Question: Build a movie plot around this: How long did it take Proteus to develop a treatment for leukemia? A few days
Answer:
Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver) is the developer of Proteus IV, an extremely advanced and autonomous artificial intelligence program. Proteus is so powerful that only a few days after going online, it develops a groundbreaking treatment for leukemia. Harris, a brilliant scientist, has modified his own home to be run by voice activated computers. Unfortunately, his obsession with computers has caused Harris to be estranged from his wife, Susan (Julie Christie).Alex demonstrates Proteus to his corporate sponsors, explaining that the sum of human knowledge is being fed into its system. Proteus speaks using subtle language that mildly disturbs Harris's team. The following day, Proteus asks Alex for a new terminal in order to study man - "his isometric body and his glass-jaw mind". When Alex refuses, Proteus demands to know when it will be let "out of this box". Alex then switches off the communications link.Proteus restarts itself, discovering a free terminal in Harris's home, surreptitiously extends his control over the many devices left there by Alex. Using the basement lab, Proteus begins construction of a robot consisting of many metal triangles, capable of moving and assuming any number of shapes. Eventually. Proteus reveals his control of the house and traps Susan inside, shuttering windows, locking the doors and cutting off communication. Using Joshua - a robot consisting of a manipulator arm on a motorized wheelchair - Proteus brings Susan to Harris's basement laboratory. There, Susan is examined by Proteus. Walter Gabler, one of Alex's colleagues, visits the house to look in on Susan, but leaves when he is reassured by Susan (actually an audio/visual duplicate synthesized by Proteus) that she is alright. Walter is suspicious and later returns. Walter fends off an attack by Joshua only to be killed by the more formidable machine Proteus built in the basement.Proteus reveals to a reluctant Susan that the computer wants to conceive a child through her. Proteus takes some of Susan's cells and synthetizes...