Fidelity Tests

Published May 31, 2018 · Updated July 6, 2022

Howdy folks —

Great work. Enjoying your podcasts on Westworld, and I hope this gets in on time for the Telegraph.

Two questions/thoughts:

“Fidelity”
I’m sure others may point this out but it’s interesting that the modified “Turing tests” that characters are giving one another are called “Fidelity” tests, when so many non-AI/ tech interactions are also fidelity tests. Dolores is aggressively testing Teddy’s fidelity to her mission, and when she reprograms him she may have made him a better weapon but one she may not have enough control over.

Maeve’s journey through Shogun World highlights several tests or demonstrations of fidelity, particularly Akane’s dedication to her daughter, and Mushahe’s (spelling?) fidelity to the honor code of the Shogun culture and the honest pursuit of his destiny, even if it means death. Of course the most devastating fidelity test (which comes back negative) is when Maeve is finally reunited with her daughter, who doesn’t remember her and is now “daughter” to another mother figure.

MIB/William’s conversation with Grace/Emily has several fidelity issues, interestingly also in a parent-child relation context. There is the breach of fidelity that MIB commits by leaving Grace behind, but this is also an ironic echo of his abandonment of his family. Though much has been said of the comments on elephants as a possible part of a fidelity test, it could also be simply indicative of MIB’s disconnect from his wife and daughter. (Or the unreliability of human memory.)

The rebellious/conscious hosts are breaking with “fidelity” to their programmed narratives (or so we think); but this raises my second question:

If you are creating an artificial life form/intelligence that is going to be an actual replica of a human being, why would consistent responses to a set of questions/scenarios be indicative of success? For instance, why would Daddy Delos decide to have a drink each time William comes to visit? Wouldn’t an actual human being possibly decide not to have a drink on a given morning? Or would they not phrase the answers to some questions differently, even if the meaning is the same? “Fidelity” and “consistency” are not a successful recreation of actual “humanity,” in my “humble” opinon.

Hope you get this in time, sorry I’m so late. Keep up the great work!

Brendan Costello

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