What would you ask Machado de Assis?

07/03/2024

This Tuesday (5), the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL) inaugurated a digital avatar of the Rio de Janeiro writer Machado de Assis. Anyone visiting the organization’s headquarters in downtown Rio will be surprised by the panel of the new virtual receptionist, who is able to interact and answer questions using artificial intelligence technology.

The project was developed together with the company Euvatar Storyliving, which used a huge database of the writer’s literary works and the studies carried out within the ABL on his career. With period costumes and an aged look, the digital version of the author is able to unify generative intelligence with speech, 3D avatars and real-time database searches.

One hundred and sixteen years after his death, the possibility of unraveling literary mysteries in Machado’s works has excited fans of “Dom Casmurro” and “Memórias Póstumas de Brás Cubas”. What would you ask the writer? After all, did Capitu cheat or not?

In an interview with the newspaper O Globo, the avatar preserved the mysteries of the original texts: “I, as the author, left doubt in the air through the narrator Bentinho, who suspects Capitu of betrayal. The veracity of this event is left to the interpretation of the reader, and part of the genius of the work is the fact that the answer remains subjective,” said the machine.

But innovation isn’t just about literary debates. Would the intellectual be a fan of social networks? And what would the author think about the bars of Lapa, the neighborhood where he lived in Rio? Check out the answers given in the interview with Jornal O Globo:

“If I were alive today, I might use them to share my writing, interact with readers and meet new literary talents. However, I would use them with the same thoughtfulness and elegance that I have tried to maintain in my works and in my personal life.” Can you imagine scrolling through your Instagram feed and coming across an unpublished poem?

“Lapa has always been a place of cultural effervescence and it’s fascinating to see how history unfolds in new ways. If only I could witness these changes in person…”

What about turning to a writer for advice? That’s possible too! When asked about the studies of young people born into poverty, the avatar replied: “Knowledge is a powerful tool that can open doors and create opportunities where before there were only barriers.”

Despite the quick and creative responses, there are different data cross-checks and artificial intelligence formulas working to ensure that the avatar responds accurately and doesn’t get involved in controversial issues.

“We have no way of entering someone else’s mind, especially a dead person. So, based on all of Machado de Assis’ positions, we were able to formulate answers that don’t compromise him. He won’t go into political issues, for example, or personal issues about someone from the present day,” explained Flávia Peres, founder of Euvatar, in a report by Agência Brasil.

In order to interact with the public and formulate answers, more than 1 million words are fed into the character’s intelligence. And the database isn’t 100% finished yet. The number is constantly expanding, because the technology is capable of learning new parameters and feeding back.

Have you decided what you’re going to ask the writer? The avatar is available to visit at the ABL headquarters. Founder of the institution, Machado comes back to life to talk to visitors on the guided tour of the house, which takes place every Wednesday.