by Don Viecelli
G’s Future
A Science Fiction Novella
by
Don Viecelli
Description
G’s Future is the story of the first machine with Artificial Intelligence to pass the ‘Turing Test’ and win the Gold Medal Prize at the Loebner Prize Contest.
G is an android who possesses what is known in humans as the ‘general intelligence factor’, or the ability to exhibit high level intelligence across all subject matter. G is sentient and self-aware and can think like a human. He was created by Julian Thornway, a genius and the great grandfather of 12 year old Timothy Thornway.
Timothy lives in Algonquin, Illinois, which is a small town northwest of Chicago on the Fox River. Julian asks Timothy to spend two weeks with him in Michigan by the lake to help him prepare G for the Loebner Prize. The contest is being held in Chicago at Navy Pier and people are already protesting the event. The Turing Test is a game in which a machine and a human are questioned by a judge who tries to determine which of them is the machine. The objective of the machine is to fool the judge.
Julian thinks he can win the $1,000,000 Gold Medal Prize and prove to the world that G is the first machine with artificial intelligence that can think and reason like a human. G, on the other hand, must prove to everyone that he should be accepted by society and not be banned from existence. The future of humanity may depend on it.
Copyright Page
G’s Future
By Don Viecelli
Copyright © 2012 by Donald E. Viecelli
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.
Cover image is the copyrighted property of 123RF Limited, their Contributors or Licensed Partners and is being used with permission under license. This image and/or photo may not be copied or downloaded without permission from 123RF Limited.
This is a work of science fiction. All the characters, names, incidents, places and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any errors in editing, formatting, plot or structure will be corrected in the next revision.
Available at Amazon.com and other ebook stores. Positive reviews on Amazon or Goodreads are always welcome. It helps independent authors like me to reach a broader audience.
ISBN 9781467527729
For Kindle Readers
First release, May 2012.
Revision 5 Released July 2017. Includes Excerpt from G’s Future - The Journey, Part 2.
Novella length: approximately 45,929 words.
If You Like This Book
Please sign up to receive My Newsletter for future announcements and special offers.
Dedication
To the memories of my father, Julian, and my mother, Jean, for their love and support.
Table of Contents
Description
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Acknowledgement:
Except From G’s Future – The Journey, Part 2
Chapter 2
Author’s Page
Chapter 1
The sunlight peaking through the window shades in Timothy’s bedroom was bright. Too bright, he thought, since he didn’t want to get out of bed this early in the morning. He pulled the blankets over his head and turned away from the window.
It was Saturday and he wanted to sleep in. Besides, school was over for the year. It was June and Timothy was twelve years old. He had just finished the seventh grade and was looking forward to a lazy weekend. Then he smelled breakfast. It smelled good and he realized he was hungry. He heard his mother call to him and his sister, Kate. “Time to get up kids. Breakfast is ready. Come down while it’s still warm.”
It was no use delaying, Timothy knew. His mother would just keep calling until he and his sister showed up at the table. “Alright, Mom,” he yelled. “I’m coming.”
Timothy rolled out of bed and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He used the toilet, washed his face and hands and brushed his teeth. He looked into the mirror and noticed his wavy brown hair was getting long and would need a haircut soon. He wished his mom and dad would let him grow it out this summer like his friends at school. It wasn’t fair, he thought. I should be able to grow my hair as long as I want. I’m not a kid anymore.
Timothy was of average size and weight for his age. His face was round with brown eyes, small nose and straight teeth. Timothy looked closely at his face and chest and flexed his muscles. He did not see any body hair like other boys he knew. He wished he looked older, but then just shrugged it off. It would come in time, he knew. He combed his hair. When he smiled his dimples showed and he knew that some girls at school thought he was cute. He looked like his dad, his mom said, and Timothy thought she was the prettiest mom of all his friends.
His sister beat him down the stairs to the breakfast table. Susan said, “Good morning, kids. How many waffles do you want?” Kate answered first, “I would like two, Mom.” Kate was seven and looked like her mother with blue eyes and long reddish brown hair that hung in curls down to her neck. Timothy smiled and said, “Four please.”
“So, what do you two have planned today?” Susan asked as she served them breakfast. “It’s going to be warm out. Timothy, you should take the dog for a walk along the river.” Susan was looking out the kitchen window at the Fox River that flowed past the dock at the end of their backyard. There were people in boats and kayaks already on the river and it looked like it was going to be a very nice day.
“I might go to Johnny’s house to play if that’s okay,” Timothy replied in between mouthfuls of food. “He has a new 4D holographic game we want to try. It’s really cool. I could take Missy for a walk after that.” He hoped for the best. He really wanted to go to Johnny’s house today.
Susan said it was fine to go to Johnny’s house, but only for an hour or so. She turned to Kate. “How about you, Kate? Any plans?”
“I want to watch my TV show this morning. Then play down by the dock. Can we have a picnic lunch outside today?” she asked.
“We’ll see. Your dad went to work for a while and when he gets back he wants to take us to dinner to the restaurant on the river. We’ll take the boat.”
Timothy and Kate thought that would be fun. The boat was new and this would be only the third time they had used it. “Can I sit in the front?” Kate asked excitedly.
“I think that will be fine, Kate, as long has you wear your lifejacket.” Susan smiled and sat down at the table to eat with them. They chatted about things they would do today until they finished eating.
After breakfast, Timothy went to his room to check his videomail and Kate went to the family room to watch TV. Susan turned on the TV in the kitchen and watched the morning news program. The news in the world wasn’t all bad. The U.S economy was strong and the dollar was competing fairly well with the Chinese Yuan. China was the l
argest economy in the world and they had recently partnered with the U.S. and three other nations to send a team of astronauts to Mars within five years. There was some fighting over oil rights still going on in the Middle East and Africa, but no major skirmishes to speak of. There was a major power outage in Spain, a worker’s strike in France, and some pesky insect infestation in Russia affecting the food crops.
In local news, the high speed bullet train between Chicago and St. Paul was delayed for up to an hour by a glitch in the signaling software, expressway traffic was lighter than usual and the weather forecast was good for the whole weekend. Susan was delighted. She was a high school Assistant Principal and had some time off before summer school started in July. She was debating whether or not to make Timothy and Kate take a summer class to keep them busy. Both of her kids excelled in school, but she knew Timothy wanted to take the summer off this year and play sports. Kate loved school and probably would be interested in taking some creative class. She decided to talk to her husband, Charles, when he came home. They could discuss what to do over the summer during dinner tonight. Suddenly, her wristphone rang. It was a call from Charles. She turned down the TV speaker with a voice command and said, “Phone on. Hello, Charles. Are you coming home early?”
“Hi, honey. I have to work another hour or so and then I will catch the train. I just wanted to tell you I received a call from Julian.” Julian Thornway was Charles’s Grandfather who lived in New Buffalo, Michigan by the lake. He was a retired NASA scientist and they were very close, especially since Charles’s own father, Andrew, died in a car accident a few years ago. Charles continued. “Julian wants us to visit him next weekend. He says he has something to show me. He asked if Timothy could come and stay with him for a couple of weeks this summer—if he wants too. I said I would talk to you first.”
Susan paused for a minute while she looked out the window. “Is everything okay?” She was concerned since Julian will turn 100 years old this September and was having some serious health issues.
“Oh yes, he’s fine,” Charles answered. “You know, he tinkers in his lab and I think he wants to show Timothy his latest invention. He looked very excited on the videophone. I think he might be a little lonely up there since Jean died.”
“You’re probably right. I can’t go since summer school starts soon, but Timothy might be interested. You know how much he loves his Great Grandpa. We can discuss it over dinner tonight. The kids are really excited about taking the boat out. And I am looking forward to dinner.”
“Me too,” Charles said. “I just wanted to forewarn you about Julian’s request. I’ll try to be home by three. Tell Timothy to get the boat ready, but don’t give him the keys to start the engine. I’ll do that when I get home. See you soon. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Susan said goodbye and the call ended. She thought about what Charles said concerning Julian. He was old, but people were living longer now and anti-aging drugs were quite rejuvenating. Julian was a great inventor and considered a genius in his field. He held several patents in nanotechnology and computer science. She wondered what he was up to now. Whatever it was, she was sure Timothy was going to find it interesting. Timothy seemed to have his father’s intelligence and a high aptitude for science and math. This might be a summer activity he would enjoy and certainly learn something from. She would ask him how he felt about it at dinner.
Chapter 2
Julian Thornway was sitting at his desk, looking at his computer screen and thinking about the call with his grandson, Charles. “I hope you come, Charles, and you bring Timothy,” he said out loud to himself. He occasionally did this, more out of habit now, since his wife, Jean, died last year from an extended illness. He really had no one close to talk too now. He missed his wife. They were married 69 years and had a good marriage. Sure, there were rough spots over the years, but they worked through them. They were happy and had one child, Andrew, who died in an unfortunate car accident 5 years ago. It was tragic at the time and hard for Jean and him to live through it. But Andrew’s son, Charles, was very close and helped them accept what happened. It was life, Julian thought to himself as he scratched his head and ran his hand through his long gray hair. Life has a way of sneaking up on you and throwing surprises.
Julian turned his attention to the news of the day. He turned up the TV in the background to hear the morning news and scanned the email alerts on his computer screen. He was scanning the headlines for the latest scientific news in nanotechnology and computer systems. These were his fields of expertise while he worked for NASA. He retired twenty years ago, but he still continued his research and experiments in his own private lab, which was attached to the side of his large, spacious home built on the edge of the sand dunes in New Buffalo, Michigan. From his windows he could see the deep bluish-green color of the water in Lake Michigan. Today, the lake was calm and the wind was blowing from the west as it usually does. It looked like a nice day. Julian decided he would take a walk after he finished scanning the news.
The doorbell rang. Julian glanced at the clock on the wall. It was eleven o’clock. Maria Fields, his housekeeper, was at the door. Maria was middle-aged, slightly overweight with curly dark hair, pleasant looking face and nice manners. She came to the house five times a week to clean and make dinners Julian could eat when he wanted. Julian slowly got up from his chair using his walking cane. He went to the front door, opened it and said, “Hello, Maria. Come in. I was just getting up to go for a walk.”
“Good morning, Julian. It’s pretty out today. You’ll enjoy it. Please be careful. We don’t want you to fall and hurt yourself. You’re not as young as you think you are,” she chided him with a smile.
“I’ll be careful, Maria. How are your kids?” Maria had four children ranging in ages from 9 to 15. They attended the local schools in New Buffalo.
“Everybody is fine. You know school is out, don’t you? My two oldest are looking for summer jobs. Let me know if you have any work for them this year?”
“I will, Maria. I can always use help around the house. Maybe, they can paint the porch this year. You know how the weather wears down homes on the beach.” Julian said.
Maria walked to the kitchen and began to clean up. Julian was pretty neat around the house and he put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, but he never really cleaned the counter tops or the sinks. Maria put on her rubber gloves and went to work.
Julian decided since he was already up that it was a good time to take his walk. Even thought he will turn 100 years old this September, he felt pretty good for his age. He tried to take care of himself and exercised every day. Sometimes he just did stretching exercises in the morning. Other times he went to the gym in town. In warmer weather like today, he liked to walk down along the lake shore before he went to work in his lab. Lately though, he wasn’t feeling like his old self. He was beginning to feel a shortness of breath and he didn’t have the stamina he had only a few short weeks ago. He was also losing weight. He figured it was because of all the work he had been doing and maybe from stress. His latest project was close to completion. It would be monumental, he knew. That was one of the reasons he invited Charles to come visit him. He needed some advice.
Julian put on his wristphone and earphone. He called out to Maria, “I’m going for my walk, Maria. I’ll be back in an hour.”
Maria, replied, “Be careful, Julian. I will have lunch ready when you get back.”
Julian went out the backdoor and walked down to the beach on his stone pathway. He passed through two small sand dunes with tall grass growing in clumps protecting the dunes. It was windy down by the beach, but the sand was hard packed along the shore and easier to walk on. Julian wore a hat and sunglasses to protect his face and eyes. He knew the benefits of vitamin D and let the sun shine on his arms and legs. He looked over the water and saw several sailboats and windsurfers out on the lake. He still had a sailboat at the local harbor, but he rarely used it anymore since his wife died. Maybe he could get Charle
s to take him out on the lake one more time this summer.
As he walked along the beach he reminisced about all the times he and Jean had walked along the same path. They knew almost everybody that lived along the beach. They had many friends and they would stop and chat with everyone who was out. Today, it was quiet and Julian had not run into anyone he knew yet. Besides enjoying the weather, the walk gave him time to think about his work and what he planned to do today in his lab. He had to make a choice soon and time was running out. The next few weeks were going to be critical to the success of this new project. It would be the accumulation of years of research and trials. It would be the crowning glory of his life’s work. The only problem was, would the world congratulate him on his achievement or curse him. It would be controversial at least and a pivotal event in human development at most. Many people would accept the results, mostly educated people, scientists and informed educators. But alas, many people would reject the development, mostly uneducated people, conservative thinkers and many religious factions. Whatever the outcome, it was time to introduce his latest invention to the world. It was now or never, Julian knew.
Julian walked half a mile up the beach, turned around and headed back with the rising sun in this face. He had made his decision. He was old and his time was nearly up. He had achieved important things in his life with the skills he possessed. He considered seeking out medical advice and starting anti-aging therapy to extend his life for another 25 years. The treatment was expensive and probably would work. He had given it careful thought since Jean had died. But now there was another alternative. As a scientist and inventor, he felt he should pursue this new frontier. It was just as risky, but it held great potential for the future of mankind. His mind was made up. It was time to prepare.