G's Future

by Don Viecelli

  “I don’t know, G. When people find out about this, it could be just as upsetting as when they found out about you.”

  “Perhaps, but it would have happened soon, whether your great grandfather did it or someone else. Scientists have been scanning and mapping the human brain for years. We just took the process to its next logical step.”

  “We can’t keep this a secret for long, G. The news people will find out about it.”

  “Do not worry, Timothy. Julian will handle the news media. They no longer bother us like they did at first. It will be the same with Jacob. It’s time for you to go to bed. I will stay with your great grandfather until he wakes up.”

  Timothy went to his room and prepared for bed. G finished cleaning up the patio and returned to the house. He locked all the doors and entered Julian’s bedroom. Jacob was sitting in a chair beside the bed. He nodded to G as he sat down in another chair. They both went into standby mode to conserve battery power.

  Julian awoke early in the morning. The clock said 6:05 a.m. He felt rested, but it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. The sun would not rise for another hour. He caught a glimpse of two figures in the room sitting beside his bed. He knew who they were and just waited for a response.

  “You are awake, Julian.” Jacob confirmed quietly. “How do you feel?” G was alert, but remained silent.

  Julian cleared the cobwebs from his mind. The voice was familiar. “I feel fine. You sound like me many years ago. Can I call you Jacob?”

  “Yes, you may call me Jacob. We share the same memories after all.”

  Everything sounded normal, but Julian wanted to be sure. “Tell me what you remember about my life.”

  “You were born in Detroit, Michigan one hundred years ago in September. You grew up on a farm. Your mother was a teacher. You were the younger of two other siblings, both deceased. You had an argument with your parents about becoming a scientist instead of a doctor when you were in high school. You went to Michigan State University, then on to MIT for graduate work before working and retiring from NASA. You were married and had one child, Andrew who married Ann. Andrew was killed in a car accident five years ago. Your wife, Jean, passed away two years ago and you miss her terribly. You recently had a heart attack and decided not to get a heart transplant. Your grandson and his family are here visiting. I have all your memories. I know everything you know. I am you, until I woke up in the lab. Do you want me to continue?”

  Julian knew the mind scan worked. He could tell by the tone of the android’s voice. It was like hearing himself speak. As a scientist, he knew he would have to run more tests, but he knew the brain scan worked as it was designed. “No, you can stop. We will discuss more about this later. Before I fell asleep, I felt like I was dreaming and reliving my life during the scanning process. I suspected that would happen. I don’t believe I lost anything. Do you think you recorded all my memories?”

  “I can remember everything from the time I was two years old. I remember every detail of our life. Every memory is available to me, even what you may have forgotten. I have total recall of our life.”

  “What can you tell me about your brain functions, Jacob?”

  “My brain can think much faster than yours. I also have much more capacity to store information than a human brain. I have the same thinking capabilities as G. Our intelligence level may be the same, except I understand what human feelings are from your experiences. I am not sure how this will affect me over time.”

  “I am glad you have my memories and the same thinking abilities as G, Jacob. You can continue my work after I am gone. You will be able to help G explore the universe. You know how I feel about these things. It may be difficult for you. Some people will not understand what you are or what you can do. G can help you with this. My family will help as well, I am sure. Let me rest some more before I get up. I need to discuss what we have done with the rest of my family. Then I will introduce you to our family.”

  Julian rested for another hour before he got out of bed. He was still weak from his hospital stay, but he did feel much better today. He completed his morning routine and dressed comfortably for the day. Susan was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the family by the time he sat down. “Good morning, Julian. How do you feel?” she asked as she finished making coffee.

  Julian rested his cane beside his chair. “I feel better today. Thank you for making breakfast.”

  “Do you want some coffee? I can make you some eggs if you want,” Susan offered.

  “I would love some coffee. I will wait for the others to join us for breakfast. I have something to tell all of you and it would be easier if everyone was here so I don’t have to explain myself twice.”

  Susan looked at Julian with concern. “Is everything okay, Julian?”

  “Nothing to worry about, Susan. Timothy already knows what it is from last night. Just a new project G and I were working on before I got sick.”

  Susan did not respond. She just looked at Julian with a curious expression. Whatever it was, it was going to be something she wasn’t expecting. It always was with Julian. She decided to wait for the news and just pored herself a cup of coffee.

  Chapter 25

  The next year passed swiftly. G entered the NASA astronaut training program in September at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Normally, astronauts need two years of intensive training to become pilots or mission specialists. G’s training would be fast tracked to last one year for both specialties because of his special abilities and for the fact he would be the only astronaut sent on this one-way mission. The spaceship he would take to the stars would be capable of automatic piloting and would be preprogrammed to travel to the first star system with extrasolar planets or exoplanets for exploring. G’s tasks were to monitor, record and report back all details about the planets and their suitability for human life. G’s journey would last until G’s spaceship or G could no longer function.

  NASA considered other possibilities for G. For example, G’s spaceship would be able to travel at 20% of the speed of light with its nuclear powered drive system. It will take up to twenty-one years to reach the first exoplanet thought to be orbiting Proxima Centauri, 4.2 light years from the sun. It may be possible for a newer spaceship with a future drive system to travel twice as fast or even faster and catch up to G’s spaceship by the time he reached the first exoplanet. In that case, G’s journey could be extended further or longer depending on G’s status or wishes. This was a new frontier for NASA and they would remain flexible to accommodate whatever situation was encountered.

  In the middle of G’s training, Julian died suddenly from a massive heart attack at his home. It was not unexpected. Julian’s doctor and family tried their best to get Julian to change his mind about the heart transplant. Julian refused. He repeatedly explained to them that he had experienced a remarkable life, but did not wish to extend his life through extraordinary means. Besides, they had Jacob now and Jacob would continue Julian’s work, which was becoming legendary.

  Jacob presented a whole new set of issues for the world to resolve. For one thing, the legal system did not know how to treat his existence. He was not human, but he had all the human memories of his creator. What legal rights, human or otherwise, was he due? Julian’s estate planning included a trust fund to allow Jacob to continue Julian’s work, but it really was not necessary. Jacob’s new inventions and patents provided all the money he would ever need. For the most part, the advancement of machine intelligence had created new opportunities for humans to evolve to the next level and merge machine capabilities with biology.

  Over the next six months, G kept in touch with Timothy and Jacob using the latest communication methods and tools. Jacob had made breakthroughs in one invention after another in the field of long distance laser communications that NASA found extremely useful.

  In October of the following year, Charles received notice that G was scheduled for liftoff in two weeks. His entire famil
y and Jacob were invited to watch the event in Florida with NASA officials. Timothy was both delighted and apprehensive for G. Whatever happens, Timothy knew it would be his last chance to see G again before he left Earth for good.

  After school Timothy went over to Johnny and Amy’s house to tell them the news. He and Amy were seeing quite a lot of each other since school started. They were both a year older and Timothy was much more comfortable in her presence. Amy had become very popular in the new high school they both attended. Because of G and Jacob, Timothy’s family was well known in the community and closely followed on the social networking sites. Amy met Timothy at the door. “Come in, Timothy. Johnny says you have news about G.”

  Timothy followed her into the house and announced, “G is taking off on his space journey in two weeks. We’ve been invited to Florida by NASA to watch the liftoff.”

  “Wow. That’ll be exciting. You’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

  Johnny showed up behind his sister and heard the news. “Are you flying or driving to Florida?” he asked.

  “We’re flying. Jacob will join us at the airport in Chicago. I can’t wait to see G.”

  “It still feels weird about Jacob and your Great Grandpa.” Johnny said.

  “I know. When Great Grandpa died, I knew I would miss him a lot. But Jacob is so much like him; it’s hard to believe they’re not the same person.”

  “We’re studying the legal and moral issues of thinking robots in our Humanities class this semester,” Amy said as she brushed hair from her face. “Our teacher says this will affect about every aspect of our lives in the future. It’s very interesting.”

  “I never thought any of this could happen,” Johnny added. “And your family is in the middle of it all. Come on, let’s go downstairs. I got a cool game to show you. We can use the new headbands G invented. It’s so much easier to play now.”

  *****

  Two weeks later, Charles, Susan, Timothy, Kate and Jacob were in Florida staying at a nice motel not far from the Kennedy Space Center. They were invited to the Visitor Complex to get a guided tour inside the Vehicle Assembly Building where G’s rocket was assembled for launch. Last by not least, they were able to have lunch with G and get their pictures taken. G was dressed in his NASA astronaut uniform and looked great.

  Timothy was so happy to see and talk to G in person again after so many months. The last time Timothy saw G was at Julian’s funeral back in Michigan. “Are you excited to begin your journey, G?” Timothy asked as they walked around the building for the last time.

  G stopped and faced Timothy. “I am ready to leave. There is so much to do and see. I will miss you and your family. I have learned so many things from all of you.”

  “We’ll miss you too, G. Jacob says we’ll be able to talk to you anytime we want. Is that true?”

  “Yes. Jacob has developed a new communication method that will allow me to communicate with anyone I wish. We will always be in touch.”

  Timothy held out his hand for G to shake. “I know we will meet again in the future, G. I will be a lot older, but I just know it.” Timothy had tears in his eyes.

  Instead of shaking Timothy’s hand, G smiled and hugged him for the first time. Timothy was surprised, but for G it was a good feeling.

  The next day at noon, Charles, Susan, Timothy, Kate and Jacob were sitting with NASA officials in the stands as the sleek, new space rocket blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex not too far away. The news media was touting the fact that this journey would be much more important to mankind than the first human Mars expedition planned for the following year. G’s journey offered hope for two reasons; one, it would find suitable planets for humans to colonize in the not-too-distant future; and two, it would find proof of alien existence sooner or later.

  The ten second countdown began and the crowd around Timothy joined in. A great roar from the rocket engines filled the air. The ground shook and the seats started vibrating. Everyone was on their feet as the rocket blasted off from the launch pad. The billowing smoke from the rocket engines dissipated as the spaceship quickly climbed high into the clear blue sky. Jacob turned to Timothy and said, “G is finally on his journey. Julian would be proud of him.”

  “I know, Jacob. I miss Great Grandpa, but I’m glad you’re here. I wish I could talk to G again. I miss him already.”

  Jacob looked at Timothy and smiled. “That will never be a problem, Timothy.” He pointed to the phone in Timothy’s hand.

  Timothy looked down. G’s smiling face appeared on the screen. He said, “I am off!”

  The End.

  Acknowledgement:

  This book would not have been possible without reading Ray Kurzweil’s book The Singularity Is Near.

  Raymond Kurzweil is an inventor and a futurist who predicts the future of artificial intelligence in his book. The subtitle of this book is When Humans Transcend Biology.

  In Chapter Three Mr. Kurzweil foretells when Achieving the Computational Capacity of the Human Brain will occur. He says it will happen when personal computing exceeds the computational capacity of the human brain; around 1019 computations per second (cps). And when will this be, you may ask? Mr. Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, “The nonbiological intelligence created in that year will be one billion times more powerful that all human intelligence today.” In other words, Singularity will have arrived.

  What amazes me after reading Chapter Three is that machine intelligence may reach 1029 cps or more by the year 2030. That is one fast computer— and not so very far in our future.

  So the next obvious question we should ask ourselves is how different is the human brain from a computer? If a computer is just as smart as a human brain, why can’t it think like a human brain? When machine capacity, memory and parallel processing power reach the same capability as a human brain, an intelligent machine should become sentient and self-aware. It should be able to think like a human. I believe that is entirely possible.

  What about you? Do you think this is possible?

  Time will tell.

  Except From G’s Future – The Journey, Part 2

  Chapter 1

  Something did not seem right. G looked at Timothy and saw him smiling. Timothy’s friends, Johnny and Amy, were splashing water on each other in the lake. They were all at Timothy’s Great Grandfather Julian Thornway’s estate on Lake Michigan. It was summer; the weather warm and sunny. The water felt cool and wet on G’s hands. He looked closely at the dripping water and wondered why the drops were expanding. As G watched, the drops became large bubbles and started to float away toward the sun. G could see rainbow colors inside the bubbles and then he noticed he was floating above the water. He felt weightless and this did not make sense. The lights around him became brighter. He heard a noise and opened his eyes. He had been dreaming.

  G turned off a control timer and quickly checked his internal sensors. All seemed well. He looked about the spaceship. He was in the control cabin. Green LCD lights on the control panels were showing normal status indicators. How long had he been out? He checked the readouts—six months. That checked with his instructions before he put himself into standby mode. It was time to get up from his control chair.

  The ship’s control cabin was small, only 10 meters in diameter by 15 meters long. It was located at the front of the spaceship and contained two medium sized windows that allowed forward viewing. G was sitting in the single control chair, which could swivel to face the control panels in front and on both sides. G unfastened his safety belts and got out of the chair.

  Gravity was nil. G did not need it since he was a machine with android features. Although his body was built out of special metals and synthetic materials, his brain was unique. It was designed to process information in a similar manner as a human brain with the same type of reasoning capabilities. The result was a new kind of sentience. G was the first of his kind and many humans did not believe what he could do was possible. G would disagree with them and
each day of his existence seemed to enhance his ability to think and feel emotions. He could even dream and his dreams were becoming more vivid each time he went into standby mode.

  G moved his arms and legs in zero gravity and read his sensors again. All his moving parts were operating normally. G was not expecting any problems with his mechanics since he was built to last at least 150 years without replacement parts. Satisfied with his readings, he remotely accessed the communication panel and watched as the screen above the panel scrolled through all his messages from Mission Control over the last six months. As he read each message and the automated response from the ship’s computer, he noted that the last message was dated and sent approximately 4 light-years ago. He was getting close to his destination.

  G checked his ship speed and travel time. He was now traveling at 3.6 trillion miles per year—over 300 percent faster than when he first blasted off from Earth. This ship was built with the latest nuclear fusion power system. It was moving at 60 percent of the speed of light. G was now at the 16.5 year mark of space travel. This was his second ship. NASA had sent a faster spaceship 6.5 years ago. Traveling at 60 percent of the speed of light, the new ship had taken only five years to catch up with G’s first ship at the 15 year mark. Instead of taking 20.6 years to reach his destination, it was now only going to take 16.9 years. G was getting very close to the first star system on his journey, which is Proxima Centauri 4.2 light-years from Earth.

  G looked at the last message from Mission Control. The message was from Jacob, his nearly identical robot friend built by the same brilliant creator, Julian Thornway, the retired NASA scientist and Timothy’s Great Grandfather who created both robots before he died. Julian invented G as the first robot with advanced human intelligence capability that passed the Allan M. Turing test in Chicago and conclusively proved that G possessed the general intelligence factor commonly known as ‘g’. The plan was to prove G could think like a human mind and be used on a NASA government project to send an unmanned spaceship to the stars. Thus, G was sent on his journey 16.5 years ago to explore the heavens, see if life existed on other planets and find other habitable worlds humans could colonize.