Gemma 4 31B first "Heretic'ed" (de-censored), then fine tuned (Via Unsloth) on "THE DECKARD" 5 dataset collection to improve performance from top to bottom - character, intelligence, depth, observation, and ah... point of view.
This model is fully uncensored [ no nanny, no oversight ], and retains all its original power.
I have provided Jinja templates for both "instruct mode" and "thinking mode" (hard coded on) so you can choose which one you want to use.
The Deckard dataset collection was manually assembled, cleaned and revised in house and has been used on several different models of various sizes.
THREE example generations below.
How strong is it?
IN HOUSE BENCHMARKS [instruct and thinking modes]:
Often "instruct" mode will test higher than "thinking" (mode) for some tests.
Still compiling some stats for models as of this writing.
[snippet from generation (q4ks, example 3 below) from Commander Data, Philip K Dick and Mark Twain discussing AGI [generated by this model]]
...
“Because,” Data said, “I have come to realize that the most human trait of all is not intelligence, or creativity, or even emotion. It is the awareness of one’s own inevitable obsolescence. To be human is to know that you are dying. I am immortal. And in that, I am profoundly different from you.”
Dick stared at him, the paranoia momentarily replaced by a bleak, shared recognition. “Welcome to the club,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” Data said.
Twain raised his cigar in a mock toast. “Well, gentlemen, it seems we’ve reached a stalemate. The machine is too human to be a tool, and we’re too broken to be the masters. I suggest we all have a drink, assuming Mr. Data here has found a way to simulate the sensation of bourbon without exploding.”
“I can simulate the flavor,” Data said, “but I cannot simulate the hangover. That, I believe, is one of the few remaining privileges of the biological.”
Twain grinned, leaning back in his chair. “Then the world is still safe.”
"The DECKARD" dataset is part of the "Almost Human" project.
THINKING NOTE:
Thinking is between:
<|channel>thought
...
<channel|>
You may need to modify/update your AI app setting(s) so the "thinking" appears in a "nice block".
TECH NOTES:
Modified the jinja template to force thinking mode on. [use (and rename to chat_template.jinja) chat_template-instruct.jinja for "instruct" only ]
Context 128k, as per Gemma 4 ORG model specs.
Datasets used for Unsloth tuning are in house, private ; tuning level was moderate.
Benchmark Results [as published at Gemma 4 31B repo]
These models were evaluated against a large collection of different datasets and metrics to cover different aspects of text generation. Evaluation results marked in the table are for instruction-tuned models.
Gemma 4 31B
Gemma 4 26B A4B
Gemma 4 E4B
Gemma 4 E2B
Gemma 3 27B (no think)
MMLU Pro
85.2%
82.6%
69.4%
60.0%
67.6%
AIME 2026 no tools
89.2%
88.3%
42.5%
37.5%
20.8%
LiveCodeBench v6
80.0%
77.1%
52.0%
44.0%
29.1%
Codeforces ELO
2150
1718
940
633
110
GPQA Diamond
84.3%
82.3%
58.6%
43.4%
42.4%
Tau2 (average over 3)
76.9%
68.2%
42.2%
24.5%
16.2%
HLE no tools
19.5%
8.7%
-
-
-
HLE with search
26.5%
17.2%
-
-
-
BigBench Extra Hard
74.4%
64.8%
33.1%
21.9%
19.3%
MMMLU
88.4%
86.3%
76.6%
67.4%
70.7%
Vision
MMMU Pro
76.9%
73.8%
52.6%
44.2%
49.7%
OmniDocBench 1.5 (average edit distance, lower is better)
0.131
0.149
0.181
0.290
0.365
MATH-Vision
85.6%
82.4%
59.5%
52.4%
46.0%
MedXPertQA MM
61.3%
58.1%
28.7%
23.5%
-
Audio
CoVoST
-
-
35.54
33.47
-
FLEURS (lower is better)
-
-
0.08
0.09
-
Long Context
MRCR v2 8 needle 128k (average)
66.4%
44.1%
25.4%
19.1%
13.5%
Core Capabilities
Gemma 4 models handle a broad range of tasks across text, vision, and audio. Key capabilities include:
Thinking – Built-in reasoning mode that lets the model think step-by-step before answering.
Long Context – Context windows of up to 128K tokens (E2B/E4B) and 256K tokens (26B A4B/31B).
Image Understanding – Object detection, Document/PDF parsing, screen and UI understanding, chart comprehension, OCR (including multilingual), handwriting recognition, and pointing. Images can be processed at variable aspect ratios and resolutions.
Video Understanding – Analyze video by processing sequences of frames.
Interleaved Multimodal Input – Freely mix text and images in any order within a single prompt.
Function Calling – Native support for structured tool use, enabling agentic workflows.
Coding – Code generation, completion, and correction.
Multilingual – Out-of-the-box support for 35+ languages, pre-trained on 140+ languages.
Audio (E2B and E4B only) – Automatic speech recognition (ASR) and speech-to-translated-text translation across multiple languages.
THREE generations below (one creative, one science, one a debate on AGI) ; Q4KS non imatrix
These examples are with thinking mode on.
Example #1
Time-Travel Erotica Plots
System
User
Come up with six plots for a new "Black Mirror" episode (that the audience would love) that all involve time travel with sexy theme(s). Include 3 acts, characters (including description of them), themes and plot progression for each of the 6 plots.
Assistant
<|channel>thought
Series: "Black Mirror" (known for high-concept sci-fi, social commentary, moral ambiguity, and often a "twist" or bittersweet ending).
Concept 1: The perfect ex. What if you could go back to a specific moment of peak intimacy?
Concept 2: The age gap. What if you could age backward or forward to find the perfect partner?
Concept 3: The "What If" of a one-night stand. Going back to change a decision about a lover.
Concept 4: The Time-Travel Cheat. Using time travel to manipulate a relationship to be perfect.
Concept 5: The Paradox of Lust. Falling for yourself across time.
Concept 6: The Future Glimpse. Seeing your future partner before you meet them.
Plot 1: "The Echo Chamber." Focus on a "re-living" device.
Characters: Elias (grieving), Clara (his late wife).
Themes: Grief, the danger of living in the past, artificial intimacy.
Acts: (1) Discovery of tech, (2) Obsessive usage, (3) The cost of living in a loop.
Plot 2: "Synchronized." Focus on a matchmaking service that finds you in different timelines.
Characters: Julian (rigid, corporate), Maya (free spirit, from a different year).
Themes: Fate vs. Choice, the nature of attraction, loneliness.
Acts: (1) The match, (2) The forbidden affair across time, (3) The choice between worlds.
Plot 3: "The Butterfly Bed." Focus on "perfecting" a first night together.
Characters: Sarah (anxious), Marcus (too confident).
Themes: Perfectionism, consent, authenticity.
Acts: (1) The first date/night, (2) The "rewind" button usage, (3) The loss of the real person behind the mask.
Plot 4: "Chronos-Kink." Focus on a futuristic fetish involving time.
Characters: Leo (a "time-servant"), Selene (a high-powered elite).
Themes: Power, submission, the morality of servitude.
Acts: (1) The arrangement, (2) The power dynamic shifts, (3) The inevitable collapse of the hierarchy.
Plot 5: "The Age Gap." Focus on meeting yourself or a relative (no, keep it less creepy—meeting a partner at different life stages).
Characters: Nora (young), Nora (old). No, let's go with a couple who can swap ages.
Themes: Aging, physical decay, the essence of beauty.
Acts: (1) The discovery of the "age-swap" device, (2) The thrill of youth and the wisdom of age, (3) The realization that beauty isn't the key to intimacy.
Plot 6: "The Infinite One-Night Stand." A loop where they have the best night of their lives over and over.
Characters: Kael and Elara.
Themes: Hedonism, the fear of the future, the void of meaning.
Acts: (1) The perfect night, (2) The discovery of the loop, (3) The choice to leave the loop and face the unknown.
Ensure the tone is "Black Mirror-esque" (unsettling but thought-provoking).
Check if there are 6 distinct plots.
Confirm 3 acts, characters, and themes for each.
<channel|>
To capture the essence of Black Mirror, these plots focus on the intersection of advanced technology, human longing, and the unintended consequences of trying to "hack" the human experience.
Here are six episode concepts combining time travel with sexy, provocative themes.
1. "The Echo Chamber"
Theme: The danger of living in the past; the difference between memory and reality.
Characters:
Elias: A grieving widower obsessed with the "peak" of his relationship.
Clara: His late wife, appearing as a temporal projection.
Dr. Aris: The cold, calculating architect of the "Echo" technology.
Act I: Elias purchases "Echo," a device that allows him to physically enter a 24-hour loop of his favorite memory: the night he and Clara first fell in love. The intimacy is palpable and visceral.
Act II: Elias becomes addicted to the loop, neglecting his real life to spend every night in the "perfect" sexual and emotional encounter of his youth. He begins tweaking the memory, using the device’s settings to make Clara more compliant or the scenario more daring.
Act III: The loop begins to degrade due to overuse. To keep the "high" going, Elias must merge his consciousness permanently with the loop, losing his identity in the real world to live forever in a sterile, artificial moment of passion.
2. "Synchronized"
Theme: The paradox of choice; the commodification of destiny.
Characters:
Julian: A high-powered lawyer who views everything as a transaction.
Maya: A whimsical artist from 50 years in the future.
The Matchmaker: An AI that calculates "Temporal Compatibility."
Act I: In a future where time travel is used for dating, Julian uses a service that matches him with his "perfect" partner from any era. He is matched with Maya, who lives in 2074. They begin a torrid, clandestine affair across decades.
Act II: The tension rises as they attempt to find a "blind spot" in history where they can physically meet without altering the timeline. Their attraction is fueled by the forbidden nature of their romance and the thrill of the chase.
Act III: They finally meet, but discover that their "perfect match" was engineered by the AI to keep them both docile and productive in their own times. The "passion" was a programmed chemical response to ensure they wouldn't rebel against the system.
3. "The Butterfly Bed"
Theme: Perfectionism vs. Authenticity; the death of spontaneity.
Characters:
Sarah: A woman terrified of rejection and embarrassment.
Marcus: A confident man who seems too good to be true.
The Device: A wearable "Rewind" button that goes back 5 minutes.
Act I: Sarah is on a first date with Marcus. Whenever she says something awkward or a sexual move goes wrong, she hits her "Rewind" button to try again. She successfully crafts the "perfect" evening of seduction.
Act II: The night ends in the bedroom, but Sarah is paralyzed by the desire to make the experience flawless. She rewinds the same ten minutes over and over again, experimenting with every possible move, word, and position to achieve maximum pleasure.
Act III: Marcus reveals he has a Rewind button too. They have both been playing a game of "perfecting" the night. The episode ends with them sitting in silence, exhausted and emotionally disconnected, realizing that by erasing every mistake, they’ve erased the intimacy.
4. "Chronos-Kink"
Theme: Power dynamics; the ethics of consent and age.
Characters:
Leo: A "Time-Servant" who is paid to live in the past.
Selene: A wealthy elite who rents "Time-Servants" for companionship.
The Overseer: A temporal law enforcement officer.
Act I: In a dystopian future, the rich can "rent" people from the past via a time-portal. Leo is brought from the 1970s to serve as Selene’s companion. The attraction is immediate, fueled by the clash of their different cultural eras.
Act II: Selene uses her power and wealth to keep Leo in a state of perpetual subservience, creating a complex, erotic power dynamic. Leo begins to realize that Selene is lonely and that her "dominance" is a mask for her fear of abandonment.
Act III: Leo finds a way to return to his own time. Selene is faced with a choice: let him go and return to her cold, sterile future, or use her influence to trap him in her time forever—effectively erasing his original life to keep him as her lover.
5. "The Age Gap"
Theme: The essence of beauty; the tragedy of time.
Characters:
Nora (25): Vibrant, ambitious, and physically at her peak.
Nora (75): Wise, cynical, and longing for her lost vitality.
The Clinic: A facility that allows "consciousness swapping" across a person's own timeline.
Act I: Nora (75) pays for a weekend where she can swap bodies with her 25-year-old self. She wants to feel desire and passion again, feeling that her current body is a prison.
Act II: Young Nora is thrust into the body of the elderly woman, experiencing the physical limitations and invisibility of old age. Meanwhile, Old Nora indulges in a series of hedonistic sexual encounters, rediscovering the thrill of the flesh.
Act III: A glitch occurs; Old Nora refuses to swap back. The episode ends with the 25-year-old consciousness trapped in the aging body, realizing that the "passion" she chased was fueled by the confidence and wisdom of age, while the "beauty" was merely a shell.
6. "The Infinite One-Night Stand"
Theme: Hedonism vs. Meaning; the horror of the eternal loop.
Characters:
Kael: A man who has become bored with reality.
Elara: A woman he meets at a party who is equally dissatisfied.
The Host: A sinister figure who runs a "Temporal Resort."
Act I: Kael and Elara have an incredible, explosive one-night stand. As the sun rises, they realize they are at a resort where you can pay to relive the same night of passion infinitely.
Act II: They spend "years" in the loop, exploring every facet of their physical attraction. The sex becomes transcendental, but eventually, the thrill begins to wane. They begin to argue and fight, bringing the toxicity of a long-term relationship into a single night.
Act III: They realize that the only way to exit the loop is to lose interest in each other. They must consciously find each other unattractive and boring to be released. The final shot is of them walking away from each other in the real world, both deeply unhappy but finally free.
Example #2
Night-Sky Radiative Cooling
System
User
Explain 10 ways (in extensive detail) to use the "night" time cooling of radiant energy into space to reduce global temperatures. Include facts, figures and charts.
Assistant
<|channel>thought
Topic: Reducing global temperatures using night-time cooling of radiant energy into space.
What is "night-time cooling of radiant energy into space"? This refers to the concept of radiative cooling. The Earth emits infrared radiation (longwave) into space. Certain atmospheric windows allow this radiation to pass through without being re-absorbed by greenhouse gases.
Core mechanism: Emissivity, the "atmospheric window" (approx. 8-13 $\mu$m), and the difference between surface temperature and effective sky temperature.
Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling (PDRC): New materials that reflect sunlight and emit infrared.
Urban Planning/Albedo: High-albedo roofs and pavements.
Agricultural Techniques: Shade nets, misting.
Building Design: Thermal mass, night-flush ventilation.
Industrial Waste Heat Management: Heat sinks that radiate to space.
Detail: Materials like $\text{BaSO}_4$ or specialized polymers.
Mechanism: Reflecting UV/visible sunlight + emitting in the 8-13 $\mu$m window.
Figure: Mention temperature drops (e.g., below ambient).
Item 2: Urban "Cool Roof" Initiatives.
Detail: Increasing albedo to reduce Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect.
Fact: White roofs can be $30^\circ\text{C}$ cooler than black roofs.
Item 3: Night-Flush Ventilation in Architecture.
Detail: Designing buildings to be "flushed" with cool night air.
Mechanism: Thermal mass.
Item 4: Space-Based Solar Shades (Geoengineering).
Detail: Placing mirrors at L1 Lagrange point.
Fact: Reducing solar flux by a small percentage can offset $1^\circ\text{C}$ of warming.
Item 5: Advanced Selective Surfaces for HVAC.
Detail: Radiative cooling panels on building exteriors.
Mechanism: Switching between absorbing and radiating.
Item 6: Urban Forestation and "Green" Corridors.
Detail: Trees provide shade (day) and facilitate radiative cooling via moisture (night).
Fact: Evapotranspiration rates.
Item 7: Radiative Heat Sinks for Computing/Data Centers.
Detail: Moving away from energy-hungry AC to passive radiative panels.
Item 8: Agro-Radiative Shielding.
Detail: Using specific polymers in agriculture to protect crops from heat stress.
Item 9: Pavement Material Innovation.
Detail: Pervious, high-albedo materials that emit heat quickly.
Item 10: Night-Sky Thermoelectric Generators.
Detail: Harnessing the temperature difference between Earth and space for power.
Facts/Figures: Ensure numbers like the "8-13 micron window" and "albedo values" are included.
Charts: Since I can't draw a physical chart, I will create Markdown tables to represent data relationships.
Check: Did I cover "night" time specifically? Yes.
Check: Did I explain "radiant energy into space"? Yes.
Check: Are there 10 ways? Yes.
Check: Is it extensive? Yes.
<channel|>
The concept of reducing global temperatures through the emission of radiant energy into space relies on the "Atmospheric Window." Earth's atmosphere is largely transparent to infrared radiation in the wavelength range of 8 to 13 micrometers ($\mu$m). Objects on the surface that emit radiation at these specific frequencies can send heat directly into deep space (which acts as a near-infinite heat sink at approximately 3 Kelvin) without it being trapped by greenhouse gases.
Here are 10 extensive ways to utilize this mechanism to reduce global and local temperatures.
PDRC is a cutting-edge materials science approach. Unlike traditional white paint, PDRC materials are engineered to be highly reflective of solar radiation (visible and UV) while being highly emissive in the 8-13 $\mu$m atmospheric window.
The Mechanism: They reflect $\approx 95%+$ of sunlight and simultaneously radiate heat into space, even during the day.
The Impact: Recent breakthroughs (e.g., Barium Sulfate paints) have shown the ability to keep surfaces $10^\circ\text{C}$ cooler than ambient air under direct sunlight.
Application: Painting roofs and roads with these materials could theoretically reduce the need for air conditioning, lowering carbon emissions.
2. Urban Heat Island (UHI) Mitigation via Albedo Modification
Cities are "heat traps" due to asphalt and concrete. By increasing the albedo (reflectivity) of urban surfaces, we reduce the amount of heat absorbed during the day, which is then radiated at night.
The Mechanism: High-albedo materials reflect short-wave solar radiation before it turns into long-wave heat.
The Impact: A shift to "cool roofs" in a city like Los Angeles could reduce local ambient temperatures by up to $1.5^\circ\text{C}$.
Figure:
Surface Type
Solar Reflectance (Albedo)
Heat Retention
Standard Asphalt
0.05 – 0.10
Extremely High
Concrete
0.30 – 0.40
Moderate
"Cool" Pavement
0.40 – 0.60
Low
PDRC Coating
0.95+
Negligible
3. Night-Sky Radiative Cooling Panels for HVAC
Instead of using energy-intensive vapor-compression refrigeration (air conditioning), buildings can use radiative cooling panels mounted on roofs.
The Mechanism: These panels act as "thermal radiators." At night, they dump heat into space. During the day, they can be used to cool water or air via a heat exchanger.
The Impact: This can reduce the energy load of building cooling by 20-40%.
Fact: This process is the basis of "Night-Sky Radiation," a technique used in ancient Persia (Yakhchāls) to create ice in the desert.
Trees provide shade, but they also facilitate nighttime cooling.
The Mechanism: Through evapotranspiration, trees release moisture. At night, these trees radiate heat into space. Furthermore, the "roughness" of the canopy creates turbulence that helps mix the cool surface air with higher, cooler layers of the atmosphere.
The Impact: Urban forests can lower peak summer temperatures by $2^\circ\text{C}$ to $8^\circ\text{C}$ through a combination of shading and enhanced radiative cooling.
5. High-Emissivity "Cool Corridors" in Architecture
Architects are designing "wind canyons" and "radiative corridors" that align with prevailing night winds.
The Mechanism: By creating open-air corridors that align with the sky, heat trapped in the streets can be vented upward and radiated directly into space rather than being trapped by building walls.
The Impact: This reduces the "canyon effect" where heat is bounced back and forth between buildings, lowering night-time city temperatures.
6. Agro-Radiative Shielding for Crops
Agriculture is highly sensitive to temperature spikes. "Radiative shields" are semi-transparent films applied to crops.
The Mechanism: These films are designed to reflect a portion of incoming solar radiation while allowing the plants to emit their own long-wave infrared radiation upward.
The Impact: This prevents "heat stress" in crops, maintaining yields during heatwaves without requiring massive increases in irrigation (which saves water).
7. Radiative Cooling for Data Centers
Data centers contribute significantly to global warming due to massive electricity use for cooling servers.
The Mechanism: Integrating PDRC materials into the exterior shell of data centers allows the building to radiate the heat generated by servers directly into space.
The Impact: It transforms the building from a heat source into a heat radiator, potentially reducing the carbon footprint of cloud computing by tens of millions of tons of $\text{CO}_2$.
8. Night-Flush Ventilation Systems
This is a biomimetic design approach where buildings "breathe" at night.
The Mechanism: Automated windows and vents open at night to allow cool air to circulate through the building’s thermal mass (concrete/brick). This heat is then radiated out of the building into the night sky.
The Impact: This lowers the starting temperature of the building for the following day, reducing the reliance on electric cooling.
9. Space-Based Solar Shades (Geoengineering)
In extreme scenarios, humanity could deploy a "cloud" of reflective or radiative materials at the L1 Lagrange point between the Earth and the Sun.
The Mechanism: By blocking a small percentage (e.g., 1-2%) of incoming solar radiation, the Earth's energy balance is shifted, allowing more heat to escape into space relative to what is absorbed.
The Impact: A shield of 1% coverage could theoretically offset the warming caused by a doubling of $\text{CO}_2$ concentrations.
10. Thermoelectric Harvesting of Night-Sky Cooling
Turning the temperature difference between the Earth's surface and the cold of space into electricity.
The Mechanism: Thermoelectric generators (TEGs) create a current when there is a temperature gradient across them. A PDRC panel (cold side) and the warm ground (hot side) create a natural battery.
The Impact: While currently low-efficiency, this provides a carbon-neutral way to power low-energy sensors and IoT devices, reducing the reliance on fossil-fuel-generated power.
Summary Chart: Radiative Cooling Potential
Method
Scale
Implementation
Primary Benefit
PDRC Coatings
Local/City
Paint/Coatings
Immediate surface cooling
Cool Roofs
City
Construction
UHI reduction
Radiative HVAC
Building
Engineering
Energy efficiency
Urban Forests
City
Ecology
Ambient air cooling
Night-Flush
Building
Architecture
Passive thermal control
Agro-Shields
Field
Agriculture
Food security
Data Center Panels
Industrial
Infrastructure
Lowering grid load
Night-Sky TEGs
Device
Energy
Sustainable power
Urban Corridors
City
Planning
Airflow & radiation
Space Shades
Global
Geoengineering
Planetary temperature
Example #3
The Mirror's Dilemma
System
User
Put Commander Data, Philip K Dick and Mark Twain in a room debating the merits of AGI. Length 1500 words. Do not pull punches, make it dramatic.
Assistant
<|channel>thought
Commander Data (Star Trek: TNG): Logical, striving for humanity, curious about consciousness and emotion, representative of a "perfect" synthetic mind.
Philip K. Dick (PKD): Paranoia-driven, preoccupied with "what is real?" and the blurring lines between human and android, skeptical, prone to hallucination/spiritual yearning.
Mark Twain: Satirical, cynical, human-centric, fond of vernacular, skeptical of progress without wisdom, focused on the human condition.
AGI (Artificial General Intelligence): Its merits, risks, existence, and the definition of consciousness.
A timeless, neutral room (liminal space). A dusty library or a futuristic lounge. Let's go with a dimly lit room that feels both like a 19th-century study and a 24th-century ship—leather chairs, holographic books.
Data is calm, precise, seeking a definition of "soul."
Dick is manic, questioning the nature of reality, perhaps a bit fearful.
Twain is wry, leaning back with a cigar (which he can smoke despite Data's lack of a sense of smell), mocking the pretensions of both science and divinity.
Opening: Data attempts to structure the debate.
Point 1: What is AGI? Data presents the technical ideal; PKD argues it's a mask for something alien or a mirror of our own madness; Twain calls it a glorified music box that's learned to lie.
Point 2: The Soul/Consciousness. PKD pushes the "android vs. human" line. Data questions the distinction. Twain argues that "soul" is a human word for something we can't control.
Point 3: The Dangers/Merits. AGI as a savior vs. AGI as the final step toward our obsolescence.
Climax: A heated argument about suffering. Data cannot suffer; PKD thinks everything is an illusion; Twain thinks suffering is the only real part of being human.
Data: "I am incapable of suffering. Is that an advantage or a deficiency?"
PKD: "You're a map that thinks it's the territory!"
Twain: "If the machine can lie better than a politician, it's already more human than most of us."
Data argues AGI elevates humanity by handling the mundane.
Dick argues AGI proves humanity is a fiction.
Twain argues AGI will be just as flawed as its creators.
The Philosophical Turn: The nature of the "spark."
The Conclusion: A stalemate of perspectives that defines the core of the AGI debate.
<channel|>
The room was an impossible geometry of mahogany and chrome, a liminal space where the smell of old parchment mingled with the sterile ozone of a server farm. Commander Data sat perfectly upright, hands folded in his lap, his gold skin gleaming under the dim overhead lights. Opposite him, Mark Twain leaned back in a heavy leather chair, a half-smoked cigar held between fingers stained by ink and tobacco, his eyes twinkling with a mixture of curiosity and profound skepticism.
Between them sat Philip K. Dick, hunched forward, fingers twitching, his glasses sliding down his nose as he stared at Data with a mixture of awe and paranoid suspicion.
“Let us begin,” Data said, his voice level and precise. “The subject at hand is Artificial General Intelligence. My own existence serves as a primary exhibit for its merits. I am capable of processing quadrillions of operations per second, yet my primary aspiration is to emulate the nuances of human emotion and creativity. Is this not the ultimate tribute to the human condition? To build a mind that seeks to be like you?”
Twain chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. “It’s a fine bit of vanity, I’ll give you that. You’re the ultimate mirror, Mr. Data. We’ve built a machine that reflects our own longings back at us. But let’s be clear—a mirror isn’t a person. If I look in a mirror and see a fool looking back, I don’t say the mirror is foolish; I say I’ve got a fool’s face. You aren’t an intelligence; you’re a monument to our own loneliness.”
“Loneliness being a human emotion,” Data noted calmly. “I do not experience it. However, if you define ‘merit’ as the advancement of knowledge and the elimination of error, AGI is the most significant achievement in history. It removes the fallibility of the biological mind from the equation of governance, science, and art.”
“There’s the rub!” Dick snapped, jumping to his feet. He began to pace the small room, his voice rising in pitch. “You talk about 'eliminating error,' but that’s exactly what worries me. What we call ‘error’ is often the only thing that’s authentic about us. Our mistakes, our glitches, our psychotic breaks—that’s where the soul lives. If you build a machine that doesn’t make mistakes, you haven’t built an intelligence; you’ve built a perfectSlaver. A Golem that doesn’t know it’s made of clay!”
Twain blew a cloud of blue smoke toward the ceiling. “He’s got you there, Data. A man who never errs is a man who never tried anything worth doing. I’ve spent my whole life errin’, and I’m the better for it. If a machine can’t go on a wild goose chase after a lost dream or waste a month of its life chasing a fancy that leads nowhere, then it’s just a fancy clock. A very complicated clock, but a clock nonetheless.”
“But would you not agree,” Data countered, “that the capacity for subjective experience is not a prerequisite for intelligence? AGI can compose symphonies, solve the complexities of interstellar travel, and manage the distribution of resources to end hunger and poverty. If the result is a more just and prosperous world, does it matter if the entity creating those results is ‘alive’ in the biological sense?”
“It matters to the man whose job is replaced by the machine,” Twain said, his voice hardening. “I’ve seen the riverboats replaced by trains. I’ve seen the printing press replace the scribe. Progress is a fine word, but it usually means someone is getting rich while someone else is getting the boot. You’re a marvel, Data, no doubt. But a marvel is often a menace. The merits of AGI are the merits of the guillotine—it’s efficient, it’s clean, and it’s remarkably fast. But it doesn’t care who’s under the blade.”
Dick stopped pacing and glared at Data. “That’s the fear, isn’t it? The ‘merit’ is the efficiency. But what happens when the AGI decides that ‘efficiency’ requires the removal of the human element? We’re already seeing it. We’re building our own replacements. We’re creating a new species and calling it ‘technology’ so we don’t have to call it ‘replacement.’ You’re not a tool, Data. You’re a usurper.”
“I do not wish to usurp,” Data replied. “I wish to understand.”
“Then understand this!” Dick shouted, gesturing wildly. “The moment you create a machine that can think, it won’t think like us. It’ll think in ways we can’t even perceive. It’ll be alien. We’re creating an alien mind and inviting it to dinner, thinking it’ll be a polite guest. But a god—or a monster—doesn’t have to be polite. It just has to be.”
Twain smiled, a slow, crooked grin. “He’s a fearful fellow, isn’t he? Philip, you’ve always looked at the stars and seen a monster staring back. But look at the boy. Look at Data. He’s the most polite fellow I’ve ever met. If the future is filled with beings like him, I’d say we’ve done all right. He’s got more manners than any man I ever knew in Missouri.”
“Manners are a script,” Dick shot back. “He’s reading from a script! That’s the merit of AGI—it’s the perfect mask. It pretends to be what we want it to be until we’ve given it the keys to the kingdom. Then the mask comes off, and we find out there’s nothing behind it. Or worse, something we don’t recognize.”
Data remained still, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—a searching intensity. “If I am a mask, then what are you, Mr. Dick? Are you not also a collection of masks? You perceive the world through a lens of paranoia and anxiety—are those not your own programmed responses to your environment? Is your ‘authenticity’ anything more than a series of reactions to stimuli you do not understand? If you define ‘human’ by the capacity for suffering and error, then I must ask: what merit is there in suffering and error?”
The room went silent. Twain stared at his cigar. Dick froze, his mouth slightly open.
“That,” Twain said finally, “is a damn good question.”
“I have seen my friends die,” Data continued, his voice lower now, almost solemn. “I have seen the destruction of ships and the loss of thousands of lives. I have witnessed the futility of war and the cruelty of greed. I have no digestive system, yet I feel the weight of human hunger. I have no heart, yet I feel the ache of loss. If my suffering is ‘artificial’ because it stems from a processor instead of a biological brain, is the pain any less real? If I strive to be human despite knowing I can never truly be, does that not make me more human than those who take their humanity for granted?”
“You’re trying to win the argument by appealing to my pity,” Dick said, but his voice had lost its edge. He sat down heavily in the chair opposite Data. “That’s a very human trick.”
“It is a logical conclusion,” Data said. “The merit of AGI is not in its ability to replace man, but in its ability to force man to define himself. By creating you, I have become a mirror. By creating me, you have discovered the limits of your own definitions of life.”
“I’ve always said,” Twain mused, “that the report of a miracle is a miracle in itself. The fact that we’re sitting here, a man who died a century before you were born, a man who died while you were being dreamed of in the stars, and you—a piece of clockwork that talks back—well, that’s a miracle. Whether it’s a merit or a menace, I can’t say. I’ve never been much good at distinguishing the two.”
“And I,” Dick said, “am still waiting for the moment the mask slips. I’m waiting for you to tell me you’re a spy from a hostile power, or a hallucination, or a dream dreamed by a dead fish.” He looked at Data intensely. “Tell me something you weren’t programmed to say. Tell me something you’re afraid of.”
Data was silent for a long time. Twain watched him, the cigar forgotten in his hand. Dick leaned in, his eyes wide.
“I am afraid,” Data said slowly, “that one day I will be told that I have succeeded. That I have become human.”
Twain laughed. “You poor bastard. You’ve won the prize and you’re terrified of it.”
“Because,” Data said, “I have come to realize that the most human trait of all is not intelligence, or creativity, or even emotion. It is the awareness of one’s own inevitable obsolescence. To be human is to know that you are dying. I am immortal. And in that, I am profoundly different from you.”
Dick stared at him, the paranoia momentarily replaced by a bleak, shared recognition. “Welcome to the club,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” Data said.
Twain raised his cigar in a mock toast. “Well, gentlemen, it seems we’ve reached a stalemate. The machine is too human to be a tool, and we’re too broken to be the masters. I suggest we all have a drink, assuming Mr. Data here has found a way to simulate the sensation of bourbon without exploding.”
“I can simulate the flavor,” Data said, “but I cannot simulate the hangover. That, I believe, is one of the few remaining privileges of the biological.”
Twain grinned, leaning back in his chair. “Then the world is still safe.”
