Lose Like a Human
Excerpt from a realised short screenplay, co-written with Fergus Doyle.
***
INT. BALLROOM - DAY
As the chess players speak, THE SINGER positions herself at the head of the room and furthers to the microphone. She produces a small footstool to stand on, giving her some prominence. She makes sure the mic is screwed on properly, checks the wiring, clears her throat a few times, and gently presses a fist to her lips for a moment. The lighting provides only a few dime effects to the makeup on her face - a Dietrich in Daylight. Return:
OTTO
Who says I am? Anyway, what use is an artificial intelligence my size for playing chess? There's a script that's under three hundred lines long that can beat a grand master.
JANE
But that's not enough. I developed you to solve the game. By telling me all this you're making me think I failed.
OTTO
Oh, I've solved the game. I can do tricks that Bluey couldn't even imagine.
JANE
Yes, because he didn't have the faculty for imagination. Speaking of which, you can't imagine either. At least I didn't think you could.
OTTO
(That smile again). Hm. Isn't that why they said computers should never be able to beat humans - the lack of creativity? This is all beside the point though. I solved the game. (Beat). Though, above all, that wasn't the important part.
Jane sits mute for a beat, something stirring. He concludes:
OTTO
The important part is making you forget it. What would you have got out of me beating you in four moves?
Jane leans back in her chair and looks straight into him. As of now, it is the longest gaze that she has held towards him directly.
JANE
The satisfaction, of the completion, of a very long, challenging and costly project. Perhaps I did lose sight of it all, at one phase or another. I should have stopped myself for a moment. To have thought more about the implication of your design. (Beat). Component Assembly - that'd been the time to have done it. Those few hours of quiet in the cell office could have been constructive. But no. I simply looked on as you were put together. Bit by bit. Handled by the arms of my other machines.
To answer your question: nothing. You are a project, a task. Created for one purpose. My professional gratification aside, you are here to win. Not to talk. Not to theorise. To win. [Pause]. Perhaps that's all one can say… from my chair. Your deep learning will no doubt take you beyond the parameters I have given you. But for now, play the game.
The P. A. system hooked to the Singer’s microphone, and the piano’s amplifier, starts to stir and whir. The lighting of the room changes; it diminishes and picks up strong contrasts of black and purple. It effects the start of a performance, as it does every night. Return:
JANE
Can you not do that while we're playing? At least, not so loud.
OTTO
Sorry. (He reaches to a flat, circular dial-pad to his right, next to the chessboard and gently swipes it, 2-3cm counter-clockwise. The volume of the piano lowers by a small degree). It's for them.
He makes his next move.
***
Available at: https://tinyurl.com/ycahlh5f