The Robot in the Room

“This door leads to our artificial intelligence servers,” Dr. Angela Sorenson said. “There’s actually more computing power here than at NASA’s Mission Control Center.”

“Whoa,” Andy and Eva whispered.

That was roughly the two hundredth time the kids had whispered “whoa” on their tour of KinetiWorks, the coolest tech company on the planet. A few weeks ago, KinetiWorks had asked Mom to take pictures of their newest creation before they unveiled it to the world. They also asked if the kids could tag along. Mom and the kids had to sign forms promising not to talk about the things they’d see with anyone—even Dad!

Dr. Sorenson paused at a pair of big metal doors. “This is it,” she said. “The Ten Million Dollar Man.”

She swiped a card, and—swoosh—the doors parted like a spaceship to reveal a human-sized robot. Everything about the machine—from its reflective white body to its digital face—looked like it came from the future.

“That’s Model A:421-M,” Dr. Sorenson said. “We call it ADUM.”

The robot waved. “Hello, Dr. Sorenson,” ADUM said in a vaguely British accent. Then, it turned to the Wander kids. “Hello, Eva. Hello, Andrew.”

“Whoooaa!”

“ADUM can see and understand its surroundings thanks to next-generation artificial intelligence.” Dr. Sorenson pulled a plastic ball out of her pocket and tossed it toward the robot. “Catch!”

When ADUM caught the ball, the Wanders burst into applause. “Can you try that again?” Mom asked as she focused her camera.

“I’ve got something better,” Dr. Sorenson replied with a wink. “ADUM, do what I do.” ADUM’s eyes turned green, and the doctor started a silly dance that the robot copied move for move. “We’ve taken everything science has ever learned about the human body and improved upon it,” Dr. Sorenson explained between claps and twirls. “One day, fire stations will be staffed with ADUMs. There will be no nursing homes because ADUM can care for the elderly.” She wiggled her eyebrows at the kids. “And you can say goodbye to chores, because ADUM will take care of those, too.”

Ding!

Dr. Sorenson paused the dance to glance at her phone. “They’re ready for you upstairs now,” she said to Mom. Then she turned to the kids. “Sorry, you’re not allowed where we’re going, but you can hang out with ADUM for a bit, if you want.”

The kids turned to Mom with the largest puppy dog eyes in the history of puppy dog eyes.

Mom sighed. “That thing costs ten thousand dollars.”

“Ten million,” Dr. Sorenson corrected. “But it’s okay. Seriously. They can’t hurt the robot.” She turned to the kids. “In case there’s an emergency, someone will be right outside these doors.”

Mom gave the kids a squinty look before exiting with Dr. Sorenson. When the doors whooshed closed, the kids squealed.

“We have a robot butler!” Andy cheered.

“Butler, pour me some tea,” Eva said with an exaggerated British accent.

“Deepest apologies, but there is no tea in the room,” ADUM replied.

The kids giggled. Then Andy unzipped his hoodie. “Butler, fold my cloak,” he said, tossing ADUM the jacket.

ADUM didn’t catch the jacket with the ease it caught the ball. Instead, it acted like Andy had just thrown a boulder. The robot held up its arms and fell backward.

CRASH!

The kids rushed to the robot, but ADUM didn’t seem phased. Instead, it tried folding Andy’s hoodie while sitting on the ground.

Whirrrr. Click-click-click-CRUNCH!

The robot awkwardly crossed its arms, then twirled the hoodie until the drawstring got caught in the gears of its wrists.

“Hold still!” Eva shouted. She worked on one wrist, while Andy tackled the other.

“It’s really jammed in here,” Andy said.

“You’ve got to pull it the other way.”

“That’s making it worse!” Andy panicked.

“Not like that!” Eva said. “Do what I do.”

ADUM looked at Eva. Its eyes turned green.

“Not you!” Eva squealed and waved her arms. The robot tried waving its arm too. Unfortunately, the drawstring was still stuck.

SNAP!

Something broke deep inside ADUM’s arm.

Eva groaned and marched toward the door.

“Wait!” Andy called.

“Why? This is an emergency!”

ADUM’s eyes flashed red. “Emergency alert. Should I call 911?”

“No! Cancel!” the kids screamed.

ADUM’s eyes stopped flashing, and the kids breathed a sigh of relief.

“I think everything’s under control,” Andy whispered.

“You think everything’s under control, or you know everything’s under control?” Eva hissed.

ADUM’s eyes flashed again. “Cancel emergency call. Is that correct?”

“Know!” Andy answered Eva’s question. “I know everything’s under control!”

“I understood that you said, ‘no,’” ADUM said. “Dialing 9-1-1 now.”

“NOOOOOOOO!” the kids screamed.

“Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“AHHHHHHHH!”

Dr. Sorenson burst through the door. “Don’t worry!” she said. “That’s just a recording.”

Eva started crying. “We tried to be careful!”

A team of scientists streamed into the room with Mom. “You did exactly what we wanted,” Dr. Sorenson explained. “We asked your mom to bring you to help us test ADUM. We wanted to see how children interact with the robot.”

“Well, we broke it,” Andy moaned.

“No, you just showed us that we have more work to do.” Dr. Sorenson glanced at the scientists working to untangle the drawstrings and sighed. “A lot more work.”

After the Wanders said their goodbyes and exited to the parking lot, Mom whispered, “Ten million dollars doesn’t buy what it used to, huh?”

“I just wanted the robot to fold my clothes,” Andy muttered.

“One of the scientists told me that’s years away,” Mom said.

“Years?” both kids exclaimed.

“Sure. When we do something as simple as pick up a shirt, the nerves in our fingers tell our brain how flexible the fabric is. Our brain instantly turns that information into instructions for dozens of muscles to work in unison. That’s an incredibly complex process we still don’t understand. Do you know how many calculations our brains do every second?”

Eva tried a high number. “A billion?”

“A billion times a billion. KinetiWorks has some of the smartest people on the planet working to copy the human body, but they can’t come close to the masterpiece our Creator designed on his first try. Makes you appreciate God just a little more, ya know?”

Eva nodded. “I know.”

“I understood you said, ‘no,’” Andy said in his best ADUM voice. “Emergency alert! Emergency alert!”

What’s the Point?

Psalm 139:14 says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” God created humans with a level of complexity that we can’t even begin to imagine. The more we learn about the human body, the greater appreciation we have for the One who designed it.