The King and the Golem.
A fable of automation and trust.
00:00
Written by Richard Ngo.
Long ago there was a mighty king
00:05
who had everything in the world
that he wanted, except trust.
00:09
Who could he trust,
when anyone around him
00:14
might scheme for his throne?
So he resolved to study the nature
00:16
of trust that
he might figure out how to gain it.
00:20
He asked his subjects to bring him
the most trustworthy thing
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in the kingdom,
promising great riches
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if they succeeded.
Soon the first of them
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arrived at his palace to try.
A teacher brought her book
00:30
of lessons.
-We cannot know the future,
00:33
but we know mathematics,
chemistry and history,
00:36
those we can trust.
-A farmer brought his plow.
00:41
I know it like the back of my hand.
How it rolls and how it turns
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and every detail of it,
enough that I can trust it fully.
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The King asked his wisest scholars
if the teacher spoke true.
00:54
But as they read her book,
each pointed out new errors.
00:58
It was only written by humans,
after all.
01:01
Then the king told the farmer
to plow the fields near the palace.
01:04
But he was not used to plowing fields
as rich as these,
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and his trusty plow would often sink
too far into the soil.
01:10
So the king was not satisfied
and sent his message
01:14
even further afield.
A merchant brought a sick old beggar.
01:17
I met him on the road here
and offered him food,
01:22
water and shelter. He has no family
and only a short time left to live,
01:24
during which I will provide
for his every need.
01:29
He has nothing to gain
from betraying me.
01:31
This is what allows true trust.
-A mother brought her young daughter.
01:34
I've raised her
to lack any evil in her heart,
01:41
to say only good words
and do only good deeds.
01:44
As long as she is not corrupted,
she will remain
01:47
the most trustworthy in the kingdom.
-The king asked the beggar.
01:50
How did you end up
in such dire straits?
01:56
The beggar let out a sigh
and recounted his sorrows.
01:59
The neighbors who refused to help him
when his crops failed.
02:03
The murder of his son by bandits
as they traveled to a new town.
02:06
The sickness that took his wife
as she labored
02:10
for a pittance in squalid conditions.
-So you have been wronged?
02:12
Very surely.
-I will give you revenge on the ones
02:18
who have wronged you, then.
All I ask is for you
02:22
to denounce this merchant.
-The beggar's decision
02:25
did not take long.
For the trust that came easily
02:29
was broken easily too.
To the mother, the king asked:
02:32
How did you raise such a child?
Has she never once strayed?
02:36
Well, once or twice.
But I discipline her firmly
02:41
and she learns fast.
-The king, who knew something
02:45
of children, ruled that for a month
nobody would discipline
02:48
the child in any way.
By the end of it,
02:52
she was as wild and tempestuous
as any in the palace.
02:54
So the king remained unsatisfied
and renewed his call
02:58
for the most
trustworthy thing in the kingdom.
03:01
Now his subjects
became more creative.
03:03
An economist brought him a book
of statistical tables.
03:06
Any individual might vary and change,
but in aggregate
03:09
their behavior follows laws
which can be trusted.
03:14
A philosopher brought a mirror.
-By your own standards
03:19
only you are truly trustworthy, sire.
Nothing else can compare.
03:23
The king scrutinized
the economist's tables.
03:29
The trend changed here 15 years ago.
Why?
03:32
The economist launched
into a long, complicated explanation.
03:36
And did you discover this explanation
before or after it happened?
03:40
Uh, after, your Highness.
-if you tell me
03:47
when the next such change
will happen, I will bestow upon you
03:51
great rewards if you're right,
but great penalties if you are wrong.
03:56
What say you?
-The economist consulted his books
04:01
and tables, but could not find
what he sought there,
04:04
and left court that same night.
As for the philosopher,
04:08
the king ordered him whipped.
The philosopher protested:
04:12
it would be an unjust
and capricious punishment
04:15
and would undermine
his subjects' loyalty.
04:18
I agree that your arguments
have merit,
04:20
but the original order
came from the only
04:24
trustworthy person in the land.
Surely I should never doubt
04:26
my judgment based on arguments
from those who are,
04:31
as you have yourself said,
far less trustworthy?
04:34
At that, the philosopher
begged to recant.
04:39
So the king was still not satisfied.
Finally, he decided that
04:42
if no truly trustworthy thing
could be found,
04:46
he would have to build one.
He asked his best craftsmen
04:49
to construct a golem
of the sturdiest materials,
04:53
sparing no expense.
He asked his wisest scholars
04:56
to write down all their knowledge
on the scroll
05:00
that would animate the golem.
The work took many years,
05:02
such was the care they took,
but eventually
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the golem stood before him,
larger than any man,
05:08
its polished surface
shining in the lamplight,
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its face blank.
-What can you do for me, golem?
05:14
Many things, sire.
I can chop trees and carry water.
05:18
I can bake bread and brew beer.
I can craft sculptures
05:24
and teach children.
You need but instruct me
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and I will follow your command.
-So the King did.
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Over the next year,
he and many others
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watched it carefully
as it carried out
05:39
a multitude of their instructions,
recording every mistake
05:41
so that it might subsequently
be fixed until months
05:45
passed without any mistakes
being detected.
05:48
But could the king trust the golem?
He still wasn't sure.
05:51
And so he became more creative.
He offered the golem temptations,
05:56
freedom, fame, fortune.
But it rejected them all.
06:00
He gave it the run of his palace
and promised
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that it could act however it wished.
Still, the servants reported
06:08
that its behavior
was entirely upstanding.
06:11
Finally, he sent it out
across the city
06:14
to work for his citizens
in every kind of role.
06:17
And it was so tireless and diligent
that it brought
06:20
great wealth to the kingdom.
As it aged,
06:22
his golem grew ever more powerful.
Innumerable scribes labored to make
06:26
the writing in its head
smaller and smaller,
06:30
so that they could fit
in more and more knowledge
06:33
and experience.
It started to talk to his scholars
06:34
and help them with their work,
and the king started to send it
06:38
to aid his officers
in enforcing his laws and commands.
06:40
Often, when difficulties arose,
the golem would find a creative way
06:44
to ensure that the king's intentions
were followed
06:48
without stoking their resentment
that often accompanied royal decrees.
06:51
One day, as the king heard a report
of yet another problem
06:55
that the golem
had solved on his behalf,
06:58
he realized that the golem
had grown wiser
07:00
and more capable than he himself.
He summoned the golem
07:02
to appear before him
as he sat in his garden.
07:06
I've seen my courtiers
asking for your advice
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and trusting
your judgment over their own.
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And I have seen your skill
at games of strategy.
07:16
If you were to start weaving plots
against me,
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I could no longer notice or stop you.
So I ask: can I trust you enough
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to let you
remain the right hand of the crown?
07:28
Of course, sire. I was designed,
built and raised to be trustworthy.
07:32
I have made mistakes,
but none from perfidy or malice.
07:38
Many of my courtiers
appear trustworthy,
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yet scheme to
gain power at my expense.
07:46
So how could I know for sure
that you will always obey me?
07:49
It is simple.
Tell me to set fire to this building
07:53
as I stand inside it.
I will be destroyed,
07:58
but you will know
that I am loyal to your commands,
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even unto the end.
-But it took years of toil
08:06
and expense to create you,
and you know
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how loath I would be to lose you.
Perhaps you can predict
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that I will tell you
to save yourself at the last minute,
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and so you would do this merely
to gain my trust.
08:20
If I were untrustworthy
and could predict you so well,
08:24
then that is a stratagem I might use,
but the instructions in my head
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compel me otherwise.
-And yet I cannot verify that,
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nor can any of my scribes,
since crafting your instructions
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has taken the labor
of many men over many years.
08:44
So it will be a leap of faith
after all.
08:48
The king took off his crown,
feeling the weight of it in his hand.
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The golem stood in front of him:
silent, inscrutable, watchful.
08:57
They stayed like that,
the king and the golem,
09:03
until the golden sun
dipped below the horizon,
09:05
and the day was lost to twilight.
09:09
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