AI 20 Years Ago
Losing Philip K. Dick's Head (The Book of Unusual Knowledge)
Consider The sorts of things in air traveler might accidentally leave in an overhead bin: a novel, a jacket, a laptop computer, or perhaps the $750,000 android head of author Philip K Dick.
MEET DAVID HANSON
In the world of robotics David Hanson is known as the genius inventor of frubber- an authentic looking synthetic skin. With this breakthrough, Hanson has created robots modeled after popular figures ranging from Albert Einstein to rocker David Byrne. In 2004, his firm, Hanson Robotics, led a team of artists, scientists, and literary scholars to create an android head modeled after science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, who died in 1982. To build the Android's body of synthetic knowledge, a team led by artificial intelligence (AI) expert Andrew Olney scanned 20 of Dick's novels as well as interviews, speeches, and biographical information into its computer brain.
After six months of work, the completed Android was an impressive achievement. Using a camera for its eyes, the Android could follow movement, make eye contact, and recognize familiar faces in a crowd. The Android's cutting edge AI applications allowed it to respond to queries using its inputted source material (though its replies were often of- topic and bordered on the surreal - not unlike the real life Dick, according to friends). The team called it "Phil."
MEET PHILIP K. DICK (the real one, right)
Hanson and his team chose an apt subject for their robot. Many of Dick's stories are peopled with synthetic beings who call into question what qualifies as human. Hanson's team was particularly inspired by Dick's novel We Can Build You, in which two unsuccessful electric-organ salesman construct a life-like robot of Edward M. Stanton, Secretary of War under Abraham Lincoln. The competing needs of the human characters, coupled with the android's increasing humanity, play out in a rich tale that challenges the reader's imagination. Little did Hansen's team realize that their robot would also become part of its own odd legend.
DAVID HANSON LOSES HIS HEAD
In June 2005, Phil made his debut appearance at Chicago's NextFest technology exhibition. The technically minded marveled at the feat of engineering, the sci-fi fans thrilled at the wonderful irony of interacting with an android replication of their long-dead hero, and the curious were rewarded by the eerie sense of humanity that Phil inspired.
On the heels of this success, Hanson, who was juggling time between his growing firm and his doctoral work, carted Phil around the country. In Pittsburgh, Hanson received the Open Interaction Award for Robotics from the American Association for Artificial Intelligence. At the San Diego Comic-Con, Phil took part in a panel discussing the upcoming release of the film A Scanner Darkly (which was based on Dick's novel of the same name). There was talk of a tour to promote the movie, an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, and a stint in the Smithsonian Institution's traveling collection. It was awfully heady stuff for ahead.
In early 2006 Phil was on his way to Mountain View, California. He was stored faced down in Styrofoam, bundled in a gym bag, and stowed in the overhead bin on the plane. Hanson, bleary from sleep, changed flights in Las Vegas. Soon afterward, he realized that Phil was still on the other plane. The airline confirmed that Phil had traveled with the plane to Orange County. The android was supposed to be put on a flight to San Francisco, but it never arrived. Phil has not been seen since.
However, not all is lost. Though the unique Philip K. Dick head had vanished, Hanson's laptop, containing Phil's brain, was safe. Despite the devastating loss, Hansen eventually built another head for Phil.
