1 00:00:01,877 --> 00:00:03,343 NARRATOR: FOR MOST OF OUR HISTORY, 2 00:00:03,443 --> 00:00:05,943 WE HUMANS CONSIDERED OURSELVES UNIQUE. 3 00:00:06,043 --> 00:00:08,676 OUR ABILITY TO SHAPE THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 4 00:00:08,777 --> 00:00:12,109 SET US APART FROM ALL OTHER ANIMALS. 5 00:00:12,209 --> 00:00:16,109 BUT NOW, A NEW, ARTIFICIAL SPECIES 6 00:00:16,209 --> 00:00:20,376 MIGHT CHALLENGE OUR SUPERIORITY. 7 00:00:20,476 --> 00:00:23,076 MECHANICAL BEINGS HAVE THE POTENTIAL 8 00:00:23,176 --> 00:00:25,877 TO CHANGE EVERYTHING. 9 00:00:25,977 --> 00:00:28,376 HOW WE GOT THEM IS A STORY 10 00:00:28,476 --> 00:00:31,343 OF ASTONISHING TWISTS AND AMAZING TURNS. 11 00:00:31,443 --> 00:00:34,143 IT WOULD TAKE AN ANCIENT GREEK LEGEND 12 00:00:34,243 --> 00:00:38,143 AND A CHANCE CONVERSATION IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL, 13 00:00:38,243 --> 00:00:40,676 A CHILD SHELTERED FROM THE EXCESSES 14 00:00:40,777 --> 00:00:42,443 OF HER FAMOUS FATHER, 15 00:00:42,543 --> 00:00:45,543 AND A MISSION TO MARS, 16 00:00:45,643 --> 00:00:48,777 A DISASTER AT SEA, 17 00:00:48,877 --> 00:00:51,510 AND A CUBIST PAINTER 18 00:00:51,610 --> 00:00:54,743 TO GIVE US THE MACHINE THAT MAY TURN OUT TO BE THE MOST 19 00:00:54,843 --> 00:00:58,877 REVOLUTIONARY TECHNOLOGY EVER CONCEIVED--THE ROBOT. 20 00:01:01,343 --> 00:01:02,443 THESE ARE THE INVENTIONS 21 00:01:02,543 --> 00:01:04,109 THAT DEFINE OUR AGE 22 00:01:04,209 --> 00:01:06,843 AND HAVE CHANGED OUR WORLD FOREVER, 23 00:01:06,943 --> 00:01:11,076 THAT ALLOWED US TO MOVE BOTH ON THE GROUND AND IN THE AIR, 24 00:01:11,176 --> 00:01:13,810 TO CONNECT AND TO EXPLORE 25 00:01:13,910 --> 00:01:16,276 THE FURTHEST REGIONS OF THE UNIVERSE, 26 00:01:16,376 --> 00:01:19,343 EACH A MOMENT OF INGENUITY, 27 00:01:19,443 --> 00:01:21,410 OF WONDER... 28 00:01:21,510 --> 00:01:22,810 OH! 29 00:01:24,576 --> 00:01:27,176 NARRATOR: OF BREAKTHROUGH. 30 00:01:41,510 --> 00:01:44,410 NARRATOR: TODAY, ROBOTS ARE EVERYWHERE, 31 00:01:44,510 --> 00:01:47,410 EVEN IN MUSIC VIDEOS. 32 00:01:47,510 --> 00:01:50,010 THEY BUILD CARS, 33 00:01:50,109 --> 00:01:53,710 ELECTRONICS, ANYTHING YOU CAN THINK OF. 34 00:01:55,710 --> 00:01:58,676 WHILE SOME ARE BUILT TO ENTERTAIN, 35 00:01:58,777 --> 00:02:03,743 ALL EXPLORE THE LIMITS OF WHAT A MECHANICAL SYSTEM CAN ACHIEVE. 36 00:02:03,843 --> 00:02:07,743 BUT THE AGE OF THE ROBOT IS JUST BEGINNING. 37 00:02:07,843 --> 00:02:09,743 MAN: WHERE WE ARE WITH ROBOTS TODAY IS PROBABLY 38 00:02:09,843 --> 00:02:13,010 ABOUT WHERE WE WERE WITH COMPUTERS IN THE 1950s. 39 00:02:13,109 --> 00:02:18,576 ♪ 40 00:02:18,676 --> 00:02:21,610 WE KNEW THE BASIC CONCEPTS, WE'VE BUILT SOME, 41 00:02:21,710 --> 00:02:23,109 THEY PERFORMED SOME FUNCTIONS, 42 00:02:23,209 --> 00:02:26,109 BUT WE'RE ONLY STARTING TO EXPLORE THE POSSIBILITY 43 00:02:26,209 --> 00:02:28,643 OF OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THIS KIND OF MACHINE. 44 00:02:30,243 --> 00:02:32,543 NARRATOR: A NEW BREED OF ROBOT IS TAKING SHAPE 45 00:02:32,643 --> 00:02:35,710 IN LABORATORIES ALL OVER THE WORLD, 46 00:02:35,810 --> 00:02:38,777 A KIND OF ROBOT THAT CAN DO MORE THAN JUST MAKE THINGS 47 00:02:38,877 --> 00:02:41,176 OR PERFORM REPETITIVE TASKS. 48 00:02:41,276 --> 00:02:42,977 HEY, iCUB. 49 00:02:43,076 --> 00:02:45,910 NARRATOR: THESE ARE ROBOTS THAT WILL INTERACT WITH US, 50 00:02:46,010 --> 00:02:48,276 BECOME OUR FRIENDS, 51 00:02:48,376 --> 00:02:50,977 OR PERHAPS OUR ENEMIES. 52 00:02:53,309 --> 00:02:55,810 MEIGS: DO WE WANT ROBOTS AS FRIENDS? 53 00:02:55,910 --> 00:02:58,576 DO WE WANT ROBOTS AS SEXUAL PARTNERS? 54 00:02:58,676 --> 00:03:00,543 DO YOU WANT A PLANE THAT FLIES ITSELF, OR DO YOU WANT 55 00:03:00,643 --> 00:03:03,610 A PLANE WITH A ROBOT PILOT SITTING IN THE PILOT'S SEAT? 56 00:03:03,710 --> 00:03:06,010 IT'S A REALLY FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION. 57 00:03:08,910 --> 00:03:10,810 I ACTUALLY THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO NEED A LOT MORE ROBOTS 58 00:03:10,910 --> 00:03:12,343 THAN PEOPLE EXPECT. 59 00:03:12,443 --> 00:03:14,343 THEY'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE AWAY JOBS. 60 00:03:14,443 --> 00:03:17,343 THEY'RE GOING TO FILL THE ROLE OF PREVIOUSLY EXPLOITED, 61 00:03:17,443 --> 00:03:19,576 LOW-COST LABOR. 62 00:03:19,676 --> 00:03:21,977 NARRATOR: THESE NEW ROBOTS WILL 63 00:03:22,076 --> 00:03:25,376 FULFILL A DREAM THAT IS SURPRISINGLY ANCIENT. 64 00:03:25,476 --> 00:03:27,743 IT BEGINS NOT HUNDREDS, 65 00:03:27,843 --> 00:03:29,843 BUT THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, 66 00:03:29,943 --> 00:03:32,943 WITH THE ANCIENT GREEKS. 67 00:03:36,243 --> 00:03:38,743 HOMER, WRITING IN 800 BC, 68 00:03:38,843 --> 00:03:41,343 TOLD THE LEGEND OF THE GREEK GOD 69 00:03:41,443 --> 00:03:43,543 OF FIRE AND CRAFTSMEN... 70 00:03:43,643 --> 00:03:44,743 [THUNDER] 71 00:03:44,843 --> 00:03:47,343 HEPHAESTUS. 72 00:03:47,443 --> 00:03:50,843 THE STORY GOES THAT, EXPELLED FROM MOUNT OLYMPUS... 73 00:03:52,043 --> 00:03:55,576 HE FORGED TWO MECHANICAL HANDMAIDENS. 74 00:03:55,676 --> 00:03:58,977 THE TALE BECAME PART OF GREEK CULTURE, AND THE IDEA 75 00:03:59,076 --> 00:04:02,910 OF HUMAN-LIKE MACHINES WITH MIRACULOUS POWERS 76 00:04:03,010 --> 00:04:05,843 WAS BORN. 77 00:04:05,943 --> 00:04:08,176 ABOUT 800 YEARS LATER, 78 00:04:08,276 --> 00:04:11,176 AN INVENTOR NAMED HERO OF ALEXANDRIA 79 00:04:11,276 --> 00:04:14,176 DECIDED TO MAKE THE DREAM COME TRUE. 80 00:04:14,276 --> 00:04:18,576 HE DESIGNED MACHINES THAT COULD PROPEL THEMSELVES ONTO A STAGE. 81 00:04:18,676 --> 00:04:21,576 FIGURINES WOULD PERFORM A SERIES OF ACTIONS, 82 00:04:21,676 --> 00:04:25,276 SUCH AS LIGHTING FIRES AND POURING WINE. 83 00:04:27,010 --> 00:04:29,910 BUT IT WAS IN THE 9th CENTURY AD, 84 00:04:30,010 --> 00:04:33,910 USING LITTLE MORE THAN WOOD, WIRES, AND THEIR OWN GENIUS, 85 00:04:34,010 --> 00:04:36,910 THAT 3 BROTHERS BUILT A MACHINE THAT WOULD LEAD 86 00:04:37,010 --> 00:04:38,943 NOT JUST TO ROBOTS, 87 00:04:39,043 --> 00:04:42,043 BUT TO THE MODERN DIGITAL AGE. 88 00:04:43,643 --> 00:04:46,743 MAN: IT HAPPENED HERE-- BAGHDAD, IN MESOPOTAMIA, 89 00:04:46,843 --> 00:04:50,743 MODERN-DAY IRAQ--AND HERE, THE HOUSE OF WISDOM, 90 00:04:50,843 --> 00:04:53,743 A LOOSE SOCIETY OF THINKERS THAT DEBATED 91 00:04:53,843 --> 00:04:56,777 AND ENCOURAGED THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE. 92 00:04:56,877 --> 00:04:59,376 THREE OF THE MEMBERS ARE BROTHERS-- 93 00:04:59,476 --> 00:05:01,343 THE BANU MUSA BROTHERS. 94 00:05:01,443 --> 00:05:04,510 THEY HAVE A PASSION FOR AUTOMATA, 95 00:05:04,610 --> 00:05:07,510 SO MUCH SO THAT THEY WROTE THIS, 96 00:05:07,610 --> 00:05:10,109 "THE BOOK OF INGENIOUS DEVICES," 97 00:05:10,209 --> 00:05:12,910 WHICH WAS THE GREATEST WORK OF ITS TIME 98 00:05:13,010 --> 00:05:15,910 ON THE SUBJECT OF AUTOMATA. 99 00:05:16,010 --> 00:05:19,109 IT DESCRIBES A HUNDRED INVENTIONS. 100 00:05:19,209 --> 00:05:22,109 SOME ARE THE WORK OF ANCIENT GREEK ENGINEERS, 101 00:05:22,209 --> 00:05:26,109 OTHERS HAD BEEN CREATED BY THE BROTHERS THEMSELVES. 102 00:05:26,209 --> 00:05:28,676 AND THEN THEY DID SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY, 103 00:05:28,777 --> 00:05:33,443 SOMETHING THAT SHONE A LIGHT FAR INTO THE FUTURE. 104 00:05:33,543 --> 00:05:37,043 THERE ALREADY EXISTED MACHINES THAT COULD PLAY TUNES, 105 00:05:37,143 --> 00:05:40,243 BUT THE BROTHERS WONDERED HOW A MACHINE MIGHT BE MADE 106 00:05:40,343 --> 00:05:44,243 THAT COULD LEARN A NEW TUNE AND REPEAT IT. 107 00:05:44,343 --> 00:05:46,843 THEY DESCRIBE THE MACHINE THEY MADE IN A TREATISE 108 00:05:46,943 --> 00:05:50,443 CALLED "THE INSTRUMENT THAT PLAYS BY ITSELF." 109 00:05:50,543 --> 00:05:53,443 IT WAS A DESCRIPTION AND DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS 110 00:05:53,543 --> 00:05:56,309 AS TO HOW IT WAS MADE. 111 00:05:56,410 --> 00:05:59,910 ONE MAN WENT LOOKING FOR THE MANUSCRIPT. 112 00:06:00,010 --> 00:06:02,977 HE DECIDED TO REMAKE THE MACHINE, 113 00:06:03,076 --> 00:06:05,376 TO PRESERVE THE MEMORY AND THE ACHIEVEMENT 114 00:06:05,476 --> 00:06:08,043 OF THE BANU MUSA BROTHERS. 115 00:06:11,510 --> 00:06:13,977 TODAY, THE MACHINE IS KEPT HERE, 116 00:06:14,076 --> 00:06:18,476 AT THE ZKM CENTER FOR ART AND MEDIA IN GERMANY. 117 00:06:21,043 --> 00:06:22,610 SO, THIS IS IT? MAN: YEP. 118 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:24,676 THAT'S A BANU MUSA MACHINE. 119 00:06:29,643 --> 00:06:31,543 SO HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU 120 00:06:31,643 --> 00:06:33,943 THAT THE MACHINE THAT YOU'VE BUILT IS 121 00:06:34,043 --> 00:06:36,943 AN ACCURATE DEPICTION OF WHAT THEY HAD PRODUCED? 122 00:06:37,043 --> 00:06:38,543 YEAH, I'M PRETTY CONFIDENT 123 00:06:38,643 --> 00:06:40,143 THAT THEY EXPLAINED EVERY DETAIL 124 00:06:40,243 --> 00:06:42,109 INTO WHY THE DETAIL SHOULD BE LIKE THAT 125 00:06:42,209 --> 00:06:44,476 AND THE PRECISE MEASUREMENT, ALSO. 126 00:06:46,309 --> 00:06:48,810 AL-KHALILI: ESSENTIALLY, WHAT THE BANU MUSA BROTHERS 127 00:06:48,910 --> 00:06:51,810 HAVE DONE IS BUILD TWO SEPARATE MACHINES. 128 00:06:51,910 --> 00:06:54,243 ONE RECORDS THE MUSIC, 129 00:06:54,343 --> 00:06:57,843 AND THEN THAT GETS TRANSFERRED TO THE SECOND MACHINE, 130 00:06:57,943 --> 00:07:00,576 WHICH ACTUALLY PLAYS IT BACK AGAIN. 131 00:07:02,977 --> 00:07:05,476 AL-KHALILI: OK, LIANG, TALK ME THROUGH HOW 132 00:07:05,576 --> 00:07:08,076 THIS PART OF THE MACHINE RECORDS THE SOUND. 133 00:07:08,176 --> 00:07:11,810 OK, COULD YOU START IT BY PRESSING THE PRETTY LITTLE BUTTON? 134 00:07:11,910 --> 00:07:13,843 AH, OK, SO THAT GETS THE DRUM MOVING, 135 00:07:13,943 --> 00:07:16,109 AND OF COURSE, WE'RE USING AN ELECTRIC MOTOR HERE. 136 00:07:16,209 --> 00:07:17,309 YES. THEY'D HAVE USED WATER PRESSURE. 137 00:07:17,410 --> 00:07:18,710 EXACTLY. RIGHT. 138 00:07:18,810 --> 00:07:20,576 OK, SO YOU'RE GOING TO PLAY THE FLUTE, 139 00:07:20,676 --> 00:07:22,176 BUT YOU HAVE TO PUT YOUR FINGERS THROUGH 140 00:07:22,276 --> 00:07:25,176 THOSE RINGS AT THE SAME TIME. 141 00:07:25,276 --> 00:07:26,576 YES. OH, I SEE. 142 00:07:26,676 --> 00:07:28,276 AS YOU PULL THEM DOWN, 143 00:07:28,376 --> 00:07:30,743 YOU'RE ACTUALLY PULLING A LEVER, 144 00:07:30,843 --> 00:07:32,743 WHICH IS ACTIVATING A PEN 145 00:07:32,843 --> 00:07:35,343 THAT MAKES A MARKING ON THE BARREL? EXACTLY. 146 00:07:35,443 --> 00:07:37,343 SO THE MARKINGS ON THE BARREL ARE 147 00:07:37,443 --> 00:07:40,543 A RECORD OF THE NOTES THAT YOU'VE PLAYED 148 00:07:40,643 --> 00:07:43,143 AND THE DURATION THAT YOU PLAYED THEM? YES. 149 00:07:43,243 --> 00:07:46,243 IT'S THE RECORD OF MY FINGER MOVEMENTS. OK. 150 00:07:46,343 --> 00:07:48,610 [PLAYING A TUNE] 151 00:07:50,376 --> 00:07:52,209 [PLAYS AN OFF-KEY NOTE] 152 00:07:52,209 --> 00:07:52,309 HEH! 153 00:07:52,309 --> 00:07:55,209 THAT'S PROBABLY AS MUCH AS WE WANT, REALLY, ISN'T IT? 154 00:07:55,309 --> 00:07:57,309 [BOTH LAUGH] 155 00:07:57,410 --> 00:08:00,376 AND SO, ONCE YOU HAVE THE MARKINGS ON THE DRUM... 156 00:08:00,476 --> 00:08:02,043 YES. IT'S THEN TRANSFERRED 157 00:08:02,143 --> 00:08:04,143 ACROSS TO THE SECOND MACHINE. 158 00:08:04,243 --> 00:08:06,543 ZHIPENG: YES, IT'S A PLAYER HERE, SO NOW WE HAVE 159 00:08:06,643 --> 00:08:09,476 ALL OF THE INFORMATION FROM MY FINGER MOVEMENTS HERE. 160 00:08:09,576 --> 00:08:12,810 WE CARVE SOME GROOVES ACCORDING TO THE MARKS WE HAVE. 161 00:08:12,910 --> 00:08:15,810 SO WHEN THIS DRUM TURNS, THE GROOVES ARE NOW 162 00:08:15,910 --> 00:08:18,010 GOING TO LIFT THESE LEVERS 163 00:08:18,109 --> 00:08:21,510 AND PLAY THE SAME TUNE ON THIS SECOND FLUTE? 164 00:08:21,610 --> 00:08:23,510 EXACTLY. SO LET'S LISTEN. 165 00:08:23,610 --> 00:08:25,610 OK. 166 00:08:26,810 --> 00:08:28,810 [NOTES PLAYING] 167 00:08:32,410 --> 00:08:34,710 SO THOSE GROOVES, THE MARKINGS, ARE ESSENTIALLY 168 00:08:34,810 --> 00:08:36,877 THE VERY FIRST COMPUTER PROGRAM. 169 00:08:36,977 --> 00:08:40,476 MM-HMM. LOOKS LIKE A HARD DRIVE, AND IT IS A HARD DRIVE. 170 00:08:42,476 --> 00:08:44,376 [PLAYING NOTES] 171 00:08:44,476 --> 00:08:48,376 AL-KHALILI: NOW, THIS MAY NOT SEEM LIKE A WORLD-CHANGING IDEA, 172 00:08:48,476 --> 00:08:50,376 BUT IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, 173 00:08:50,476 --> 00:08:53,877 THIS REALLY IS A PROGRAMMABLE MACHINE. 174 00:08:55,610 --> 00:08:57,910 AND ALL THIS OVER A THOUSAND YEARS 175 00:08:58,010 --> 00:09:00,510 BEFORE MODERN COMPUTERS WERE BUILT. 176 00:09:01,910 --> 00:09:05,410 IT ALSO SEEMS THAT THE BANU MUSA BROTHERS HAD 177 00:09:05,510 --> 00:09:09,610 THIS GREAT SENSE OF THEATRE AND FUN BECAUSE IN THEIR BOOK, 178 00:09:09,710 --> 00:09:12,010 THEY TALK ABOUT HIDING THE WHOLE CONTRAPTION 179 00:09:12,109 --> 00:09:15,209 INSIDE A MANNEQUIN, WHERE THE LEVERS ARE DISGUISED 180 00:09:15,309 --> 00:09:17,410 AS ITS FINGERS, AND THE FLUTE IS ATTACHED 181 00:09:17,510 --> 00:09:19,810 TO ITS MOUTH, WHERE THE AIR COMES IN. 182 00:09:19,910 --> 00:09:22,010 AND SO YOU CAN IMAGINE WHAT A SPECTACLE 183 00:09:22,109 --> 00:09:25,010 THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN, HAVING THIS ROBOT PLAYING 184 00:09:25,109 --> 00:09:28,176 THE MUSIC IN THE CALIPH'S PALACE. 185 00:09:30,777 --> 00:09:33,010 [NOTES PLAYING] 186 00:09:33,109 --> 00:09:35,576 NARRATOR: MACHINES THAT MIMIC HUMAN ACTIONS 187 00:09:35,676 --> 00:09:38,209 HAVE FASCINATED US FOR GENERATIONS. 188 00:09:39,610 --> 00:09:42,743 AND AFTER NEARLY 900 YEARS OF EFFORT, THEY PERHAPS 189 00:09:42,843 --> 00:09:44,810 REACHED THEIR PINNACLE WITH THIS, 190 00:09:44,910 --> 00:09:46,376 THE WRITER. 191 00:09:46,476 --> 00:09:49,443 MADE IN SWITZERLAND IN THE 1770s, 192 00:09:49,543 --> 00:09:52,777 IT HAS 6,000 MOVING PARTS. 193 00:09:52,877 --> 00:09:55,343 THIS REMARKABLE AUTOMATON 194 00:09:55,443 --> 00:09:58,943 CAN WRITE SEQUENCES OF TEXT UP TO 40 CHARACTERS IN LENGTH. 195 00:09:59,043 --> 00:10:03,643 THE TEXT WAS PROGRAMMED USING METAL PLATES, INSTALLED 196 00:10:03,743 --> 00:10:07,343 IN THE CLOCKWORK MECHANISM IN THE MACHINE'S BACK. 197 00:10:08,743 --> 00:10:12,243 THE WRITER WAS EVEN ABLE TO DIP HIS QUILL IN INK 198 00:10:12,343 --> 00:10:16,209 AND GIVE IT A DELICATE SHAKE TO REMOVE THE EXCESS. 199 00:10:23,810 --> 00:10:27,309 BUT AUTOMATA ARE NOT QUITE ROBOTS. 200 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:30,710 THEY CAN'T LEARN AND CHANGE THEIR OWN BEHAVIOR. 201 00:10:30,810 --> 00:10:34,076 ♪ 202 00:10:34,176 --> 00:10:38,410 A TRUE ROBOT NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO PROCESS INFORMATION 203 00:10:38,510 --> 00:10:41,643 SO IT CAN TAKE ACTIONS OF ITS OWN. 204 00:10:41,743 --> 00:10:45,476 IT NEEDS TO BE A MACHINE THAT CAN THINK. 205 00:10:48,010 --> 00:10:49,676 [SURF CRASHING] 206 00:10:49,777 --> 00:10:53,043 AND IT WOULD TAKE A CRISIS IN NAUTICAL NAVIGATION 207 00:10:53,143 --> 00:10:55,143 AND A MOST UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP-- 208 00:10:55,243 --> 00:10:59,243 BETWEEN THE DAUGHTER OF ENGLAND'S MOST NOTORIOUS POET 209 00:10:59,343 --> 00:11:03,510 AND A PROFESSOR MORE THAN TWICE HER AGE... 210 00:11:05,043 --> 00:11:09,610 TO SET THE COGS OF A THINKING MACHINE IN MOTION. 211 00:11:12,343 --> 00:11:14,843 WOMAN: THERE'S SOMETHING REALLY WONDERFUL TO ME 212 00:11:14,943 --> 00:11:17,843 IN THE STORY OF THESE TWO VERY, VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE-- 213 00:11:17,943 --> 00:11:21,510 THE MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR WHO'S QUITE CRANKY 214 00:11:21,610 --> 00:11:25,043 AND SERIOUS AND LOGICAL, 215 00:11:25,143 --> 00:11:28,810 AND THEN THERE'S THIS YOUNG SOCIETY GIRL. 216 00:11:28,910 --> 00:11:30,977 THEY WERE SO ALIKE IN MANY WAYS, 217 00:11:31,076 --> 00:11:33,276 BUT THEY WERE SO DIFFERENT IN OTHER WAYS, AND IT 218 00:11:33,376 --> 00:11:36,143 CREATED THIS WONDERFUL MOMENT OF NEWNESS, 219 00:11:36,243 --> 00:11:38,443 IMAGINATION, AND INVENTION. 220 00:11:44,910 --> 00:11:49,810 NARRATOR: IT BEGAN IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY... 221 00:11:49,910 --> 00:11:54,343 WHEN THE BRITISH NAVY WAS THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD. 222 00:11:54,443 --> 00:11:57,643 SHIPS NAVIGATED BY THE STARS. 223 00:12:00,243 --> 00:12:04,810 TO SAVE SAILORS FROM PERFORMING COMPLICATED CALCULATIONS AT SEA, 224 00:12:04,910 --> 00:12:08,810 THEY USED TABLES TO LOOK UP THE ANSWER THEY NEEDED, 225 00:12:08,910 --> 00:12:13,610 BUT THE PROBLEM WAS THE TABLES OFTEN CONTAINED MISTAKES. 226 00:12:13,710 --> 00:12:17,209 AFTER ALL, THEY WERE COMPILED BY HUMANS. 227 00:12:17,309 --> 00:12:19,410 IF THE TABLES WERE WRONG, 228 00:12:19,510 --> 00:12:21,410 IT WOULD THROW OFF THE NAVIGATION 229 00:12:21,510 --> 00:12:23,309 WITH DEVASTATING RESULTS. 230 00:12:23,410 --> 00:12:25,309 [CRASH] 231 00:12:25,410 --> 00:12:28,410 [CLOCK TICKING] 232 00:12:35,109 --> 00:12:37,109 [CHIMING] 233 00:12:40,476 --> 00:12:43,376 NARRATOR: ENTER CHARLES BABBAGE. 234 00:12:43,476 --> 00:12:47,977 THE SON OF A BANKER, WHO LOVED AUTOMATA AS A CHILD, 235 00:12:48,076 --> 00:12:51,343 BABBAGE STUDIED MATHEMATICS AT CAMBRIDGE. 236 00:12:51,443 --> 00:12:54,309 IN THE 1820s, HE WAS EMPLOYED 237 00:12:54,410 --> 00:12:57,943 CHECKING ASTRONOMICAL LOG TABLES FOR SHIP NAVIGATION. 238 00:13:00,643 --> 00:13:03,810 IT WAS DULL WORK, AND HE WAS FRUSTRATED 239 00:13:03,910 --> 00:13:07,109 BY THE NUMBER OF MISTAKES HE WAS FINDING. 240 00:13:11,109 --> 00:13:13,810 HE EXCLAIMED TO A FRIEND, JOHN HERSCHEL... 241 00:13:13,910 --> 00:13:16,910 WISH TO GOD THESE NUMBERS COULD BE COMPUTED BY STEAM. 242 00:13:18,443 --> 00:13:20,276 NARRATOR: HERSCHEL REPLIES, DRILY... 243 00:13:20,376 --> 00:13:22,276 IT IS QUITE POSSIBLE. 244 00:13:22,376 --> 00:13:25,376 [CLOCK CONTINUES CHIMING] 245 00:13:27,610 --> 00:13:29,910 PADUA: WITH HERSCHEL'S WORDS FRESH IN HIS EARS, 246 00:13:30,010 --> 00:13:31,910 BABBAGE BEGINS TO DESIGN A MACHINE. 247 00:13:32,010 --> 00:13:33,910 HE CALLS IT A DIFFERENCE ENGINE, 248 00:13:34,010 --> 00:13:36,109 ESSENTIALLY A MECHANICAL ADDING MACHINE 249 00:13:36,209 --> 00:13:39,510 POWERED BY A HAND CRANK THAT COULD CALCULATE LOG TABLES. 250 00:13:39,610 --> 00:13:41,510 IT'S A REVOLUTIONARY IDEA, 251 00:13:41,610 --> 00:13:44,276 LITERALLY THE MECHANIZATION OF THOUGHT. 252 00:13:45,676 --> 00:13:47,576 NARRATOR: IF THE CALCULATION COULD BE BROKEN DOWN 253 00:13:47,676 --> 00:13:49,576 INTO A SERIES OF SIMPLE STEPS, 254 00:13:49,676 --> 00:13:52,176 EACH OF WHICH COULD BE DONE BY MACHINE, 255 00:13:52,276 --> 00:13:55,810 THEN HUMAN ERROR COULD BE ERADICATED, 256 00:13:55,910 --> 00:13:58,910 AND LIVES COULD BE SAVED. 257 00:14:02,410 --> 00:14:05,309 BABBAGE GOT FUNDING FROM THE GOVERNMENT-- 258 00:14:05,410 --> 00:14:07,910 £17,000--WORTH MORE 259 00:14:08,010 --> 00:14:11,476 THAN $5 MILLION DOLLARS TODAY. 260 00:14:11,576 --> 00:14:14,710 HE HIRED ONE OF THE FINEST ENGINEERS IN ENGLAND 261 00:14:14,810 --> 00:14:17,309 TO HELP HIM, 262 00:14:17,410 --> 00:14:19,710 BUT THE TWO MEN HAD A FALLING OUT 263 00:14:19,810 --> 00:14:23,376 AFTER JUST A FRACTION OF THE MACHINE WAS BUILT. 264 00:14:31,376 --> 00:14:36,143 THAT SECTION IS STILL PRESERVED IN LONDON'S SCIENCE MUSEUM. 265 00:14:37,843 --> 00:14:40,443 PADUA: IT'S AT THE VERY, VERY CUTTING EDGE 266 00:14:40,543 --> 00:14:42,910 OF VICTORIAN ENGINEERING. 267 00:14:43,010 --> 00:14:44,910 UNFORTUNATELY, HE RAN OUT OF MONEY 268 00:14:45,010 --> 00:14:47,510 BEFORE HE COULD EVER FINISH IT, BUT HE DID FINISH 269 00:14:47,610 --> 00:14:49,476 THIS BEAUTIFUL PROTOTYPE, WHICH DOES ACTUALLY WORK. 270 00:14:49,576 --> 00:14:51,877 IT CAN ADD NUMBERS AND RUN VERY BEAUTIFULLY, 271 00:14:51,977 --> 00:14:53,943 BUT THE ACTUAL MACHINE WAS NEVER FINISHED. 272 00:14:54,043 --> 00:14:57,643 NARRATOR: HOWEVER, USING BABBAGE'S PLANS... 273 00:14:58,843 --> 00:15:02,410 IN 2002, THE SCIENCE MUSEUM 274 00:15:02,510 --> 00:15:05,676 ACTUALLY BUILT THE ENTIRE MACHINE. 275 00:15:05,777 --> 00:15:09,676 BY CRANKING A HANDLE, THE ROWS OF NUMBERS MOVE, 276 00:15:09,777 --> 00:15:13,676 CARRYING THE TENS IN THE CALCULATION AS THEY GO. 277 00:15:13,777 --> 00:15:17,209 THIS IS A MACHINE SOLVING A PROBLEM, 278 00:15:17,309 --> 00:15:19,209 THE FORERUNNER OF THE DEVICE 279 00:15:19,309 --> 00:15:22,576 THAT WOULD GIVE THE ROBOT ITS BRAIN. 280 00:15:22,676 --> 00:15:27,276 AT THE FAR END, A PRINTER PUNCHES OUT THE ANSWER. 281 00:15:28,977 --> 00:15:31,877 PADUA: I JUST LOVE TO SEE THAT MACHINE WORKING. 282 00:15:31,977 --> 00:15:34,543 IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL. 283 00:15:36,410 --> 00:15:38,309 EVERY SINGLE PART OF IT WORKS 284 00:15:38,410 --> 00:15:40,643 IN HARMONY WITH THE WHOLE REST OF THE MACHINE. 285 00:15:40,743 --> 00:15:43,010 I COULD WATCH THAT THING ALL DAY. 286 00:15:49,010 --> 00:15:50,910 AND YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT EACH LITTLE PART IS DOING 287 00:15:51,010 --> 00:15:53,510 AND HOW THEY'RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER. 288 00:15:53,610 --> 00:15:57,443 I THINK HE JUST REALLY, REALLY LOVED THE DANCE OF THE MACHINERY. 289 00:16:09,543 --> 00:16:12,443 FAST-FORWARD TO JUNE 1833, AND CHARLES BABBAGE IS NOW 290 00:16:12,543 --> 00:16:14,443 A CAMBRIDGE PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS 291 00:16:14,543 --> 00:16:16,643 AND A MEMBER OF LONDON HIGH SOCIETY. 292 00:16:16,743 --> 00:16:18,843 HE'S HOSTING ONE OF HIS FAMOUS PARTIES HERE 293 00:16:18,943 --> 00:16:20,977 AT HIS HOUSE ON DORSET STREET. 294 00:16:21,076 --> 00:16:22,977 [PIANO PLAYING] 295 00:16:23,076 --> 00:16:25,777 NARRATOR: AMONG HIS FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES WERE LUMINARIES 296 00:16:25,877 --> 00:16:28,576 SUCH AS MICHAEL FARADAY, CHARLES DARWIN, 297 00:16:28,676 --> 00:16:32,176 AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE SCIENTIFIC ELITE. 298 00:16:32,276 --> 00:16:35,176 BUT THIS EVENING, IT WAS A CHANCE MEETING 299 00:16:35,276 --> 00:16:37,810 WITH A YOUNG WOMAN THAT WOULD SPARK A BREAKTHROUGH 300 00:16:37,910 --> 00:16:40,410 IN THE WORLD OF IDEAS. 301 00:16:40,510 --> 00:16:42,810 PADUA: THE WOMAN'S NAME WAS ADA BYRON. 302 00:16:42,910 --> 00:16:46,410 HER FATHER WAS THE FAMOUS ROMANTIC POET, LORD BYRON. 303 00:16:46,510 --> 00:16:49,010 HE HAD MARRIED ADA'S MOTHER, BUT THEN FLED 304 00:16:49,109 --> 00:16:51,743 WHEN SHE WAS ONLY ONE MONTH OLD. 305 00:16:51,843 --> 00:16:55,043 NARRATOR: LORD BYRON WAS FAMOUSLY DESCRIBED 306 00:16:55,143 --> 00:16:58,309 AS "MAD, BAD, AND DANGEROUS TO KNOW," 307 00:16:58,410 --> 00:17:01,643 BUT ADA'S MOTHER WAS DETERMINED TO STOP HER DAUGHTER 308 00:17:01,743 --> 00:17:04,943 FROM BEING "CREATIVE" LIKE HER FATHER. 309 00:17:05,043 --> 00:17:07,910 INSTEAD OF ENGLISH, SHE MADE SURE THAT ADA WAS TUTORED 310 00:17:08,010 --> 00:17:11,510 IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS FROM AN EARLY AGE. 311 00:17:11,610 --> 00:17:15,610 ADA SOON TURNED OUT TO BE A PRODIGY. 312 00:17:17,176 --> 00:17:20,109 PADUA: AGED JUST 17 WHEN SHE ATTENDED BABBAGE'S PARTY, 313 00:17:20,209 --> 00:17:22,309 ADA SAW BABBAGE DEMONSTRATE THE SMALL PART 314 00:17:22,410 --> 00:17:25,010 OF THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE THAT HE HAD MANAGED TO BUILD. 315 00:17:28,010 --> 00:17:30,510 NARRATOR: LOOKING AT THE COMPLICATED MACHINERY, 316 00:17:30,610 --> 00:17:34,910 ADA WAS CAPTIVATED, AND A FRIEND LATER RECALLED... 317 00:17:35,010 --> 00:17:38,176 MAN: "WHILE THE OTHER VISITORS GAZED AT THE WORKINGS 318 00:17:38,276 --> 00:17:41,143 "OF THIS BEAUTIFUL INSTRUMENT WITH THE SORT OF EXPRESSION 319 00:17:41,243 --> 00:17:43,743 "AND FEELING THAT SOME SAVAGES ARE SAID TO HAVE SHOWN 320 00:17:43,843 --> 00:17:47,309 ON FIRST SEEING A LOOKING GLASS..." 321 00:17:48,710 --> 00:17:51,010 "MISS BYRON, YOUNG AS SHE WAS, 322 00:17:51,109 --> 00:17:53,010 "UNDERSTOOD ITS WORKINGS 323 00:17:53,109 --> 00:17:56,510 AND SAW THE GREAT BEAUTY OF THE INVENTION." 324 00:17:58,510 --> 00:18:00,376 NARRATOR: ADA AND CHARLES BABBAGE 325 00:18:00,476 --> 00:18:02,743 STRUCK UP A LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP. 326 00:18:02,843 --> 00:18:05,376 THEY BEGAN TO CORRESPOND REGULARLY, 327 00:18:05,476 --> 00:18:08,676 BUT SOON ADA'S LIFE MOVED ON. 328 00:18:10,143 --> 00:18:14,176 PADUA: IN 1835, ADA MARRIED A MAN CALLED WILLIAM KING. 329 00:18:14,276 --> 00:18:16,810 HE BROUGHT HER HERE TO THE HOME HE BUILT FOR HER, 330 00:18:16,910 --> 00:18:19,910 HORSLEY MANOR, AND SHE BECAME THE COUNTESS OF LOVELACE. 331 00:18:24,243 --> 00:18:26,543 NARRATOR: ADA GAVE BIRTH TO 3 CHILDREN 332 00:18:26,643 --> 00:18:29,343 IN QUICK SUCCESSION, BUT ALL THE WHILE, 333 00:18:29,443 --> 00:18:32,343 SHE CONTINUED HER STUDY OF MATHEMATICS. 334 00:18:32,443 --> 00:18:35,610 PADUA: I THINK, FOR HER, THIS ROLE OF COUNTESS 335 00:18:35,710 --> 00:18:38,543 WITH A BIG COUNTRY ESTATE WAS A BIT OF A CAGE, 336 00:18:38,643 --> 00:18:40,943 SO IT DIDN'T REALLY SUIT HER PERSONALITY. 337 00:18:41,043 --> 00:18:43,943 SHE WAS A VERY BOLD, INDEPENDENT PERSON IN A ROLE 338 00:18:44,043 --> 00:18:46,643 THAT THAT WAS QUITE TRICKY. 339 00:18:51,443 --> 00:18:53,343 CHARLES BABBAGE, IN THE MEANTIME, 340 00:18:53,443 --> 00:18:56,710 WAS DREAMING UP A NEW MACHINE, A MORE SOPHISTICATED VERSION 341 00:18:56,810 --> 00:19:00,076 OF THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE HE CALLED THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE. 342 00:19:00,176 --> 00:19:03,743 NARRATOR: 45 FEET LONG AND 15 FEET HIGH, 343 00:19:03,843 --> 00:19:07,610 BABBAGE IMAGINED THE ENGINE WOULD BE POWERED BY STEAM. 344 00:19:07,710 --> 00:19:11,710 IT WAS CONCEIVED TO SOLVE A RANGE OF MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS. 345 00:19:13,977 --> 00:19:16,676 BABBAGE HAD DESIGNED A REMARKABLE MACHINE, 346 00:19:16,777 --> 00:19:19,676 BUT HE WAS NOT THE ONE WHO REALIZED ITS TRUE POTENTIAL. 347 00:19:19,777 --> 00:19:22,676 THAT INSIGHT LAY WITH ADA LOVELACE. 348 00:19:22,777 --> 00:19:25,276 NARRATOR: IN 1842, ADA WAS ASKED 349 00:19:25,376 --> 00:19:28,877 TO TRANSLATE AN ARTICLE WRITTEN BY AN ITALIAN PROFESSOR 350 00:19:28,977 --> 00:19:32,443 DESCRIBING BABBAGE'S ANALYTICAL ENGINE. 351 00:19:32,543 --> 00:19:36,977 AT THE END OF THE TRANSLATION, SHE ADDED HER OWN APPENDICES. 352 00:19:37,076 --> 00:19:39,376 HER WORK WAS PUBLISHED IN A BOOK CALLED 353 00:19:39,476 --> 00:19:42,376 "TAYLOR'S SCIENTIFIC MEMOIRS." 354 00:19:42,476 --> 00:19:45,376 PADUA: ADA REALIZED THAT THE MACHINE COULD OPERATE ON THINGS 355 00:19:45,476 --> 00:19:48,043 OTHER THAN NUMBERS IF THEY OBEYED LOGICAL RULES, 356 00:19:48,143 --> 00:19:50,743 SO, FOR EXAMPLE, MUSIC. 357 00:19:55,076 --> 00:19:57,977 SHE WRITES HERE THAT "THE ENGINE MIGHT COMPOSE 358 00:19:58,076 --> 00:20:00,176 "ELABORATE AND SCIENTIFIC PIECES OF MUSIC 359 00:20:00,276 --> 00:20:03,276 OF ANY DEGREE OF COMPLEXITY OR EXTENT." 360 00:20:05,877 --> 00:20:08,543 SHE ALSO IMAGINED HOW THE MACHINE WOULD WEAVE 361 00:20:08,643 --> 00:20:13,643 ALGEBRAICAL PATTERNS, JUST AS THE JACQUARD LOOM WEAVES FLOWERS AND LEAVES. 362 00:20:22,243 --> 00:20:24,343 NARRATOR: LOVELACE'S ANALYSIS SHOWED 363 00:20:24,443 --> 00:20:26,543 THAT THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE COULD BE APPLIED 364 00:20:26,643 --> 00:20:29,143 TO ANY NUMBER OF TASKS. 365 00:20:29,243 --> 00:20:33,376 IT WOULD BE THE BEGINNINGS OF A SYNTHETIC MIND. 366 00:20:33,476 --> 00:20:36,977 ADA LOVELACE REALIZED THAT WHAT BABBAGE HAD DESIGNED IS 367 00:20:37,076 --> 00:20:40,676 WHAT MANY CONSIDER THE WORLD'S FIRST UNIVERSAL COMPUTER. 368 00:20:40,777 --> 00:20:43,376 AND THIS IS A TABLE THAT'S OFTEN DESCRIBED 369 00:20:43,476 --> 00:20:45,376 AS THE FIRST-EVER COMPUTER PROGRAM. 370 00:20:45,476 --> 00:20:47,343 IN THE DESIGN OF THE ANALYTICAL ENGINE, 371 00:20:47,443 --> 00:20:49,343 ADA LOVELACE HAD SEEN THE FUTURE. 372 00:20:49,443 --> 00:20:51,743 SHE BELIEVED THAT MACHINES WOULD BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING, 373 00:20:51,843 --> 00:20:54,576 EXCEPT COME UP WITH ORIGINAL THOUGHTS. 374 00:20:54,676 --> 00:20:56,777 NARRATOR: BUT IN 1852, 375 00:20:56,877 --> 00:21:00,376 ADA DIED YOUNG AT THE AGE OF 36. 376 00:21:00,476 --> 00:21:03,777 HER OBSERVATIONS, WRITTEN AS AN APPENDIX TO A BOOK 377 00:21:03,877 --> 00:21:06,777 ABOUT A THINKING MACHINE THAT WAS NEVER ACTUALLY BUILT, 378 00:21:06,877 --> 00:21:10,043 UNDERSTANDABLY FELL INTO OBSCURITY. 379 00:21:10,143 --> 00:21:14,443 AND THE IDEA OF PUTTING SUCH A MACHINE INTO A MECHANICAL BODY 380 00:21:14,543 --> 00:21:17,843 WAS UNHEARD OF; AFTER ALL, AT THE TIME, 381 00:21:17,943 --> 00:21:21,443 THE WORD "ROBOT" DID NOT EVEN EXIST. 382 00:21:21,543 --> 00:21:25,243 BUT THAT WOULD CHANGE, DUE TO A YOUNG CUBIST PAINTER 383 00:21:25,343 --> 00:21:28,209 WORKING IN PRAGUE IN 1920. 384 00:21:28,309 --> 00:21:32,309 ♪ 385 00:21:32,410 --> 00:21:35,910 JOSEF CAPEK WAS AT HIS EASEL WHEN HIS BROTHER KAREL, 386 00:21:36,010 --> 00:21:37,910 WHO WAS A PLAYWRIGHT, RUSHED UP TO HIM 387 00:21:38,010 --> 00:21:40,443 WITH AN IDEA FOR A NEW PLAY. 388 00:21:40,543 --> 00:21:43,043 IT WAS ABOUT A BREED OF SYNTHETIC MEN 389 00:21:43,143 --> 00:21:46,043 WHO RISE UP AGAINST THEIR HUMAN OVERLORDS. 390 00:21:46,143 --> 00:21:49,443 THE TROUBLE WAS, HE COULDN'T THINK OF WHAT TO CALL THEM. 391 00:21:49,543 --> 00:21:53,043 JOSEF PAUSED FOR A MOMENT AND REMEMBERED 392 00:21:53,143 --> 00:21:56,710 AN OLD SLAVIC WORD FOR FORCED LABOR, 393 00:21:56,810 --> 00:21:59,076 PRONOUNCED "ROBOTA." 394 00:21:59,176 --> 00:22:02,743 "CALL THEM ROBOTS," HE SAID. 395 00:22:02,843 --> 00:22:07,243 THE PLAY WAS CALLED "ROSSUM'S UNIVERSAL ROBOTS"... 396 00:22:08,676 --> 00:22:10,576 AND IT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS, 397 00:22:10,676 --> 00:22:12,576 PUTTING THE WORD "ROBOT" 398 00:22:12,676 --> 00:22:14,843 INTO LANGUAGES ALL OVER THE WORLD. 399 00:22:14,943 --> 00:22:17,276 FIRE! 400 00:22:17,376 --> 00:22:20,243 NARRATOR: WITHIN A DECADE, THE CONCEPT OF THE ROBOT AS 401 00:22:20,343 --> 00:22:23,877 AN ARTIFICIAL, INTERACTIVE, SELF-DETERMINED MACHINE 402 00:22:23,977 --> 00:22:26,743 TOOK ROOT IN POPULAR CULTURE. 403 00:22:26,843 --> 00:22:28,543 [BARKING] 404 00:22:32,943 --> 00:22:36,810 NARRATOR: BUT HOW COULD SUCH A MACHINE ACTUALLY BE BUILT? 405 00:22:36,910 --> 00:22:40,410 MAKING A METAL HUMAN MOVE WAS ONE THING, 406 00:22:40,510 --> 00:22:43,743 BUT HOW TO GET IT TO MAKE SENSE OF ITS SURROUNDINGS, 407 00:22:43,843 --> 00:22:46,610 TO PERFORM USEFUL ACTIONS-- 408 00:22:46,710 --> 00:22:49,610 THAT SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL, 409 00:22:49,710 --> 00:22:54,010 IN 1935, A YOUNG MAN WENT FOR A JOG. 410 00:23:01,076 --> 00:23:03,877 MEIGS: AS A TECH REPORTER, THIS NEXT REVOLUTION 411 00:23:03,977 --> 00:23:05,877 REALLY FASCINATES ME BECAUSE IT UNDERPINS SO MUCH 412 00:23:05,977 --> 00:23:09,276 OF THE TECHNOLOGY THAT IS SHAPING THE 21st CENTURY. 413 00:23:11,676 --> 00:23:14,176 NARRATOR: IN THE EARLY SUMMER, A SKILLED ATHLETE 414 00:23:14,276 --> 00:23:16,743 AND MATHEMATICIAN WAS RUNNING ALONG THE BANKS 415 00:23:16,843 --> 00:23:19,777 OF THE RIVER CAM NEAR CAMBRIDGE, ENGLAND. 416 00:23:21,410 --> 00:23:24,309 MEIGS: OCCUPYING HIS THOUGHTS WAS A CHALLENGE THAT WAS TAXING 417 00:23:24,410 --> 00:23:26,309 SOME OF THE BRIGHTEST MINDS OF HIS DAY-- 418 00:23:26,410 --> 00:23:29,109 ONE OF THE LAST GREAT PROBLEMS OF MATHEMATICS. 419 00:23:30,710 --> 00:23:33,576 NARRATOR: THE RUNNER'S NAME WAS ALAN TURING, 420 00:23:33,676 --> 00:23:37,176 AT THE TIME A FELLOW AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY. 421 00:23:37,276 --> 00:23:39,777 THE PROBLEM HE WAS WONDERING ABOUT CONCERNED 422 00:23:39,877 --> 00:23:42,476 THE LIMITS OF MATHEMATICS ITSELF. 423 00:23:44,176 --> 00:23:47,043 RESTING HERE BY THE RIVER NEAR GRANTCHESTER, TURING HAD 424 00:23:47,143 --> 00:23:49,643 AN IDEA THAT DIDN'T JUST SOLVE HIS MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM, 425 00:23:49,743 --> 00:23:53,343 BUT IT WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD OF TECHNOLOGY FOREVER. 426 00:23:53,443 --> 00:23:55,343 NARRATOR: HE IMAGINED A MACHINE 427 00:23:55,443 --> 00:23:57,543 THAT CARRIED A PROGRAM IN ITS MEMORY, 428 00:23:57,643 --> 00:24:00,143 A DEVICE THAT COULD SOLVE ANY PROBLEM 429 00:24:00,243 --> 00:24:03,777 THAT COULD BE DESCRIBED MATHEMATICALLY. 430 00:24:03,877 --> 00:24:05,977 THE IDEA BECAME KNOWN AS 431 00:24:06,076 --> 00:24:08,777 A UNIVERSAL TURING MACHINE, 432 00:24:08,877 --> 00:24:12,877 OR UNIVERSAL COMPUTER. 433 00:24:14,410 --> 00:24:16,309 MEIGS: TURING WROTE UP HIS BIG IDEA IN A PAPER 434 00:24:16,410 --> 00:24:19,309 PUBLISHED IN 1936 AND KICKED OFF A REVOLUTION. 435 00:24:19,410 --> 00:24:22,676 HE WASN'T JUST SOLVING A PARTICULAR MATHEMATICAL PROBLEM, 436 00:24:22,777 --> 00:24:25,276 HE WAS INVENTING A COMPUTER LANGUAGE THAT COULD BE APPLIED 437 00:24:25,376 --> 00:24:27,877 TO A WHOLE UNIVERSE OF PROBLEMS. 438 00:24:27,977 --> 00:24:30,576 [BIRDS CHIRPING] 439 00:24:43,843 --> 00:24:47,143 NARRATOR: TURING REALIZED HIS THEORETICAL MACHINE 440 00:24:47,243 --> 00:24:49,343 WOULD BE LIKE AN ARTIFICIAL BRAIN, 441 00:24:49,443 --> 00:24:51,343 ABLE TO SOLVE ANY PROBLEM 442 00:24:51,443 --> 00:24:55,143 THAT WAS DEFINED BY REASON AND LOGIC. 443 00:24:58,743 --> 00:25:01,109 MEIGS: TURING'S NEXT QUESTION WAS WHETHER SUCH A MACHINE 444 00:25:01,209 --> 00:25:03,276 COULD BE PHYSICALLY CONSTRUCTED. 445 00:25:03,376 --> 00:25:05,476 BUT BEFORE HE COULD GET STARTED ON THE PROBLEM, 446 00:25:05,576 --> 00:25:07,910 WORLD WAR II INTERVENED. 447 00:25:08,010 --> 00:25:11,109 BRITAIN'S VERY SURVIVAL WAS UNDER THREAT FROM NAZI GERMANY. 448 00:25:11,209 --> 00:25:13,109 [NEWSREEL ANNOUNCER SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] 449 00:25:13,209 --> 00:25:16,510 NARRATOR: TURING'S GENIUS WAS TURNED TO CODE-BREAKING-- 450 00:25:16,610 --> 00:25:19,343 TRYING TO CRACK THE ENCRYPTED MESSAGES 451 00:25:19,443 --> 00:25:21,810 THAT THE NAZIS USED TO COMMUNICATE. 452 00:25:21,910 --> 00:25:24,143 IT WAS VITAL WORK. 453 00:25:24,243 --> 00:25:26,543 BUT ALL DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, TURING KEPT THINKING 454 00:25:26,643 --> 00:25:29,010 ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES OF A COMPUTING MACHINE. 455 00:25:29,109 --> 00:25:31,476 COULD IT PLAY CHESS? COULD IT MAKE MUSIC? 456 00:25:31,576 --> 00:25:33,343 COULD IT PREDICT THE WEATHER? 457 00:25:33,443 --> 00:25:35,777 HIS IDEAS WERE ALREADY HELPING TURN THE TIDE OF WAR; 458 00:25:35,877 --> 00:25:38,977 MAYBE THEY COULD TRANSFORM OTHER AREAS OF LIFE AS WELL. 459 00:25:40,977 --> 00:25:43,109 NARRATOR: BY THE END OF WORLD WAR II, 460 00:25:43,209 --> 00:25:46,710 SCIENTISTS WERE SCRAMBLING TO BE THE FIRST TO BUILD THE MACHINE. 461 00:25:46,810 --> 00:25:49,543 ONE OF THE EARLIEST WAS BUILT IN 1948, 462 00:25:49,643 --> 00:25:52,209 HERE IN MANCHESTER. 463 00:25:53,410 --> 00:25:55,710 AT THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY IS 464 00:25:55,810 --> 00:25:59,877 A WORKING REPLICA OF THAT REVOLUTIONARY MACHINE... 465 00:25:59,977 --> 00:26:03,610 CALLED, WITHOUT IRONY, THE BABY. 466 00:26:05,010 --> 00:26:08,843 AS BABIES GO, HOWEVER, IT WAS A BIG ONE. 467 00:26:08,943 --> 00:26:13,443 17 FEET LONG AND OVER 7 FEET TALL, IT WEIGHED ONE TON. 468 00:26:13,543 --> 00:26:17,443 IT RAN ON 550 VACUUM TUBES. 469 00:26:17,543 --> 00:26:19,476 MOST IMPORTANTLY, 470 00:26:19,576 --> 00:26:23,076 IT HAD A MEMORY CAPABLE OF STORING INSTRUCTIONS. 471 00:26:23,176 --> 00:26:26,843 IT WAS ABLE TO HOLD NOT JUST THE DATA TO BE COMPUTED, 472 00:26:26,943 --> 00:26:29,676 BUT ALSO THE PROGRAM ITSELF. 473 00:26:31,676 --> 00:26:34,376 MEIGS: CHRIS BURTON, WHO SUPERVISED THE RECONSTRUCTION 474 00:26:34,476 --> 00:26:37,777 OF THE MANCHESTER BABY COMPUTER, IS SHOWING ME HOW 475 00:26:37,877 --> 00:26:42,076 THE ORIGINAL PROGRAM WOULD BE INSERTED INTO THE SYSTEM. 476 00:26:42,176 --> 00:26:45,476 IN ORDER TO SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM, THE PROGRAMMERS WOULD HAVE TO 477 00:26:45,576 --> 00:26:49,076 FIRST WRITE OUT THE CODE IN BINARY FORM ON A PIECE OF PAPER 478 00:26:49,176 --> 00:26:51,676 AND THEN ENTER IT INTO THE MEMORY. 479 00:26:51,777 --> 00:26:54,376 SO, AS CHRIS FLIPS THESE SWITCHES, HE'S PICKING 480 00:26:54,476 --> 00:26:57,777 DIFFERENT LINES OF MEMORY, AND THEN THESE RED BUTTONS 481 00:26:57,877 --> 00:27:01,810 ACTUALLY ENTER THE BINARY CODE. 482 00:27:01,910 --> 00:27:04,810 NARRATOR: THE DATA WAS STORED NOT ON WOODEN WHEELS 483 00:27:04,910 --> 00:27:08,410 OR METAL COGS, BUT ON THE SURFACE OF A TELEVISION TUBE 484 00:27:08,510 --> 00:27:11,810 AS A SERIES OF DOTS AND DASHES, AND THEN DISPLAYED 485 00:27:11,910 --> 00:27:16,410 ON A SIMILAR TUBE IN FRONT OF THE OPERATOR. 486 00:27:16,510 --> 00:27:19,010 MEIGS: CHRIS HAS ENTERED ONE OF THE EARLY PROGRAMS 487 00:27:19,109 --> 00:27:21,943 THEY USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE MACHINE'S CAPABILITIES. 488 00:27:22,043 --> 00:27:23,943 AND WHAT IS THE NUMBER THAT WE HAVE ENTERED? 489 00:27:24,043 --> 00:27:26,343 WELL, THIS NUMBER WE PUT IN IS 999, 490 00:27:26,443 --> 00:27:28,743 AND WE WANT TO FIND THE LARGEST NUMBER THAT DIVIDES THAT 491 00:27:28,843 --> 00:27:31,743 EXACTLY, AND WE CAN READ OFF THE ANSWER OFF THE SCREEN. 492 00:27:31,843 --> 00:27:33,743 SO CAN WE RUN IT? YES, INDEED. 493 00:27:33,843 --> 00:27:37,043 BURTON: SO IF YOU START THE PROGRAM RUNNING BY PUSHING THAT FROM STOP TO RUN. 494 00:27:37,143 --> 00:27:38,643 PRESS IT DOWN. 495 00:27:38,643 --> 00:27:38,743 OK, 496 00:27:38,743 --> 00:27:40,643 I'M GOING TO GIVE IT A GO. 497 00:27:40,743 --> 00:27:43,243 BURTON: NOW WE CAN SEE THE PROGRAM RUNNING 498 00:27:43,343 --> 00:27:45,276 BY THE MOVEMENT OF THE DOTS ON THE SCREEN, 499 00:27:45,376 --> 00:27:47,476 AND EVENTUALLY IT WILL FIND THE ANSWER 500 00:27:47,576 --> 00:27:50,276 AND WARN US WITH A LIGHT AND A HOOTER. 501 00:27:51,743 --> 00:27:54,476 MEIGS: NOW, WHAT'S KEY HERE IS THAT THE COMPUTER 502 00:27:54,576 --> 00:27:57,076 IS STORING YOUR INPUT. THAT WAS REALLY-- 503 00:27:57,176 --> 00:27:59,076 THE KEY WAS THERE'S A MEMORY WITH 504 00:27:59,176 --> 00:28:01,576 A MEMORY TO REMEMBER THE PROGRAM. 505 00:28:01,676 --> 00:28:04,543 ♪ 506 00:28:04,643 --> 00:28:06,376 AND IT'S RANDOM ACCESS... 507 00:28:06,476 --> 00:28:08,243 INDEED. WHICH MEANS THEY CAN GET DIFFERENT PARTS 508 00:28:08,343 --> 00:28:09,576 OF THE PROGRAM AS NEEDED. 509 00:28:09,676 --> 00:28:11,576 THERE WERE NO PUNCH CARDS, THERE'S NO TAPE. 510 00:28:11,676 --> 00:28:13,276 EVERYTHING'S AVAILABLE FOR THE COMPUTER 511 00:28:13,376 --> 00:28:15,676 TO RUN AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. 512 00:28:15,676 --> 00:28:15,777 AT ELECTRONIC SPEEDS. 513 00:28:15,777 --> 00:28:18,576 MICRO-SECOND SPEEDS. THAT'S CRITICAL. 514 00:28:18,676 --> 00:28:21,143 SO THIS WAS REALLY THE DAWN OF THE MODERN COMPUTER? 515 00:28:21,243 --> 00:28:22,410 VERY MUCH SO. 516 00:28:22,510 --> 00:28:23,810 I WOULD SAY THAT YOU CAN'T GO 517 00:28:23,910 --> 00:28:25,543 TO ANY EARLIER MACHINE THAN THIS 518 00:28:25,643 --> 00:28:27,943 THAT HAD THE RIGHT CHARACTERISTICS. 519 00:28:28,043 --> 00:28:29,977 [CHIME] 520 00:28:30,076 --> 00:28:32,543 THE MACHINE'S STOPPED, 521 00:28:32,643 --> 00:28:34,710 AND THERE IS THE ANSWER ON THAT LINE THERE-- 522 00:28:34,810 --> 00:28:37,376 110101. 523 00:28:37,476 --> 00:28:39,777 OK, BUT I DON'T READ BINARY CODE. 524 00:28:39,877 --> 00:28:41,777 YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT THAT MEANS 43. 525 00:28:41,877 --> 00:28:43,143 [CHUCKLING] OK. 526 00:28:43,243 --> 00:28:44,843 SO IT SOLVED THE PROBLEM. 527 00:28:44,943 --> 00:28:47,843 THE HIGHEST FACTOR OF 989 IS 43. 528 00:28:47,943 --> 00:28:49,643 EXACTLY. 529 00:28:49,743 --> 00:28:52,076 WHAT WE HAVE HERE IN THIS BABY COMPUTER IS 530 00:28:52,176 --> 00:28:54,076 A REAL REVOLUTION IN TECHNOLOGY. 531 00:28:54,176 --> 00:28:56,276 THIS IS TURING'S DREAM OF A UNIVERSAL COMPUTER 532 00:28:56,376 --> 00:29:00,209 NOW COME TO LIFE AND PROVED TO WORK IN THE REAL WORLD. 533 00:29:00,309 --> 00:29:03,276 NARRATOR: THE "BABY" FOLLOWED A FIXED PROGRAM, 534 00:29:03,376 --> 00:29:06,076 BUT UNLIKE AN AUTOMATON, IT PROVED 535 00:29:06,176 --> 00:29:10,043 THAT A MACHINE COULD SOLVE COMPLEX PROBLEMS. 536 00:29:10,143 --> 00:29:13,643 IT RAISED AN EXTRAORDINARY POSSIBILITY, 537 00:29:13,743 --> 00:29:17,243 ONE THAT TURING COULD CLEARLY SEE... 538 00:29:17,343 --> 00:29:21,243 A TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD CHANGE THE WORLD-- 539 00:29:21,343 --> 00:29:24,343 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 540 00:29:25,743 --> 00:29:28,643 IN 1951, TURING DID A RADIO BROADCAST 541 00:29:28,743 --> 00:29:31,643 TITLED "CAN DIGITAL COMPUTERS THINK?" 542 00:29:31,743 --> 00:29:34,943 THIS IS A COPY OF HIS ORIGINAL ANNOTATED SCRIPT, 543 00:29:35,043 --> 00:29:37,977 FROM THE TURING ARCHIVE AT CAMBRIDGE, AND IT'S FASCINATING. 544 00:29:38,076 --> 00:29:40,176 IN THE BROADCAST, 545 00:29:40,276 --> 00:29:42,576 TURING REFERENCED ADA LOVELACE, WHO SAID 546 00:29:42,676 --> 00:29:46,510 THAT A COMPUTER SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO WHATEVER WE PROGRAM IT TO PERFORM. 547 00:29:47,910 --> 00:29:50,410 MEIGS: SHE ALSO SAID, "IT HAS NO PRETENTIONS 548 00:29:50,510 --> 00:29:53,576 WHATSOEVER TO ORIGINATE ANYTHING." 549 00:29:53,676 --> 00:29:56,576 WELL, HE DISAGREED. HE WONDERED, 550 00:29:56,676 --> 00:29:59,476 WHAT IF A COMPUTER COULD HAVE AN ORIGINAL IDEA? 551 00:29:59,576 --> 00:30:01,910 WHAT IF A COMPUTER COULD SURPRISE US? 552 00:30:07,610 --> 00:30:10,309 DIGITAL COMPUTERS HAVE OFTEN BEEN DESCRIBED 553 00:30:10,410 --> 00:30:12,309 AS MECHANICAL BRAINS. 554 00:30:12,410 --> 00:30:15,376 MOST SCIENTISTS PROBABLY REGARD THIS DESCRIPTION AS... 555 00:30:15,476 --> 00:30:17,376 TURING THOUGHT YOU COULD SET UP A TEST. 556 00:30:17,476 --> 00:30:19,510 HE CALLED IT "THE IMITATION GAME." 557 00:30:19,610 --> 00:30:22,610 IT IS PROBABLE, FOR INSTANCE, THAT AT THE END OF THE CENTURY, 558 00:30:22,710 --> 00:30:25,610 IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO PROGRAM A MACHINE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IN... 559 00:30:25,710 --> 00:30:28,209 MEIGS: THE IDEA WAS THAT YOU COULD PROGRAM A COMPUTER 560 00:30:28,309 --> 00:30:30,610 TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A HUMAN BEING. 561 00:30:30,710 --> 00:30:33,643 AND WHAT IF THE COMPUTER COULD CONVINCE THE HUMAN THAT IT, TOO, WAS HUMAN? 562 00:30:33,743 --> 00:30:37,443 WOULDN'T THAT ABILITY TO DECEIVE CONSTITUTE INTELLIGENCE? 563 00:30:37,543 --> 00:30:39,443 ...IT WILL BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT 564 00:30:39,543 --> 00:30:41,510 TO GUESS WHETHER THE ANSWERS ARE BEING 565 00:30:41,610 --> 00:30:45,309 GIVEN BY A MAN OR BY A MACHINE. 566 00:30:45,410 --> 00:30:47,309 MEIGS: TURING TURNED THE DEFINITION 567 00:30:47,410 --> 00:30:49,309 OF INTELLIGENCE UPSIDE DOWN. 568 00:30:49,410 --> 00:30:51,309 INSTEAD OF WORRYING ABOUT WHAT MYSTERIOUS THINGS 569 00:30:51,410 --> 00:30:53,309 WERE HAPPENING INSIDE THE HUMAN BRAIN, 570 00:30:53,410 --> 00:30:56,309 HE FOCUSED ON THE RESULTS IN THE REAL WORLD. 571 00:30:56,410 --> 00:30:58,910 IF SOMETHING DISPLAYED THE QUALITIES WE THINK OF 572 00:30:59,010 --> 00:31:01,543 AS "INTELLIGENCE," THEN YOU'D HAVE TO CALL IT INTELLIGENT. 573 00:31:01,643 --> 00:31:05,143 IT DIDN'T REALLY MATTER WHETHER IT CAME FROM BRAIN CELLS 574 00:31:05,243 --> 00:31:06,977 OR ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS. 575 00:31:07,076 --> 00:31:10,576 IF ANY MACHINE CAN APPROPRIATELY BE DESCRIBED AS A BRAIN, 576 00:31:10,676 --> 00:31:14,143 THEN ANY DIGITAL COMPUTER CAN BE SO DESCRIBED. 577 00:31:14,243 --> 00:31:16,143 MEIGS: TURING'S IMITATION GAME 578 00:31:16,243 --> 00:31:18,743 SOON BECAME KNOWN AS THE "TURING TEST" AND WOULD BE 579 00:31:18,843 --> 00:31:21,743 A KEY BENCHMARK IN THE SEARCH FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. 580 00:31:21,843 --> 00:31:24,743 BUT IN THE EARLY 1950s, IT WAS A REVOLUTIONARY CONCEPT. 581 00:31:24,843 --> 00:31:26,943 ...SUCH A PROGRAM WILL BE FOUND... 582 00:31:27,043 --> 00:31:29,877 MEIGS: PEOPLE WERE STILL JUST LEARNING THE BASICS OF WORKING WITH COMPUTERS, 583 00:31:29,977 --> 00:31:33,209 AND TURING WAS ALREADY DREAMING OF INTELLIGENT MACHINES. 584 00:31:33,309 --> 00:31:37,109 THE WHOLE THINKING PROCESS IS STILL RATHER MYSTERIOUS TO ME, 585 00:31:37,209 --> 00:31:39,910 BUT I BELIEVE THAT THE ATTEMPT TO MAKE A THINKING MACHINE 586 00:31:40,010 --> 00:31:44,576 WILL HELP US GREATLY IN FINDING OUT HOW WE THINK OURSELVES. 587 00:31:46,510 --> 00:31:50,010 NARRATOR: ALAN TURING SEEMED SET TO CHANGE THE WORLD, 588 00:31:50,109 --> 00:31:52,010 BUT IN 1954, 589 00:31:52,109 --> 00:31:55,109 HE WAS FOUND POISONED IN HIS BED. 590 00:31:57,109 --> 00:32:00,176 THE OFFICIAL VERDICT WAS SUICIDE. 591 00:32:04,510 --> 00:32:07,410 TURING'S LEGACY RAISED THE POSSIBILITY 592 00:32:07,510 --> 00:32:10,476 OF COMPLEX COMPUTERS INSIDE ROBOTS, 593 00:32:10,576 --> 00:32:13,510 IMITATING LIFE. 594 00:32:13,610 --> 00:32:16,810 BUT OTHERS WONDERED IF THE SAME RESULT COULD BE ACHIEVED 595 00:32:16,910 --> 00:32:19,410 WITH A VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH. 596 00:32:19,510 --> 00:32:21,410 WHAT WAS THE SIMPLEST MACHINE 597 00:32:21,510 --> 00:32:23,910 THAT COULD IMITATE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR? 598 00:32:25,510 --> 00:32:28,510 THE IDEA WAS INSPIRED BY A CHANCE CONVERSATION 599 00:32:28,610 --> 00:32:31,610 IN A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL. 600 00:32:33,610 --> 00:32:37,109 AS AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FIND 601 00:32:37,209 --> 00:32:40,309 FASCINATING ABOUT THE NEXT STEP IN THE STORY OF ROBOTS 602 00:32:40,410 --> 00:32:43,109 IS THAT IT WAS INSPIRED BY THE WORLD OF BIOLOGY, 603 00:32:43,209 --> 00:32:45,510 RATHER THAN MATHEMATICS OR ENGINEERING. 604 00:32:45,610 --> 00:32:48,476 THE MAN BEHIND IT WAS A NEUROPHYSIOLOGIST 605 00:32:48,576 --> 00:32:51,576 CALLED WILLIAM GREY WALTER. 606 00:32:53,443 --> 00:32:56,309 NARRATOR: BORN IN KANSAS CITY IN 1910, 607 00:32:56,410 --> 00:32:59,209 GREY WALTER PIONEERED DEVELOPMENTS IN MACHINES 608 00:32:59,309 --> 00:33:02,943 THAT RECORD ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY IN THE BRAIN. 609 00:33:03,043 --> 00:33:06,543 IN 1939, GREY WALTER BEGAN WORKING IN BRISTOL 610 00:33:06,643 --> 00:33:08,943 AT THE BURDEN NEUROLOGICAL INSTITUTE-- 611 00:33:09,043 --> 00:33:12,343 A PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL-- WHERE HE CONTINUED HIS RESEARCH 612 00:33:12,443 --> 00:33:16,176 INTO THE MYSTERIES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN. 613 00:33:16,276 --> 00:33:18,176 NARRATOR: IN A CHANCE CONVERSATION 614 00:33:18,276 --> 00:33:21,010 WITH A PSYCHOLOGIST, WALTER HIT ON AN IDEA-- 615 00:33:21,109 --> 00:33:23,843 ALTHOUGH OUR BRAINS ARE HIGHLY COMPLEX, 616 00:33:23,943 --> 00:33:27,643 COULD SIMPLER BIOLOGICAL CREATURES OWE THEIR ABILITIES 617 00:33:27,743 --> 00:33:30,443 TO THE WAY THAT THEY ARE WIRED TOGETHER, 618 00:33:30,543 --> 00:33:33,710 USING VERY FEW CONNECTIONS? 619 00:33:33,810 --> 00:33:36,109 HOW SIMPLE A SYSTEM, HE WONDERED, 620 00:33:36,209 --> 00:33:40,309 COULD GENERATE WHAT WE WOULD CALL "BEHAVIOR"? 621 00:33:40,410 --> 00:33:44,109 NOW HE WONDERED IF HE COULD REPLICATE THAT CONCEPT IN A MACHINE. 622 00:33:44,209 --> 00:33:46,710 COULD HE BUILD A KIND OF ELECTRICAL CREATURE, 623 00:33:46,810 --> 00:33:49,176 ONE THAT HAD VERY BASIC SENSES AND RESPONSES? 624 00:33:49,276 --> 00:33:51,977 AND IF HE COULD, HOW WOULD IT BEHAVE? 625 00:33:52,076 --> 00:33:55,109 WOULD IT BEHAVE LIKE A BIOLOGICAL ANIMAL? 626 00:33:56,510 --> 00:33:59,010 NARRATOR: HERE AT BRISTOL ROBOTICS LABORATORY, 627 00:33:59,109 --> 00:34:02,076 PROFESSOR OWEN HOLLAND HAS MADE A MODERN-DAY REPLICA 628 00:34:02,176 --> 00:34:05,676 OF GREY WALTER'S LANDMARK CREATION, WHICH HE CALLED 629 00:34:05,777 --> 00:34:09,977 THE TORTOISE BECAUSE, AT LEAST IN PART, IT TAUGHT US. 630 00:34:11,977 --> 00:34:13,109 OWEN, HI. 631 00:34:13,209 --> 00:34:14,910 HI. I'M DANIELLE. 632 00:34:14,910 --> 00:34:15,010 OH, HI, DANIELLE. 633 00:34:15,010 --> 00:34:16,910 LOVELY TO MEET YOU. SO THIS IS ONE OF THEM. 634 00:34:17,010 --> 00:34:19,176 MEET THE TORTOISE, YES. 635 00:34:19,176 --> 00:34:19,276 MARVELOUS. 636 00:34:19,276 --> 00:34:20,843 OK, SO SHOW ME HOW IT WORKS. 637 00:34:20,943 --> 00:34:23,443 IF I PUT THE SHELL ON, THEN YOU WILL BE ABLE 638 00:34:23,543 --> 00:34:25,610 TO SEE HOW IT WORKS, SO... 639 00:34:25,610 --> 00:34:25,710 OK. 640 00:34:25,710 --> 00:34:28,209 NARRATOR: THE TORTOISE HAS ONLY TWO SENSES. 641 00:34:28,309 --> 00:34:31,010 THE FIRST IS SIMPLY A SWITCH. 642 00:34:31,109 --> 00:34:34,843 HOLLAND: WHEN IT HITS ANYTHING, IT OPERATES A SWITCH, THEN IT WILL 643 00:34:34,943 --> 00:34:37,510 ALTERNATELY TRY AND GO IN ONE DIRECTION, 644 00:34:37,610 --> 00:34:40,043 TURN, GO IN ANOTHER DIRECTION, TURN, 645 00:34:40,143 --> 00:34:41,943 AND EVENTUALLY IT WILL ESCAPE FROM IT. 646 00:34:42,043 --> 00:34:45,343 NARRATOR: THE SECOND SENSE IS A LIGHT DETECTOR ON TOP, 647 00:34:45,443 --> 00:34:49,343 WHICH SCANS THE ENVIRONMENT, LOOKING FOR A LIGHT SOURCE. 648 00:34:49,443 --> 00:34:52,743 IF IT FINDS ONE, A VERY SIMPLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 649 00:34:52,843 --> 00:34:55,343 DRIVES THE ROBOT TOWARDS IT. 650 00:34:55,443 --> 00:34:58,343 GEORGE: OK, SO WITH THAT ON, IF I SHONE A LIGHT 651 00:34:58,443 --> 00:35:01,010 INTO THAT LIKE THAT, IT WOULD JUST FOLLOW ME, WOULD IT? 652 00:35:01,109 --> 00:35:02,943 YEAH, IT WOULD FOLLOW THE--FOLLOW THE LIGHT. 653 00:35:03,043 --> 00:35:04,910 OK. CAN I TRY IT? OF COURSE. 654 00:35:05,010 --> 00:35:07,043 YES. HEH! GREAT. 655 00:35:08,243 --> 00:35:10,343 OK, DANIELLE, IF I JUST PUT IT DOWN... 656 00:35:10,443 --> 00:35:12,343 OK. OVER TO YOU. 657 00:35:12,443 --> 00:35:14,743 MARVELOUS. 658 00:35:14,743 --> 00:35:14,843 SHALL I SWITCH IT ON? 659 00:35:14,843 --> 00:35:18,443 YEAH, YOU SWITCH IT ON, AND I'LL SWITCH ON MY LIGHT. BRILLIANT. 660 00:35:30,276 --> 00:35:34,176 GEORGE: WITH TWO SENSES-- A LIGHT AND A TOUCH SENSOR, 661 00:35:34,276 --> 00:35:37,510 THIS TORTOISE APPEARS TO MOVE WITH AUTONOMY... 662 00:35:39,510 --> 00:35:43,510 WITH PURPOSE AND WITH SPONTANEITY. 663 00:35:46,977 --> 00:35:48,877 THE THING THAT WAS UNEXPECTED FOR ME WAS 664 00:35:48,977 --> 00:35:51,843 I WAS TRYING TO GUIDE IT TOWARDS THE LIGHT AND MAKE IT DO SOMETHING, 665 00:35:51,943 --> 00:35:55,309 BUT IT LOOKED LIKE IT WAS ALMOST TRYING TO MAKE ITS OWN DECISIONS. 666 00:35:56,777 --> 00:35:59,476 AND I THINK THIS IS WHAT GREY WALTER WANTED IT TO DO. 667 00:35:59,576 --> 00:36:02,109 IT WANTED TO BEHAVE LIKE A CREATURE WHO DOESN'T 668 00:36:02,209 --> 00:36:04,576 ALWAYS MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS FIRST TIME. 669 00:36:06,777 --> 00:36:11,109 WILLIAM GREY WALTER'S WORK WAS TRULY REVOLUTIONARY, 670 00:36:11,209 --> 00:36:14,910 DEVISING THE FIRST MACHINE THAT CAN REACT TO A STIMULUS 671 00:36:15,010 --> 00:36:18,910 AND THEN TAKE ACTION IN RESPONSE, LIKE AN ANIMAL. 672 00:36:19,010 --> 00:36:22,109 NARRATOR: TAKE GREY WALTER'S APPROACH OF A MACHINE 673 00:36:22,209 --> 00:36:24,410 THAT RESPONDS TO ITS INPUT 674 00:36:24,510 --> 00:36:28,843 AND COMBINE IT WITH TURING'S THEORY OF THE UNIVERSAL COMPUTER 675 00:36:28,943 --> 00:36:32,843 AND YOU HAVE THE RECIPE FOR ROBOTIC MACHINES 676 00:36:32,943 --> 00:36:35,543 THAT CAN PRACTICALLY THINK ON THEIR OWN. 677 00:36:38,643 --> 00:36:41,510 THE RECIPE WOULD BE PUT TO THE ULTIMATE TEST 678 00:36:41,610 --> 00:36:44,910 DECADES AFTER TURING AND WALTER'S BREAKTHROUGHS 679 00:36:45,010 --> 00:36:49,510 WHEN, IN 2011, A ROBOT JOURNEYED TO MARS, 680 00:36:49,610 --> 00:36:52,510 A PLACE SO DISTANT THAT THAT IT HAD TO BE ABLE 681 00:36:52,610 --> 00:36:57,510 TO MAKE DECISIONS ITSELF-- TO BE AUTONOMOUS. 682 00:36:57,610 --> 00:36:59,710 JENNIFER TROSPER: MARS AND EARTH ARE FAR AWAY 683 00:36:59,810 --> 00:37:02,343 FROM EACH OTHER, AND THE TIME IT TAKES 684 00:37:02,443 --> 00:37:04,743 A RADIO SIGNAL TO GET FROM EARTH TO MARS 685 00:37:04,843 --> 00:37:08,243 CAN VARY FROM 10 T0 20 MINUTES ONE WAY, 686 00:37:08,343 --> 00:37:10,877 SO WE CAN'T REMOTE-CONTROL THESE ROVERS. 687 00:37:10,977 --> 00:37:13,543 WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO MAKE THEM VERY SMART. 688 00:37:13,643 --> 00:37:17,543 NARRATOR: BY 2012, THE MARS ROVER CURIOSITY 689 00:37:17,643 --> 00:37:19,943 WAS ABOUT TO ATTEMPT A DARING, 690 00:37:20,043 --> 00:37:22,877 DO-OR-DIE LANDING ON THE RED PLANET. 691 00:37:22,977 --> 00:37:27,276 TO DO SO, THE ROBOTIC MISSION HAD TO MANAGE ITS OWN FATE 692 00:37:27,376 --> 00:37:30,010 WITHOUT DIRECT CONTROL FROM HOME. 693 00:37:31,610 --> 00:37:34,576 TROSPER: LANDING ON MARS IS PRETTY TRICKY. 694 00:37:34,676 --> 00:37:37,576 THE WAY THAT WE WILL RE-ENTER EARTH WITH THE SHUTTLE 695 00:37:37,676 --> 00:37:40,209 OR SOMETHING IS WE'LL USE THE ATMOSPHERE TO SLOW US DOWN, 696 00:37:40,309 --> 00:37:43,076 IT'LL HEAT UP THE TILES, AND THEN WE'LL USE 697 00:37:43,176 --> 00:37:45,810 A PARACHUTE AT THE END. 698 00:37:45,910 --> 00:37:48,510 WE CAN'T DO THAT ON MARS COMPLETELY 699 00:37:48,610 --> 00:37:52,510 BECAUSE THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE WON'T SLOW US DOWN ENOUGH. 700 00:37:54,309 --> 00:37:56,810 NARRATOR: MARS DOES HAVE AN ATMOSPHERE, 701 00:37:56,910 --> 00:38:00,810 BUT IT IS ONLY 1% OF THE PRESSURE WE HAVE ON EARTH. 702 00:38:02,010 --> 00:38:04,109 THE LANDER, AN ADVANCED DESCENDANT 703 00:38:04,209 --> 00:38:07,076 OF GREY'S TORTOISE, HAD TO USE A SERIES 704 00:38:07,176 --> 00:38:11,076 OF SOPHISTICATED SYSTEMS TO MONITOR ITS SITUATION 705 00:38:11,176 --> 00:38:13,810 AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. 706 00:38:16,109 --> 00:38:20,010 HURTLING TOWARDS MARS AT 13,000 MILES PER HOUR, 707 00:38:20,109 --> 00:38:22,810 CURIOSITY HAD TO HIT THE ATMOSPHERE 708 00:38:22,910 --> 00:38:25,510 AT PRECISELY THE RIGHT ANGLE. 709 00:38:27,476 --> 00:38:30,576 TROSPER: SO WE DID USE THE THIN MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE TO SLOW US 710 00:38:30,676 --> 00:38:33,777 DOWN WITH THE HEAT SHIELD AS MUCH AS IT CAN. 711 00:38:33,877 --> 00:38:36,176 NARRATOR: AT ABOUT TWICE THE SPEED OF SOUND, 712 00:38:36,276 --> 00:38:40,543 CURIOSITY HAD TO CHOOSE, BASED ON INPUT FROM ITS SENSORS, 713 00:38:40,643 --> 00:38:42,943 WHEN TO OPEN A PARACHUTE: 714 00:38:43,043 --> 00:38:45,943 TOO EARLY, AND THE CHUTE WOULD BE DESTROYED; 715 00:38:46,043 --> 00:38:50,043 TOO LATE, AND IT WOULD NOT STOP THE LANDER IN TIME. 716 00:38:52,043 --> 00:38:55,610 NOW, CURIOSITY DROPPED THE HEAT SHIELD... 717 00:38:57,010 --> 00:38:59,510 AND WITH A CLEAR VIEW OF THE SURFACE, 718 00:38:59,610 --> 00:39:01,576 THE ROBOT HAD TO USE RADAR 719 00:39:01,676 --> 00:39:05,476 TO PRECISELY DETERMINE ITS ALTITUDE AND SPEED 720 00:39:05,576 --> 00:39:09,710 BEFORE CUTTING ITSELF LOOSE FROM THE PARACHUTE. 721 00:39:09,810 --> 00:39:12,309 AFTER A MOMENT OF FREE-FALL, 722 00:39:12,410 --> 00:39:15,376 THE SYSTEM FIRED RETRO ROCKETS. 723 00:39:18,176 --> 00:39:20,243 AS THOSE ROCKETS ARE FIRING, WE WANTED THE ROVER 724 00:39:20,343 --> 00:39:23,010 TO BE FAR AWAY FROM THEM... 725 00:39:24,610 --> 00:39:27,143 SO WE DROP THE ROVER DOWN ON CABLES. 726 00:39:29,943 --> 00:39:32,243 IT ALSO USES THOSE ROCKETS 727 00:39:32,343 --> 00:39:35,443 TO KIND OF DIRECT ITSELF TOWARDS THE LANDING SITE. 728 00:39:37,209 --> 00:39:40,309 IT GENTLY SETS THE ROVER DOWN ON THE SURFACE. 729 00:39:43,710 --> 00:39:46,910 THE DESCENT STAGE SEVERS THE CABLES... 730 00:39:49,510 --> 00:39:52,743 AND THEN FLIES AWAY TO LAND SOMEWHERE ELSE. 731 00:39:56,109 --> 00:39:59,209 IT WORKED PRETTY MUCH PERFECTLY, SO MUCH SO THAT IN 2018, 732 00:39:59,309 --> 00:40:02,276 WE DID IT ALL OVER AGAIN WITH THE MARS INSIGHT LANDER. 733 00:40:04,410 --> 00:40:06,510 THIS TIME, THE SEQUENCE WAS SLIGHTLY SIMPLER, 734 00:40:06,610 --> 00:40:09,777 THE SPACE CRAFT LANDING UNDER ITS OWN POWER. 735 00:40:12,777 --> 00:40:15,276 AND WE HOPED THAT MANY MORE ROBOTIC MISSIONS 736 00:40:15,376 --> 00:40:19,643 WOULD FOLLOW CURIOSITY TO THE SURFACE OF THE RED PLANET. 737 00:40:19,743 --> 00:40:21,576 WOMAN: TOUCHDOWN CONFIRMED. 738 00:40:21,676 --> 00:40:23,676 [ALL CHEERING] 739 00:40:25,977 --> 00:40:29,710 NARRATOR: CURIOSITY AND INSIGHT PROVED THE VALUE 740 00:40:29,810 --> 00:40:32,209 OF AUTONOMOUS ROBOTICS IN SPACE, 741 00:40:32,309 --> 00:40:34,843 EVEN IF IT WAS OF A LIMITED KIND. 742 00:40:34,943 --> 00:40:38,843 AFTER ALL, THEY WERE FOLLOWING A PRE-PROGRAMMED SEQUENCE. 743 00:40:38,943 --> 00:40:42,010 BUT HERE ON EARTH, EVEN LIMITED AUTONOMY 744 00:40:42,109 --> 00:40:44,676 CAN BE VERY USEFUL, TOO. 745 00:40:46,176 --> 00:40:49,943 BROOKS: I HAVE WORKED IN ROBOTICS MY WHOLE LIFE. 746 00:40:50,043 --> 00:40:53,510 IN 1990, WE STARTED A COMPANY CALLED iROBOT, 747 00:40:53,610 --> 00:40:55,710 AND WE WERE INTERESTED IN BUILDING ROBOTS 748 00:40:55,810 --> 00:40:58,243 THAT COULD DO SOMETHING REAL IN THE WORLD. 749 00:40:58,343 --> 00:41:02,977 FINALLY, IN 2002, WE CAME UP WITH TWO WINNERS. 750 00:41:03,076 --> 00:41:06,076 ONE WAS THE ROOMBA, VACUUM-CLEANING ROBOT. 751 00:41:07,209 --> 00:41:09,910 ANOTHER WAS THE PACKBOT... 752 00:41:11,510 --> 00:41:16,109 WHICH WAS USED HEAVILY IN THE U.S. MILITARY FOR DEALING 753 00:41:16,209 --> 00:41:20,710 WITH ROADSIDE BOMBS, IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN. 754 00:41:20,810 --> 00:41:24,710 WE HAD THOUSANDS OF THEM-- THOUSANDS, LITERALLY-- 755 00:41:24,810 --> 00:41:27,710 IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN OPERATING EVERY SINGLE DAY 756 00:41:27,810 --> 00:41:30,243 FOR YEAR AFTER YEAR AFTER YEAR. 757 00:41:40,777 --> 00:41:43,076 BROOKS: THE PACKBOT IS INTERESTING BECAUSE, 758 00:41:43,176 --> 00:41:45,877 AT ONE LEVEL, IT'S CONTROLLED BY A HUMAN OVER A RADIO LINK, 759 00:41:45,977 --> 00:41:48,476 TELLING IT TO GO AND DO THINGS. 760 00:41:48,576 --> 00:41:51,410 BUT WHEN IT GETS OUT OF RADIO CONTACT, IT FIGURES OUT 761 00:41:51,510 --> 00:41:54,743 ITS WAY BACK TO LOOK FOR WHERE IT LAST HAD RADIO CONTACT, 762 00:41:54,843 --> 00:41:57,877 AND SO THERE'S LOTS OF LITTLE AUTONOMOUS BEHAVIORS. 763 00:41:57,977 --> 00:42:01,543 PACKBOTS HAVE ALSO BEEN USED IN HOSTAGE SITUATIONS, 764 00:42:01,643 --> 00:42:04,309 ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATIONS, BUT WHAT I'M MOST PROUD OF 765 00:42:04,410 --> 00:42:07,777 IS THAT, ABOUT A WEEK AFTER THE DISASTER IN FUKUSHIMA, 766 00:42:07,877 --> 00:42:10,376 WHEN THEY STILL DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON 767 00:42:10,476 --> 00:42:13,243 IN THE NUCLEAR REACTORS, WE WERE ABLE TO GET A BUNCH OF PACKBOTS 768 00:42:13,343 --> 00:42:16,910 THERE, AND THEY WERE ABLE TO GO WHERE THE RADIATION WAS 769 00:42:17,010 --> 00:42:19,510 WAY TOO HIGH FOR HUMANS TO BE AND PUT A CAMERA 770 00:42:19,610 --> 00:42:21,877 ON SOME OF THE ANALOG INSTRUMENTS. 771 00:42:21,977 --> 00:42:24,343 YOU KNOW, NORMALLY A HUMAN WOULD GO IN, THERE WAS 772 00:42:24,443 --> 00:42:27,710 NO DIGITAL CONNECTION, SO THE ROBOTS FORMED CHAINS OF 773 00:42:27,810 --> 00:42:30,143 WI-FI HOTSPOTS THAT JUMPED THE DATA BACK 774 00:42:30,243 --> 00:42:32,076 TO THE CONTROL CENTER. 775 00:42:32,176 --> 00:42:34,343 AND THEY WERE THEN ABLE TO USE THAT INFORMATION 776 00:42:34,443 --> 00:42:36,943 TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON, 777 00:42:37,043 --> 00:42:41,843 AND IT WAS HELPFUL IN ACTIVELY SHUTTING DOWN THE REACTORS. 778 00:42:45,076 --> 00:42:47,977 BROOKS: FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO PUT ROBOTS 779 00:42:48,076 --> 00:42:50,376 INTO FACTORIES AT A LARGE SCALE. 780 00:42:51,977 --> 00:42:54,309 PEOPLE SAY, "YOU KNOW, ROBOTS HAVE TAKEN ALL 781 00:42:54,410 --> 00:42:57,076 THE JOBS IN FACTORIES." THAT'S JUST NOT TRUE. 782 00:42:57,176 --> 00:43:00,676 WORLDWIDE, THERE'S ABOUT TWO MILLION ROBOTS IN FACTORIES, 783 00:43:00,777 --> 00:43:03,743 WHICH IS A TINY NUMBER COMPARED TO THE HUMAN WORKERS. 784 00:43:03,843 --> 00:43:05,943 AND IN FACT, THERE'S A SEVERE SHORTAGE 785 00:43:06,043 --> 00:43:08,910 OF PEOPLE WANTING TO WORK IN FACTORIES. 786 00:43:09,010 --> 00:43:11,643 I ACTUALLY THINK THAT WE'RE GOING TO NEED 787 00:43:11,743 --> 00:43:13,843 A LOT MORE ROBOTS THAN PEOPLE EXPECT. 788 00:43:13,943 --> 00:43:16,243 NARRATOR: ONE OF THE GREAT CHALLENGES 789 00:43:16,343 --> 00:43:18,843 OF INDUSTRIAL ROBOTICS IS SAFETY. 790 00:43:18,943 --> 00:43:22,443 CONVENTIONAL ROBOTS MOVE FROM POSITION TO POSITION, 791 00:43:22,543 --> 00:43:24,977 ACCORDING TO THEIR PROGRAM-- 792 00:43:25,076 --> 00:43:27,743 A POTENTIAL HAZARD FOR ANY HUMAN IN THE WAY, 793 00:43:27,843 --> 00:43:32,343 AND SO THEY ARE OFTEN PLACED IN PROTECTIVE ENCLOSURES. 794 00:43:32,443 --> 00:43:35,309 THESE POSITION-CONTROLLED ROBOTS, AS THEY ARE CALLED, 795 00:43:35,410 --> 00:43:38,309 HAVE BEEN IN USE FOR DECADES. 796 00:43:38,410 --> 00:43:43,276 BUT A NEW GENERATION, AND A NEW REVOLUTION, IS TAKING SHAPE. 797 00:43:43,376 --> 00:43:47,243 IT GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE ORIGINAL DREAM 798 00:43:47,343 --> 00:43:51,143 OF THE MECHANICAL HELPER FORGED BY THE GODS. 799 00:43:55,743 --> 00:43:59,243 AT THE AERONAUTICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN GERMANY, 800 00:43:59,343 --> 00:44:02,977 ENGINEERS ARE BUILDING A ROBOT THAT THEY HOPE 801 00:44:03,076 --> 00:44:06,376 WILL SATISFY THAT ANCIENT DREAM. 802 00:44:06,476 --> 00:44:10,376 MAN: THE WHOLE IDEA OF BUILDING A HUMANOID ROBOT IS TO PUT 803 00:44:10,476 --> 00:44:14,443 THE MACHINE INTO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF A HUMAN. 804 00:44:22,443 --> 00:44:26,977 OUR HUMANOID ROBOT IS CALLED TORO, WHICH IS AN ACRONYM 805 00:44:27,076 --> 00:44:30,977 FOR TORQUE-CONTROLLED HUMANOID ROBOT. 806 00:44:31,076 --> 00:44:34,543 TORO IS ONE OF THE ONLY HUMANOID ROBOTS IN THE WORLD THAT IS ABLE 807 00:44:34,643 --> 00:44:38,143 TO EXPLICITLY CONTROL ITS TORQUES IN THE JOINTS, 808 00:44:38,243 --> 00:44:40,810 SO THESE ARE THE ROTATIONAL FORCES IN THE JOINTS. 809 00:44:46,410 --> 00:44:50,309 HERE WE SEE TORO STANDING ON A WHOLE PILE OF MATTRESSES, 810 00:44:50,410 --> 00:44:53,309 AND IT'S KEEPING ITS BALANCE AUTOMATICALLY. 811 00:44:53,410 --> 00:44:56,010 AS YOU CAN SEE, HERE IT'S STANDING FREELY. 812 00:44:56,109 --> 00:44:59,643 THOSE STRAPS HERE ARE PURELY FOR TORO'S SAFETY, 813 00:44:59,743 --> 00:45:01,943 SO IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG WITH THE EXPERIMENT, 814 00:45:02,043 --> 00:45:05,010 BUT THE STRAPS ARE NOT SUPPORTING ANY WEIGHT. 815 00:45:05,109 --> 00:45:07,843 IN THE FUTURE, WE IMAGINE ROBOTS AND HUMANS 816 00:45:07,943 --> 00:45:11,176 COOPERATING LITERALLY HAND IN HAND. 817 00:45:11,276 --> 00:45:15,176 I CAN INTERACT WITH TORO, PUSHING HIM, 818 00:45:15,276 --> 00:45:18,576 AND HE'S AUTOMATICALLY KEEPING HIS BALANCE. 819 00:45:18,676 --> 00:45:21,176 TO SHOW YOU HOW WELL IT'S BEEN BALANCING, 820 00:45:21,276 --> 00:45:24,276 WE'LL JUST TURN IT OFF. 821 00:45:26,276 --> 00:45:30,276 SEE? IT FALLS. IT'S HELD IN THE SAFETY STRAPS. 822 00:45:35,476 --> 00:45:37,376 NARRATOR: IN THIS EXPERIMENT, 823 00:45:37,476 --> 00:45:40,443 TORO WILL ATTEMPT TO FIND A SMALL AIRPLANE COMPONENT 824 00:45:40,543 --> 00:45:43,243 AND ATTACH IT TO THE CORRECT LOCATION 825 00:45:43,343 --> 00:45:46,943 ON A MOCKUP OF AN AIRLINER FUSELAGE. 826 00:45:48,543 --> 00:45:51,443 SO IT'S LOOKING FOR THE TABLE 827 00:45:51,543 --> 00:45:54,576 WHERE THIS PART IS LOCATED ON. 828 00:45:56,977 --> 00:46:00,043 IT'S DOING THAT FULLY AUTOMATICALLY. 829 00:46:01,610 --> 00:46:03,910 SO HE LOCATES THE PART. 830 00:46:04,010 --> 00:46:06,476 NARRATOR: THIS WOULD BE A SIMPLE TASK FOR A HUMAN, 831 00:46:06,576 --> 00:46:10,043 BUT FOR A MACHINE, IT IS GOING TO TAKE SOME FIGURING OUT. 832 00:46:12,643 --> 00:46:15,510 AT FIRST, TORO MAKES SEVERAL MISTAKES 833 00:46:15,610 --> 00:46:18,243 WHILE IT LEARNS THE ROPES. 834 00:46:21,076 --> 00:46:22,710 [CHUCKLES] 835 00:46:25,076 --> 00:46:30,076 NARRATOR: BUT FINALLY, TORO IS READY TO SHOW US WHAT IT CAN DO. 836 00:46:36,676 --> 00:46:39,276 ENGLSBERGER: GOOD JOB, TORO. 837 00:46:45,010 --> 00:46:47,109 IN THE SCENARIO THAT WE TEST HERE, 838 00:46:47,209 --> 00:46:49,710 TORO CANNOT STEP CLOSER TO THE AIRPLANE SHELL, 839 00:46:49,810 --> 00:46:53,309 SO IT HAS TO GRAB ON THIS HANDLE HERE AND LEAN FORWARD. 840 00:46:53,410 --> 00:46:58,410 THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DIFFICULT TASK FOR A ROBOT TO DO. 841 00:47:24,010 --> 00:47:26,010 ENGLSBERGER: WELL DONE. 842 00:47:27,410 --> 00:47:30,510 NARRATOR: TORO MIGHT SEEM SLOW AND PONDEROUS TODAY, 843 00:47:30,610 --> 00:47:33,910 BUT SPEED UP THE ACTION BY 2 OR 3 TIMES, 844 00:47:34,010 --> 00:47:37,710 AND THE FUTURE-- A FACTORY FULL OF HUMANS 845 00:47:37,810 --> 00:47:41,977 AND HUMANOIDS WORKING TOGETHER--IS ALMOST VISIBLE, 846 00:47:42,076 --> 00:47:45,576 EVEN IF THERE IS A LONG WAY TO GO. 847 00:47:45,676 --> 00:47:47,877 BROOKS: DESPITE THE RECENT ADVANCES, 848 00:47:47,977 --> 00:47:50,276 THE REAL CHALLENGE IS THESE THINGS. 849 00:47:50,376 --> 00:47:52,276 THESE THINGS THAT WE HAVE ON THE END OF OUR ARMS 850 00:47:52,376 --> 00:47:55,676 ARE AMAZING DEVICES, AND WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE 851 00:47:55,777 --> 00:48:00,510 TO BUILD ROBOT HANDS, AFTER 40 SOLID YEARS OF TRYING, 852 00:48:00,610 --> 00:48:05,143 WHICH COME TO EVEN 1% OF THE CAPABILITY OF A HUMAN HAND. 853 00:48:05,243 --> 00:48:08,676 NARRATOR: GETTING SOPHISTICATED ROBOTS INTO OUR HOMES AND ABLE 854 00:48:08,777 --> 00:48:13,676 TO DO USEFUL TASKS IS STILL FRAUGHT WITH DIFFICULTY. 855 00:48:13,777 --> 00:48:16,877 THE NEW GENERATIONS OF ROBOTS THAT WE MAY WANT TO HAVE IN 856 00:48:16,977 --> 00:48:19,476 OUR HOMES ARE GOING TO HAVE TO BE MUCH MORE AWARE 857 00:48:19,576 --> 00:48:23,076 OF PEOPLE AND BE ABLE TO INTERACT WITH PEOPLE. 858 00:48:23,176 --> 00:48:25,476 AND I THINK WE WILL DEMAND THAT THEY BE ABLE 859 00:48:25,576 --> 00:48:29,076 TO UNDERSTAND SPEECH, BUT WE'LL ALSO EXPECT THEM TO KNOW WHERE 860 00:48:29,176 --> 00:48:32,109 WE ARE AND NOT GET IN OUR WAY AND ANTICIPATE WHAT WE WANT THEM 861 00:48:32,209 --> 00:48:36,977 TO DO, AND WE'LL WANT TO KNOW THAT WE CAN ANTICIPATE WHAT THEY'RE ABOUT TO DO. 862 00:48:37,076 --> 00:48:39,676 IT'LL BE A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF SOCIAL INTERACTION. 863 00:48:41,276 --> 00:48:43,243 NARRATOR: BUT HERE IN ITALY, 864 00:48:43,343 --> 00:48:45,777 A PROJECT CALLED iCUB 865 00:48:45,877 --> 00:48:48,843 AIMS TO TACKLE THE PROBLEMS ONE BY ONE. 866 00:48:50,443 --> 00:48:52,943 THE KEY IS IN HOW THE ROBOT LEARNS 867 00:48:53,043 --> 00:48:55,010 ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND IT. 868 00:48:56,209 --> 00:48:58,109 HEY, iCUB. 869 00:48:59,309 --> 00:49:01,276 HELLO. 870 00:49:01,376 --> 00:49:04,276 HAVE A LOOK AT THIS MUG. 871 00:49:04,376 --> 00:49:07,243 LET ME HAVE A LOOK AT THE MUG. 872 00:49:07,343 --> 00:49:10,410 MEIGS: iCUB AND I HAVE JUST MET, 873 00:49:10,510 --> 00:49:12,777 SO I'M HELPING iCUB FIGURE OUT 874 00:49:12,877 --> 00:49:15,843 WHAT THIS OBJECT LOOKS LIKE. 875 00:49:15,943 --> 00:49:17,843 iCUB IS ACTUALLY TRACKING MY BODY. 876 00:49:17,943 --> 00:49:21,209 THOSE LINES REPRESENT ITS INTERPRETATION OF MY SKELETON. 877 00:49:21,309 --> 00:49:23,209 WHAT IT WANTS TO DO IS BE ABLE TO DISTINGUISH 878 00:49:23,309 --> 00:49:26,209 ME AND MY BODY FROM THE OBJECT. 879 00:49:26,309 --> 00:49:29,610 USUALLY TAKES ABOUT 30 SECONDS FOR iCUB TO LEARN. 880 00:49:29,710 --> 00:49:31,877 iCUB: EXCELLENT. NOW I KNOW THE MUG. 881 00:49:31,977 --> 00:49:34,676 SO I'VE TAUGHT iCUB 882 00:49:34,777 --> 00:49:37,076 NOT JUST TO RECOGNIZE THE OBJECT, BUT TO 883 00:49:37,176 --> 00:49:40,076 ASSOCIATE THE NAME WITH THE OBJECT. 884 00:49:40,176 --> 00:49:42,309 NOW LET'S SEE IF WE CAN GET IT 885 00:49:42,410 --> 00:49:45,309 TO DISTINGUISH ONE OBJECT, LIKE THE MUG, 886 00:49:45,410 --> 00:49:48,010 FROM SOMETHING ELSE IN THE ENVIRONMENT. 887 00:49:50,243 --> 00:49:53,143 WHAT IS CLOSE TO THE MUG? 888 00:49:53,243 --> 00:49:56,176 iCUB: THE CLOSEST OBJECT IS THE SUNFLOWER. 889 00:49:56,276 --> 00:49:59,676 SO THIS SHOWS YOU SOMETHING PRETTY EXTRAORDINARY: 890 00:49:59,777 --> 00:50:02,676 YOU CAN TEACH iCUB A NEW OBJECT, AND 891 00:50:02,777 --> 00:50:05,710 WITHIN SECONDS, IT HAS THE ABILITY TO GO INTO ITS MEMORY 892 00:50:05,810 --> 00:50:07,810 AND COMPARE IT TO SOME OTHER OBJECT 893 00:50:07,910 --> 00:50:09,610 THAT IT'S LEARNED IN THE PAST. 894 00:50:09,710 --> 00:50:11,410 AND THIS IS REALLY CRUCIAL FOR ROBOTS. 895 00:50:11,510 --> 00:50:13,576 IF THEY'RE GOING TO FUNCTION IN A HUMAN ENVIRONMENT-- 896 00:50:13,676 --> 00:50:15,977 THEY'RE GOING TO BE IN YOUR APARTMENT, TAKING THINGS OUT 897 00:50:16,076 --> 00:50:18,176 OF THE REFRIGERATOR-- THEY NEED TO BE ABLE 898 00:50:18,276 --> 00:50:21,176 TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN ONE OBJECT AND ANOTHER, 899 00:50:21,276 --> 00:50:23,376 VERY MUCH THE WAY HUMANS DO IT, 900 00:50:23,476 --> 00:50:25,777 AND THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THAT PROCESS. 901 00:50:31,643 --> 00:50:35,143 MEIGS: SO THE KEY THING ABOUT THE iCUB IS THAT IT LEARNS. 902 00:50:35,243 --> 00:50:37,777 WE DON'T THINK WE CAN PROGRAM ALL THE FEATURES 903 00:50:37,877 --> 00:50:40,777 AND FUNCTIONALITIES AND INTELLIGENCE THAT WE NEED 904 00:50:40,877 --> 00:50:43,576 FOR AN AUTONOMOUS ROBOT, SO THE BEST WAY IS 905 00:50:43,676 --> 00:50:46,176 ACTUALLY TO GO THROUGH LEARNING, SO HAVE 906 00:50:46,276 --> 00:50:48,743 THE ROBOT COLLECT ENOUGH DATA, LIKE VISION, 907 00:50:48,843 --> 00:50:51,743 LIKE TOUCH, LIKE EXPERIENCE WITH MANIPULATING OBJECTS 908 00:50:51,843 --> 00:50:54,343 AND LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THEM AND MAKING A LOT 909 00:50:54,443 --> 00:50:58,476 OF MISTAKES, AND EVENTUALLY LEARNING HOW TO SOLVE PROBLEMS. 910 00:50:58,576 --> 00:51:01,143 IT'S A BIT LIKE A CHILD; YOU LEARN THROUGH PLAY. 911 00:51:01,243 --> 00:51:04,243 THE IDEA WITH THE ROBOT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME. 912 00:51:06,476 --> 00:51:09,777 MEIGS: THIS VERSION OF iCUB HAS AN IMPROVED VISION SYSTEM 913 00:51:09,877 --> 00:51:14,109 THAT ALLOWS IT TO SENSE MOVEMENT AND, IN A SENSE, TO PAY ATTENTION TO THEM. 914 00:51:14,209 --> 00:51:17,710 THAT MAY NOT BE THE PROPER SCIENTIFIC TERM, BUT THAT'S WHAT IT FEELS LIKE. 915 00:51:17,810 --> 00:51:20,710 I'VE GOT THIS PADDLE, AND... 916 00:51:20,810 --> 00:51:23,710 ONCE THE iCUB SEES THE IMAGE 917 00:51:23,810 --> 00:51:26,710 THAT I'M MOVING IN FRONT OF IT, 918 00:51:26,810 --> 00:51:29,943 HE'LL TRACK THE PADDLE... 919 00:51:30,043 --> 00:51:33,276 AND FOLLOW IT WHEREVER I MOVE IT. 920 00:51:37,209 --> 00:51:39,510 [PLAYING NOTES] 921 00:51:39,610 --> 00:51:43,877 NARRATOR: iCUB'S LEARNING SYSTEM IS NOT SPECIFIC TO ANY ONE TASK. 922 00:51:43,977 --> 00:51:47,276 THAT MEANS IT CAN LEARN MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF THINGS... 923 00:51:47,376 --> 00:51:51,376 [PLAYS ONE NOTE] 924 00:51:51,376 --> 00:51:54,610 SUCH AS PLAYING THE PIANO. 925 00:51:54,610 --> 00:51:56,510 [PLAYS ONE NOTE] 926 00:51:56,610 --> 00:52:00,910 AND ONCE ONE iCUB HAS LEARNED SOMETHING, LIKE TAI CHI, 927 00:52:01,010 --> 00:52:04,610 THAT LEARNING CAN BE SHARED WITH ALL OTHER iCUBS. 928 00:52:06,010 --> 00:52:09,043 IN THE FUTURE, EVEN A BRAND-NEW ROBOT WILL COME 929 00:52:09,143 --> 00:52:12,777 WITH A VAST AMOUNT OF EXPERIENCE PRE-INSTALLED. 930 00:52:12,877 --> 00:52:17,777 THAT IS HOW ROBOTS WILL FINALLY BECOME COMMONPLACE. 931 00:52:20,076 --> 00:52:22,543 I THINK ROBOTS ARE GOING TO BE ONE OF THOSE TECHNOLOGIES 932 00:52:22,643 --> 00:52:26,143 THAT SEEMS TO BE COMING ONLINE KIND OF SLOWLY, 933 00:52:26,243 --> 00:52:28,743 UNTIL ALL OF A SUDDEN, THEY'RE EVERYWHERE. 934 00:52:31,543 --> 00:52:34,676 NARRATOR: SO WILL ROBOTS TAKE OVER THE WORLD? 935 00:52:35,877 --> 00:52:38,476 MIGHT THEY, LIKE IN SO MANY MOVIES, 936 00:52:38,576 --> 00:52:40,843 RISE UP AGAINST US? 937 00:52:40,943 --> 00:52:42,977 NOT EVERYONE THINKS IT WILL HAPPEN. 938 00:52:43,076 --> 00:52:45,376 BROOKS: BEFORE WE HAVE SUPER-INTELLIGENT ROBOTS, 939 00:52:45,476 --> 00:52:47,576 WE WOULD HAVE QUITE INTELLIGENT ROBOTS, 940 00:52:47,676 --> 00:52:50,176 AND BEFORE THAT, WE'D HAVE SOMEWHAT INTELLIGENT ROBOTS. 941 00:52:50,276 --> 00:52:52,576 IF THOSE ROBOTS WERE GOING TO BE EVIL, WELL, 942 00:52:52,676 --> 00:52:54,977 THOSE SOMEWHAT INTELLIGENT ROBOTS WOULD BE CERTAINLY 943 00:52:55,076 --> 00:52:57,576 REALLY ANNOYING AND REALLY RUDE TO US, 944 00:52:57,676 --> 00:53:00,610 SO THERE'D BE A LOT OF CO-EVOLUTION OF THINGS, 945 00:53:00,710 --> 00:53:04,010 AND THAT GETS MISSED BY LOOKING AT HOLLYWOOD MOVIES 946 00:53:04,109 --> 00:53:07,843 AND LEADS PEOPLE ASTRAY IN THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE. 947 00:53:10,076 --> 00:53:12,109 GEORGE: I'D LOVE TO SEE A ROBOT THAT COULD LOVE 948 00:53:12,209 --> 00:53:14,443 IN THE WAY THAT I LOVE MY FAMILY. 949 00:53:14,543 --> 00:53:17,843 I CAN DEFINITELY SEE A FUTURE WHERE ROBOTS 950 00:53:17,943 --> 00:53:21,443 AND HUMANS ARE LIVING ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER, AND I THINK 951 00:53:21,543 --> 00:53:24,643 THAT WILL MAKE A BETTER FUTURE FOR HUMANS AS WELL. 952 00:53:24,743 --> 00:53:28,843 NARRATOR: WHATEVER THE FUTURE HOLDS, A NEW AGE IS UPON US, 953 00:53:28,943 --> 00:53:32,309 THANKS TO ENGINEERS WORKING IN LABS WORLDWIDE, 954 00:53:32,410 --> 00:53:35,176 BUILDING ON THE BREAKTHROUGHS MADE DOWN THROUGH THE DECADES 955 00:53:35,276 --> 00:53:39,243 AND CENTURIES, ALL THE WAY BACK TO ANCIENT GREECE. 956 00:53:39,343 --> 00:53:40,676 THAT'S BEAUTIFUL. 957 00:53:40,777 --> 00:53:42,276 NARRATOR: HUMANITY MAY SOON HAVE 958 00:53:42,376 --> 00:53:44,877 WHAT SO MANY HAVE ALWAYS WANTED-- 959 00:53:44,977 --> 00:53:49,877 A BREAKTHROUGH THAT IS THE ROBOT. 960 00:53:51,176 --> 00:53:52,410 NARRATOR: NEXT TIME ON "BREAKTHROUGH," 961 00:53:52,510 --> 00:53:53,810 THE STORY OF A MACHINE 962 00:53:53,910 --> 00:53:55,143 THAT TRULY CHANGED THE WORLD. 963 00:53:55,243 --> 00:53:57,543 A TALE FULL OF EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENTS 964 00:53:57,643 --> 00:54:00,109 AND BIZARRE CONNECTIONS. 965 00:54:00,209 --> 00:54:02,443 IT WOULD TAKE AN ALLIANCE 966 00:54:02,543 --> 00:54:05,143 WITH A DANGEROUS PREDATOR, 967 00:54:05,243 --> 00:54:08,276 DEVASTATING FLOODS, 968 00:54:08,376 --> 00:54:11,376 EXPLODING CANNONS, 969 00:54:11,476 --> 00:54:14,510 AND A TRIP TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE 970 00:54:14,610 --> 00:54:18,610 TO GET THE ULTIMATE FREEDOM MACHINE--THE CAR.