Even with my basic-ass knowledge of the relationship between hardware and software, some incredibly nerdy questions I have about the technology in this film is as follows:
1. Are there existing compilers that randomly add lines of code to an existing program or algorithm? I’m assuming the purpose of compilers for the chess programs being tested in this movie are to compile the programs in whatever higher level language they are written in(it’s never stated what languages the various competitors used) into machine language aka 0s and 1s. Compilers do not add extraneous code. When Schoesser says he wrote a compiler that does add more code, either a) he’s lying and it’s a shitty lie because there’s no way a Cal Tech student like Peter would buy it or b) Bujalski does know such a technology does not exist but has invented a purely sci-fi creation for the purposes of his vision. The fact that he even bothered to conjure up a piece of technology this specific is impressive in itself.
2. But seriously, which higher level languages did they use to write their chess programs? And how damn sophisticated are the algorithms being written that it can handle such complex inputs and outputs such as the ones shown at the end of the film? Once again, I’m pretty sure Bujalski knows that actual programmers will call bullshit on what happens in this movie, but he cleverly gets away with it because Peter might seriously be emotionally and mentally handicapped in a way that we cannot take everything that happens to him literally.
Still though, Bujalski at least has worked hard enough on this movie to make stuff up that actually remains respectful of the basics of programming. For example, he actually knows what a function does, and knows why it is so inappropriate that one character would ask another for the evaluation transcripts after a match(its basically like giving away your answers to that kid who didn’t study for the test).
As fascinating as the hard science fiction elements are in the film, what struck me rewatching this is how deeply human “Computer Chess” is. It’s a movie about how strange we really are and the peculiar ways we fail to relate to each other as people, and how no program is going to save us from our human foibles. At the end of the movie, “Computer Chess” suggests that singularity has been reached, and the result is a most deadening “So what?”
Even with my basic-ass knowledge of the relationship between hardware and software, some incredibly nerdy questions I have about the technology in this film is as follows:
1. Are there existing compilers that randomly add lines of code to an existing program or algorithm? I’m assuming the purpose of compilers for the chess programs being tested in this movie are to compile the programs in whatever higher level language they are written in(it’s never stated what languages the various competitors used) into machine language aka 0s and 1s. Compilers do not add extraneous code. When Schoesser says he wrote a compiler that does add more code, either a) he’s lying and it’s a shitty lie because there’s no way a Cal Tech student like Peter would buy it or b) Bujalski does know such a technology does not exist but has invented a purely sci-fi creation for the purposes of his vision. The fact that he even bothered to conjure up a piece of technology this specific is impressive in itself.
2. But seriously, which higher level languages did they use to write their chess programs? And how damn sophisticated are the algorithms being written that it can handle such complex inputs and outputs such as the ones shown at the end of the film? Once again, I’m pretty sure Bujalski knows that actual programmers will call bullshit on what happens in this movie, but he cleverly gets away with it because Peter might seriously be emotionally and mentally handicapped in a way that we cannot take everything that happens to him literally.
Still though, Bujalski at least has worked hard enough on this movie to make stuff up that actually remains respectful of the basics of programming. For example, he actually knows what a function does, and knows why it is so inappropriate that one character would ask another for the evaluation transcripts after a match(its basically like giving away your answers to that kid who didn’t study for the test).
As fascinating as the hard science fiction elements are in the film, what struck me rewatching this is how deeply human “Computer Chess” is. It’s a movie about how strange we really are and the peculiar ways we fail to relate to each other as people, and how no program is going to save us from our human foibles. At the end of the movie, “Computer Chess” suggests that singularity has been reached, and the result is a most deadening “So what?”
