Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 143 The Ark of Technology (5k)

On December 25th, the front page headlines of all major newspapers featured the black machine from the New York Christmas party the previous night.

Ralph Fox is seen sitting opposite an empty chair with a huge machine box behind him, a scene that became one of the most classic photos of the 60s.

Last night, at the New York Mathematicians' Christmas party in Manhattan, a unique human-computer chess match attracted much attention. Deep Blue, a chess program recently developed by IBM with assistance from Randolph Lin, defeated Professor Ralph Fox, head of the Department of Mathematics at Columbia University. This event marks a breakthrough in the field of intellectual competition using computer technology.

The game took place at a Christmas party for mathematicians in New York, which gathered a large number of top mathematicians. IBM's Deep Blue, a program running on the company's latest computer system, is said to be able to analyze the game and make decisions using complex algorithms. Deep Blue turned the tide with a series of precise moves, ultimately forcing Professor Fox to resign.

"This is an opponent I've never seen before," Professor Fox said. "Every move it made was incredibly precise, but if there's a next time, I'm confident I can win."

Professor Lin stated that the real deciding factor in the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union was not who landed on the moon first, but who developed a sufficiently powerful artificial intelligence program first.

And without a doubt, America has now taken the lead.

"Follow-up report preview: The New York Times' exclusive interview with Professor Randolph Lin will be published tomorrow, which will further report on the story behind Deep Blue, as well as Randolph Lin's views on the technological singularity, the Cold War, and the Soviet Union. Please look forward to the follow-up report."

National newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal rushed to report on it.

The news that Deep Blue was going to open in Times Square, New York, and that people could buy tickets to experience playing against artificial intelligence swept across the United States like a Category 12 hurricane.

Especially after the New York Times published the full interview Jenny did with Lin Ran on its front page, it seemed as if overnight all Americans knew what computers and artificial intelligence were.

Everyone is discussing whether Lin Ran's statement that the Cold War was won not by space exploration but by artificial intelligence is true or not.

This is true for ordinary people, and even more so for science fiction writers.

After Philip K. Dick signed a long-term contract with Avon Books.

Thanks to Avon Books' promotion and the publication of "The Man in the High Castle," Philip K. Dick went from an unknown science fiction writer in California to a writer with some fame throughout the United States.

"The Man in the High Castle" even sold overseas, becoming the only science fiction novel to be sold in China that year.

This Christmas, he took his wife Anne and daughter Laura on a plane to New York.

It wasn't a trip, but work. His book, "The Truman Show," co-authored with Lin Ran, was about to be released, and Avon Books chose to hold a book signing event for him in New York on New Year's Day, 1964.

Lin Ran wouldn't be able to organize any autograph session for you, so only Philip came.

Before boarding his flight to New York, Philip consulted a fortune teller, who predicted great fortune.

good luck.

On the United Airlines Boeing 707 jet, just by seeing all the newspapers on board discussing Lin Ran and Shen Lan, Philip knew that this trip to New York would definitely be a huge hit.

Avon Books has already come up with promotional materials for the novel adapted from Randolph Lin's Dream.

Nothing else is needed, just this one point, and selling five million copies won't be a problem.

"Daddy, I want to see Deep Blue when we go to New York this time!" Laura exclaimed, looking at the futuristic photos in the newspaper.

“Okay, I’ll definitely go,” Philip K. Dick said.

His wife, Anne, was curious about the matter itself: "Do you think this is true?"

Anne refers to the winner in the machine game.

Philip K. Dick stared at Lin Ran's eyes in the New York Times interview, trying to figure out what this most high-profile scholar really wanted.

Everyone has needs.

From the most basic clothing and food to spiritual fulfillment.

People of different social statuses certainly have different needs, but it is certain that everyone has needs.

As a writer, Philip K. Dick called this motivation.

Every character in a story must have a motive before taking any action.

Although he uses divination to assign actions to the characters, the actions still need to be motivated sufficiently.

"So, Professor, what is your motive?" Philip wondered to himself.

A moment later he realized that Annie was asking him a question, “Oh, you mean deep blue? It must be real.”

IBM is going to showcase it to the public, so how could it be fake?

Besides, if it were true or false, the reporters at the scene would have already questioned it.

Anne was used to Philip doing this.

"But do you think artificial intelligence is really as powerful as the professor says, and can it replace human scientists?" Annie continued.

Philip thought for a moment: "In the long run, sooner or later machines will be able to do it."

But whether this "long term" is ten, twenty, fifty, or even several hundred years, nobody knows.

After getting off the plane, Philip K. Dick was surprised to find that John Miller had come to pick him up in person.

John Miller is a senior executive of the Hearst family. After Hearst acquired Avon Books, he was transferred to Avon Books as CEO and was responsible for purging Avon Books' original management team.

“Congratulations, Mr. Dick,” John Miller said after giving him a big hug.

Philip K. Dick didn't know why he was so happy.

“Mr. Miller, congratulations?” Philip Dick asked.

John Miller said, "Your book signing was originally scheduled to be held at Hearst Tower, but because of Ms. Jenny, after communicating with IBM, the book signing for 'The Truman Show' will be held at the Times Square Theater."

John Miller continued, "That's the current Deep Blue Gallery."

Its fan-shaped auditorium is used for exhibitions, and the rear hall afterward is available for you to hold autograph sessions.

The professor's name is on the cover of the book; I'm sure it will sell extremely well, and the numbers will be astonishing.

John Miller was in charge of purging Avon Books' original executive team.

What do we rely on for cleansing? Results.

Poaching Philip K. Dick is hardly an achievement.

With Avon Books' marketing resources and sales network, making Philip K. Dick a somewhat well-known science fiction writer was hardly an achievement.

Just basic operations.

The fact that Lin Ran's first novel was published and sold like hotcakes is definitely a great achievement.

After John Miller finished speaking, he took out a "ticket" from his pocket and handed it to Philip. "Mr. Dick, this is a Deep Blue game ticket. After the book signing, you can go and try playing against the machine."

Philip took the "ticket," a dark blue ticket with black lines forming a swirling pattern. It only had the word "dark blue" written on it, and the number in the upper right corner was: No. 1984.

“This ticket costs $50. If you beat Deep Blue, it’s like winning $50 back directly from IBM,” John Miller joked.

The price of $50 is very high.

The purpose is to attract chess players who consider themselves to be the best to participate.

After all, there's only one Deep Blue machine, and it's impossible to provide it for everyone to play chess on.

After a night's rest, the next day was January 1, 1963, the first day of the year.

Philip arrived early in the morning with his wife and daughter in an Avon Books chauffeur service at the former Times Square theater, which had been transformed into the Deep Blue Exhibition Hall.

The entire theater, from its exterior to its interior, is decorated with dark blue and black lines to create an eerie atmosphere.

The eeriness was amplified by the combination of the ticket and the eeriness itself.

It's not that it's unattractive; this Klein blue is definitely a top-tier color scheme right now.

The lines themselves are also full of artistic beauty.

However, the blue-black color is too avant-garde, and the aesthetic you experience from it is completely different from what you would normally feel.

"Isn't it special? This was specially commissioned by IBM to Stanley Kubrick."

As Philip K. Dick gazed at the completely renovated building, the entrance was lined with a dense crowd of New Yorkers eager to see what was going on.

A familiar voice rang in his ears.

Philip turned his head and saw that Jenny had appeared beside him at some point.

"Miss Jenny, you're here too. Where's the professor?"

Philip asked, wondering why the professor wasn't there.

He had previously met these two people, a man and a woman, who were of similar status and had a somewhat ambiguous relationship, in the conference room of Avon Books.

"Randolph put forward a completely new concept of the technological singularity and the key to victory in the Cold War. The White House has asked him to return to Washington immediately for a meeting. If I'm not mistaken, he should be in the Oval Office by now," Jenny said casually.

“Oh.” Philip nodded, then continued talking about the renovated building in front of him: “Stanley? That name sounds familiar.”

Jenny nodded and said, "A director who has made many works."

IBM felt he was a good fit, and after learning about Deep Blue and Randolph's ideas on the technological singularity and artificial intelligence, he expressed a strong desire to cooperate.

Later, the design he provided was the one that most impressed Randolph. Therefore, IBM chose him.

Stanley's most famous work is 2001: A Space Odyssey, published in 1968, which is a timeless classic in the hearts of countless science fiction fans.

Because "The Truman Show" is about to be released, not only is Lin Ran credited, but the parents of the main characters have also been changed to Randolph and Jenny.

This put Jenny in a good mood.

She continued, "This building is the Deep Blue Exhibition Hall, but its proper name should be the Technology Ark."

He hoped to create an inhuman, mechanized atmosphere by combining the cool tones of Klein blue with the stark lines of black, suggesting that deep blue transcends human emotion.

Klein Blue was invented by Klein in 1958, and in May 1960, a patent for the paint was registered with the French National Institute of Industrial Research under the name International Klein Blue.

Stanley immediately chose Klein Blue from among dozens of shades of blue.

They naturally didn't have to queue like ordinary citizens, but because they arrived early, they didn't have time to watch the game between humans and Deep Blue.

I only glanced at the fan-shaped auditorium briefly.

A huge machine, an empty stage with only two seats and a transparent box. Inside the box are densely packed circuits and mechanics, and on top of the box are chess pieces and a chessboard.

In the Technology Ark, the boxes were made transparent with glass to avoid any speculation from viewers that human chess players were hiding inside controlling the pieces.

Another reason is to highlight the sense of technology.

"How is it?" Jenny asked.

Philip's wife, Anne, said, "I feel the whole design is a bit too cold."

The stark contrast between black and blue instilled a sense of awe in me.

I was just thinking about it, and in such an environment, if I were to witness machines defeating humans, I would develop a deeper sense of awe for technology.

This led to the impression that IBM was a high-tech company.

I don't know if this is the effect IBM wanted to achieve.

America's tech companies have a long history of advertising, dating back to the 18th century.

Philip added: "This design is an attempt to present deep blue as a sublime and awe-inspiring presence."

The extensive use of Klein Blue delivers a visually stunning and philosophically profound effect, while the black lines infuse the technology with a sense of order and austerity.

This feeling is very strange.

Indeed, metaphors and scenes related to chess frequently appear in Dick's novels.

For example, in Titan's Gamer, the entire story revolves around Bluff, a complex strategy game.

In works including "The Man in the High Castle," published just last year, he often uses chess-like layouts as symbolic imagery to depict the struggle between power and fate.

Standing inside the "Technology Ark," Philip felt his mind was about to explode with inspiration.

He had so many ideas popping into his head, and he was determined to stay at the "Technology Ark" until the outline of the story was clear before returning to California.

He was no longer the same person he was last year; he was no longer short of money and could easily afford to stay in New York for several months or even a year.

After the "Technology Ark" opened to the public, Philip K. Dick's book signings also began.

Because his autograph session was at the exit.

The signing session never stopped from beginning to end.

Philip K. Dick had originally planned to take a break and go to the fan-shaped auditorium when no one was around to have a look around.

As a result, he simply didn't have the time.

They don't even have time to eat; at most, they can only have a sip of water.

As the audience left, they saw that there were books for sale, and that it was an adaptation of Randolph's Dream, so they had no choice but to buy a copy just for that reason alone.

Some rednecks even mistook Philip for Randolph.

After he signed Philip K. Dick, the other party asked him, "Aren't you Randolph?"
His staff had to help him explain.

Even after I explained, the other party still refused to agree.

He implied that he wanted Philip K. Dick to sign Randolph Lin's name on the title page of the book.

The Technology Ark exhibitions are held in batches.

If one person who bought a game ticket goes in, then a group of people will be allowed to go in together.

After the game ended, they left together.

This venue, which can accommodate more than a thousand people, received more than ten thousand people today.

Of course, there are also people who queue up repeatedly.

The venue closed at seven o'clock, and Philip K. Dick vigorously relaxed his wrist.

This was an experience he had never had before.

I've held book signings before, and I've only managed to sign around a hundred books at most.

We actually signed several thousand books today.

Fortunately, Avon Books provided him with a stamp.

Except for the first half hour, the rest of the time was spent stamping the title page with a seal.

Otherwise, Philip felt like he was going to die from exhaustion.

Accompanied by staff from the Technology Ark and his wife and daughter, he once again visited the fan-shaped auditorium.

"Daddy, you don't know how amazing Deep Blue is. Today, their win rate exceeded 70%. Out of the 20 matches played, only 6 people won."

Five of these six people are professional chess players. Laura and Philip recounted their observations of the day.

It's hard for young children to imagine that machines are so powerful.

"Actually, our estimate is fifty percent."

"A 70% win rate is a bit beyond our expectations," an IBM staff member explained.

"However, the win rate will definitely decrease gradually afterward."

After Deep Blue's capabilities are reported, the players coming to the game will definitely become stronger and stronger.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult for Deep Blue to win," the staff member continued.

Philip countered, "But Deep Blue will also become stronger, won't it?"

The staff member nodded: "Of course, but this will take time."

We anticipate a major upgrade to Deep Blue in 1965, just over a year from now.

Our goal is to defeat professional chess players.

"That's when the game between machines and humans will become even more interesting."

Rarely having the opportunity to consult with professionals, Philip asked a few extra questions for the sake of his writing inspiration: "When do you think machines will be able to completely defeat humans in the field of chess?"

"The boss means to achieve this goal before 70 years ago," the staff member said. "However, a conservative estimate is that it might take until 75 years."

Philip seemed thoughtful, then asked, "Did Stanley explain his design philosophy to you regarding the entire venue design?"

The staff member said, "His design plan is to guide the audience to experience the narrative through space. The blue mist at the entrance symbolizes the unknown, the black chessboard in the core exhibition area symbolizes the game, and the bright lights at the exit symbolize reflection."

That's roughly it.

Actually, I think it's a bit strange; it feels like a scene from a horror movie.

Philip felt the same way, but when he sat in the very center of the fan-shaped auditorium, looking at the machines, chairs, and chessboard on the stage...

And on the left is the number 14:6.
14 represents the number of times the machine won, while 6 represents the number of times a human won.

On the right are the names of the players, and the staff member added at the appropriate time: "The names of the human players who defeated Deep Blue are on the right."

We have their contact information, and we will invite them to participate in the challenge when the second-generation Deep Blue is launched.

If Deep Blue wins, their names will be removed.

IBM's ultimate goal was to remove all human names from this wall.

After listening, Philip didn't find the building itself terrifying. He thought Lin Ran's judgment was correct: sooner or later, machines would defeat humans in all aspects.

The core members of the Kennedy administration were all gathered in the Oval Office of the White House.

The first question everyone asked was:
"Professor, do you really believe that the deciding factor in the Cold War was artificial intelligence, rather than the space race?"

(End of this chapter)