Part 15 (2/2)

”Some call it survival, Tamara. Maybe it is that simple. j.a.pan is at a crossroads; we're rapidly losing our edge in the cost of labor. The only possible way to counter that is to step up our use of smart machines.”

”Well, it looks as if I came to the right place. I'd like to add your name to my interview list.”

His look darkened a moment. ”Strictly off the record.” Then he smiled.

”And only if we can do it over dinner.”

”That sounds like a bribe.”

”Call it an offering from an old admirer.” He smiled, attempting to ease the tension. ”The most I can do, for now at least, is just give you a small peek at a few of our experimental gadgets. Details are strictly proprietary. At the moment we're concentrating on computer vision and voice access. And on that last, by the way, I think we've just about reached AI's Holy Grail, natural language comprehension.”

”Good luck.” That was one of the mythical dreams of AI research, a computer that could understand the speech of anybody who happened along. Even though millions had been invested in the U.S. n.o.body was anywhere close yet.

”I think we're getting there. Enough so in fact that we're starting to look at applications. Expect commercialization in, oh, say a year, two at most.”

Look out IBM, she found herself thinking.

”I probably shouldn't be showing you this, Tamara. So let's just keep this informal. No notes. But here, have a look at one of MITI's new toys. Can you guess what this is?” He pa.s.sed over a small device that had been sitting on his desk, his hand lingering on hers a moment longer than absolutely necessary.

She stared down at what appeared to be some kind of calculator-watch, except there was no watch face, merely a small speaker and two b.u.t.tons.

”That uses advanced versions of MITI's new 64-megabit memory chips.

There's nothing like it anywhere in the world. Without ever having heard the speaker's voice before, no calibration, it can translate ordinary spoken English into j.a.panese.” He pointed to one of the b.u.t.tons. ”Just press there

and talk. When you finish, push the other b.u.t.ton for the translation.”

She did, testing it with the opening paragraph of Pride and Prejudice, her favorite novel. A simulated voice emerged from the small speaker on the face of the device and gave it back . . . in flawless j.a.panese.

”Not bad.” She set it carefully onto the desk. The thing was actually almost frightening.

”Using this, linked to our new high-definition video and satellite, you could punch a b.u.t.ton in your living room and bring up people on a wall- size screen from anywhere in the world, then talk to them in your language and be understood in theirs. It's a quantum advance over current technology.” He retrieved the device, dropping it into a desk drawer.

”I must admit I'm very impressed.”

”Truthfully, so am I. Where's this program of MITI's taking us?” He looked up. ”But let me show you something else, which I think is even more astonis.h.i.+ng. Of course you're aware that speech comprehension is easy compared to the really tough nut, duplicating the human eye. Since a visual image can contain billions of pieces of information, it can be very time-consuming for a computer to a.n.a.lyze all those at once and figure out what it's looking at. I've heard people at IBM claim that for a computer to recognize something even as simple as an odd-shaped coffee cup would still require almost an hour of processing, that to match the human eye and brain could take a computer the size of a building. But watch.”

He walked over to a black metal installation attached to the wall and held up three fingers before its small lens. Then he pushed a b.u.t.ton and spoke into a built-in microphone.

”What do you see?”

She started to reply herself, then realized he was talking to the lens.

This time the answer took about ten seconds. Finally a voice in pa.s.sable simulation of the Tokyo dialect emerged from a gray speaker beneath the lens. ”That is a human hand.”

”How many fingers does this hand have?” he continued.

Again the eerie, disembodied voice. ”The normal human hand has five fingers. This appears to have only three.”

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