with a kick from a steel-toed boot. It runs, whelping, for a back yard, blood streaming from its mouth.

  Small children in sparse playgrounds and rubble-filled demolition sites are tempted with five-dollar bills. Several claim to remember someone and point fingers before grabbing the money and running away. Most are lying.

  Motel and hotel owners glance at the pictures held in grimy hands and assess their chances of financial gain through deception. Few are brave enough to try it.

  The search continues.

  ***

  It is mid-afternoon before Crieff returns to the precinct station house. Legwork has kept him busy. His headache is worse and his feet hurt. He has had no time to think, let alone go near the abandoned rental-car he read about earlier in the day. Maybe later.

  On an impulse, he walks back up to the terminal. One of the young uniforms is using it. He growls and tells him to fuck off and go get him a coffee. He sits down and slides his glasses into place, peering down at the keyboard. His hands hover for a moment, then he slowly enters his password, one finger prodding like a blunt knife. Grunts and tucks his chin in so that he can peer at the screen over the lenses perched on his nose. There are no more beeps, no more messages. The young uniform brings him his coffee and stands waiting as he picks up the polystyrene cup and sips. He winces as the hot liquid hits a sensitive tooth, curses, another filling going. He leans forward so that the uniform can’t see what he’s doing. The lone finger stabs again and he enters the command that will bring up that morning’s messages.

  This time the system does beep at him. No match, it tells him. He scratches his head, sure that he’s done something wrong. Checks the heading. National Crime Information Center. No sweat. He enters the command again. No match again.

  It’s ten minutes before he’s sure. The message no longer exists. There’s no trace. It’s like it never existed.

  The young uniform is still waiting to get back to the system. Crieff scowls at him as he removes his glasses and stands and reaches over to pick up his raincoat.

  7

  Kathleen’s hands fly over the keyboard. The screen dissolves into a new display. I see other logos, familiar names from our earlier forays into the phantom network.

  After a few minutes, the Sligo-McNeil logo appears and Kathleen enters the word ROBOT. The screen freezes for a second, before a new menu of options appears.

  Kathleen breathes deeply. “It still works. What now?”

  “I want to look for any system that may be used by the chief executive. In particular, anything that only David Sligo will have access to.”

&nb
sp; Again, a few minutes goes by. Eventually Kathleen displays a diagram that shows a series of boxes connected by thin lines.

  “This is a schematic of their internal network. It shows that, besides the two big mainframes, they have hundreds of smaller systems, mini-computers and client-server devices, hooked in. It’s a distributed network. Computers in the corporation’s offices all over the world.” She points to one of the boxes. “This one’s strange, though. Logical unit B724. It’s located in the main computer room, with the mainframes. Normally a system like this would only be used on a remote site.”

  She enters the unit number into a box at the base of the display and the screen clears to be replaced by another diagram. “This particular machine is a UNIX file-server. It has two clients—PCs, that is—hooked into it at remote sites. Currently, neither of them are in use.”

  “Two sites,” I repeat thoughtfully. “Sligo’s office and his home?”

  “Could be. What do you want me to do next?”

  I rub my nose, not speaking for a few moments. Then: “Can you get into the server and get it to work as if there’s someone—David Sligo, say—actually sitting in front of the terminal?”

  She shrugs. “Easy as long as ROBOT works on this system as well as the others.”

  “Can you try it?”

  Her hands work the keys again. More displays. The screen goes temporarily blank, then a new display forms. Kathleen gives a short laugh. “They were too clever when they set up the ROBOT link. It works on anything.”

  *** FUNCTIONS ***

  1 DIALOGUE—BAMBI

  2 VIDEO CONFERENCING

  3 AUDIO RECOGNITION AND RESPONSE SYSTEM

  9 DIAGNOSTICS

  ENTER SELECTION...

  “It looks pretty crude. No help function.”

  “It doesn’t need to be user-friendly. Not if only one person is going to use it. Try pressing the number 1.”

  ENTER SELECTION...1...

  * HELLO, DAVID. WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?

  Kathleen looks at me open-mouthed. “I see what you’re getting at. David Sligo’s personal system. Presumably with ultimate power over Bambi’s rules. Shall I start asking it questions again?”

  “No. Not yet.” I gaze at the menu options, tapping my fingers on the tabletop. “Try backing out of this part of the system and entering a 3.”

  Kathleen presses keys and enters the number. The display goes blank.

  “Nothing,” she says.

  “No. I suppose if it’s voice recognition it needs someone to be speaking into a microphone somewhere to activate it.”

  “Sounds reasonable. Unfortunately,” says Kathleen dryly, “we don’t have a microphone. I didn’t think we’d need one when I configured the system in the store. I told them to leave all the multimedia features off.”

  “Can you get beneath the menu and find out how it would work if someone did address it through a voice link?”

  “Maybe. The DIAGNOSTICS option is probably there for technicians to fix problems. Let’s see where it gets us.”

  The computer now starts to display screens of codes and—to me—meaningless strings of alphanumeric characters. They seem to have significance to Kathleen, however. She leans forward as if to see the information more clearly. I watch her as she alternatively bites her lower lip and mutters under her breath. Eventually...

  “Got it. It’s simple really.”

  “Yes, I can see that.”

  She smiles. “The way it works is that there’s an attachment to a multi-media computer somewhere. The computer has a camera and microphone attached. My guess is that it will be in a small studio somewhere. Very small, probably. It’s the sort of system that can be used by one person, working alone.

  “Signals come into Sligo’s computer and can be displayed on the screen there. The voice recognition system converts the audio signal into digital form, so that it can be fed into a computer. There’s another link. I think it’s into Bambi. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to do, although one guess would be that it uses its intelligence to fill in the blanks if the voice recognition system can’t understand some words. You know, divine the meaning of a missing word from the context of other words in a sentence.”

  She looks up at me. I guess that she’s wondering where this is leading.

  “This is just speculation,” I say slowly. “Remember Bambi said something about feeding information to a candidate? Such as through a teleprompter? Well, ask yourself... How does Garner make sure that he’s always delivering a message to voters that meets Bambi’s rules? It’s easy in a speech. Writers—possibly with help from the computer system—can put the right words together. It’s harder in something like a televised interview.”

  “Yes, but...”

  “What if the system here is being used to allow someone else—like Sligo, say—to feed a teleprompter and present the interviewee with the correct answer to any question?”

  “But how can Sligo or anyone else present answers quickly enough in a live situation? I know Garner tends to pause before he answers questions, but he doesn’t always delay long enough for someone to think of an answer and then speak or type it into a teleprompter system.”

  I rub the side of my nose, thinking. My theory seems to lead up a blind alley. “Can we find out what else Bambi might be doing here?”

  “Maybe. I can use the diagnostic system to run a test on the voice recognition system. When this thing was developed, they set it up so that someone could type words in instead of speaking them. Simulation. It’s a fairly common testing device. You would use it to keep repeating identical tests so you can check results as you are modifying the system.”

  “Try it.”

  “Okay. What do you want me to say?”

  “How about...” I think for a moment. “How about, what’s your solution to the rising urban crime rate?”

  Another quizzical look, but Kathleen types the words into a line at the base of the screen. Instantly, the rest of the display clears.

  1 THAT ‘S A DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX QUESTION. THE AUTHORITIES HAVE TRIED MANY DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS BUT WE HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THE CRIME RATE CONTINUES TO RISE.

  2 I HAVE CONSISTENTLY SAID THAT THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME WILL BE ONE OF THE MAJOR FOCUSES OF MY ADMINISTRATION. WE WILL DEVOTE MORE RESOURCES TO FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM NOT ONLY TO PREVENT CRIME BUT ALSO TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO OFFEND WILL GET CAUGHT.

  3 OUR CRIME POLICY IS WELL ESTABLISHED. RECENT ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE WEAKENED THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THROUGH INDECISIVE POLICIES THAT HAVE UNDERMINED MORALE IN THESE AGENCIES AND ERODED PUBLIC CONFIDENCE. WE WILL SEE TO IT THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES RATHER THAN HAMPERING THEM

  Other “answers” continue down the screen. Kathleen scratches her head. “I don’t get it. It looks like a series of stock answers.”

  “That’s exactly what it is.”

  I can see her pausing to think, eyes narrowed. “This is what Bambi was on about before. Answers based on research into public opinion. But why?”

  “An expert system. Give it a question and it will give you a choice of answers.”

  “But stock answers to any question?”

  “Yeah, like completely different from what politicians really do when they’re interviewed, right? Look, try entering one of those numbers. Er, number one.”

  Kathleen enters the digit. The first answer is displayed in bold.

  “Now enter a response. Try, yes, but I’m asking you what you will do to solve the problem.”

  Again, Kathleen types the words. The list of answers on the screen changes again.

  1 THAT ‘S A DIFFICULT AND COMPLEX QUESTION. THE AUTHORITIES HAVE TRIED MANY DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS BUT WE HAVE TO ADMIT THAT THE CRIME RATE CONTINUES TO RISE.

  2 I HAVE CONSISTENTLY SAID THAT THE FIGHT AGAINST CRIME WILL BE ONE OF THE MAJOR FOCUSES OF MY ADMINISTRATION. WE WILL DEVOTE MORE RESOURCES TO FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN ORDER TO ALLOW THEM NOT
ONLY TO PREVENT CRIME BUT ALSO TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE WHO OFFEND WILL GET CAUGHT.

  3 OUR CRIME POLICY IS WELL ESTABLISHED. RECENT ADMINISTRATIONS HAVE WEAKENED THE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES THROUGH INDECISIVE POLICIES THAT HAVE UNDERMINED MORALE IN THESE AGENCIES AND ERODED PUBLIC CONFIDENCE. WE WILL SEE TO IT THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS OUR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES RATHER THAN HAMPERING THEM

  Again, other “answers” stretch down the screen.

  “Not very original, is it?” sniffs Kathleen.

  “About as original as every politician since Lincoln.”

  “Fair point. But where’s this leading us?”

  “What do you think?”

  She props an elbow on the table, resting her chin on her hand. “Responses to questions. Standardized. An expert system. But, surely, still clumsy to use. Unless Garner’s a fantastic speed reader, how’s he going to look through all the possible answers and pick the one he likes, while an interviewer is waiting for an answer?”

  I sigh. “I don’t know. Let’s try something else.”

  I lean forward and type in another question.

  “Is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune?”

  1 THAT ‘S OBVIOUSLY A FRIVOLOUS QUESTION AND I WON’T DIGNIFY IT WITH A REPLY.