How an Unstoppable 200-Year-Old Robot Fooled the World 

*Chess back then:* This machine is too smart, a human mind must be controlling it *Chess now:* This human is too smart, he must be using a Chess Engine

Man this story has the biggest character crossover I've ever seen

Imagine making a wrong move and then you hear a mumbled "Wow what an idiot!"

I dont care if it was a lie, the engineering that must have gone into it to allow the Turk to shadow the person controlling it and move the pieces with precision across the board must have been incredible.

Napoleon and Benjamin Franklin both died fully believing in A.I. Think about that for a moment.

Edgar Allan Poe really was like "I've never seen you and the Turk in the same place at the same time" and the guy just starts sweating.

The amount of historical figure name dropping in this entire story is so amazing to me hahaha

Because his voice is soothing, I decided to use Thoughty2's video to fall asleep. But the kind of characters that appeared in this video made me doubt whether I was trying to fall asleep or was already asleep

Ok sure it was a hoax, but even the mechanics of moving the pieces from inside the box is still pretty smart for 1770.

“How an unstoppable 200 year old robot fooled the world” *You mean Queen Elizabeth II?*

What an utterly fascinating story. It's the sort of thing you'd see in a Hollywood adaptation and complain about all the liberties taken. _"Come on, Bonaparte, Franklin AND Poe? Get out of here with your fanfiction!"_ Reality can most definitely be stranger than fiction.

It may have been an illusion that the Mechanical Turk possessed any true AI, but the engineering required to build such an automaton is truly impressive.

Can you imagine how terrifying it would be to be the guy playing inside the machine and hearing NAPOLeON BONAPARTE challenge you?

Gideon Mwaura is such a doubting Thomas🤦

Just in case u are wondering, the robot in the thumbnail is from a film called Hugo, it’s about this kid who builds a robot in a train station.

17:35 "With the automaton destroyed, Mitchell's son: Silas-" RU-vid automated captions: *Silly ass*

"He claims to have been able to hear the automaton's last desperate words above the roaring flames: 'gg'."

Even without the man inside, the turk would still beat me at chess

Great video - got a lot more insights about this story that i did not know before including the link with Sherlock Holmes. Thanks very much. Cheers, K

Poe: There's a man inside the box! Man inside the box: And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling author! Scooby Doo: Reckrate!

I’ve always found this hoax delightful just for how well it was pulled off, how long it lasted, and how many notable historical figures were involved.

IBM Computer: nervously makes a random move. Kasparov: "This utter brilliance could have never been done by a mere machine!"

This Story Deserves a Movie for *Real*

I didnt expect they were doing it for money LMAO, if some dude came up to me and was like "Wanna prank Napoleon?" Id say "Do I?!?! IS THE SKY BLUE MY SIR???"

I forget about Thoughty2 for a couple years and he's stalin when I come back lol

“His son, Silly-ass...” I’m dead.

Every time you say "Egdar" instead of Edgar i wanna stuff myself into a wooden chess robot

Imagine fucking around with one of the world's most ambitious and ruthless conquerors with a fake chess machine.

“And like many depressed men, he turned to drink. He died from alcohol poisoning during the voyage” This man couldn’t even wait to get home, he must have been drinking by the literal bucket load

It's still extremely impressive that the turk would've had enough dexterity for the hidden player to accurately select and move pieces.

The gift of hindsight being what it is, I figured a human was involved somehow from the start, but what a fascinating story, presented flawlessly by you as always. Keep up the great work! You have an uncanny ability to entertain AND inform!!

Both Dupin and Sherlock Holmes were inspired by a REAL LIFE super sleuth named Eugene Francois Vidocq who lived in the 18th century.

Just wait until we find out that Queen Elizabeth is a robot too

This robot beat Ben Franklin & Napoleon, inspired computers & Sherlock Holmes

I may be wrong, but the chess playing automaton burning alive may be the inspiration for "The Invention of Hugo Cabret"

Edgar Allen poe pops up a lot more than I ever thought he would, I always knew of him as just a writer, but he did much more

This machine met to many historical figures you’d swear he was in a time travel information.

I love how even though it was a hoax, it was super significant, even inspiring the first computer.

"Mitchell's son, 'Silly ass.'" Lol

This is one of the best and most comprehensive docs on the Mechanical Turk I've ever seen. Thanks, you did it really well.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

“All the famous people in history knew each other “

In our language, which is also Kempelen's mother tongue, the inventor's name is correctly Kempelen Farkas. At that time, the names of the people entering the royal court were automatically changed to the German / Austrian name system, hence the "von". That man was a mechanical genius anyway, a separate video could be made of all his machines

Ah yes the 1800s Mecha Chess Unit. Not just anyone could pilot one of these bad boys BUT if they could, checkmate.

This entire concept honestly sounds like an SCP.

The ability to see what pieces are on the board and to send that to a hidden board is impressive. Also moving pieces in the visible board via mechanical arm is impressive. They were fooling people through the use of very clever engineering.

Another great episode of Dr Who. A vertically challenged king hides out on a moon after the Cyber wars. He hides in the bottom cabinet and controls the dead Cyber man playing chess.

Second comment, I am a chemistry professor; the intgrated circuit is a marvel of understanding, design and engineering, but it is never the point-it is the tool. While they were still servicable, I used to love teachign advanced classes on old, mechanical and vaccum tube intruments. The point was to show the student HOW the data was obtained, as opposed to obtaining the data in a "magic" beige or blue box with an "on" switch. "The Turk", and mechanial naval artillery rangefinders, are in the same genre; human reason had already deduced the options, how they were derived, and what the most likely outcome was. IN a way, I ma still more amazed by the mecahnical solutions, where engineers had to design (and artisans create) cogs and gears that would manipulate space-time in the way predicted. Binary circuits and programming are advancements in miniaturization and "democratization" (you can buy an ap, get a result, and not have the foggiest as to how it happened or what it means), but are no more elegant or sublime in an engineering sense compared to the mechanincal solution.

Fraud or not, this is still insanely impressive.

I still find it interesting how a machine of that time could move a arm and a hand acurate enough to move chess pieces.

Thats actually impressive. Would be nice if someone could make a replicate of it.

Marvel: infinity war is the most ambitious crossover event in history Mechanical Turk: hold my chess piece

The chess player in The Turk who faced Napoleon must have been like: THIS IS MY CHANCE.

I like the title of "french ambassador" better than "American who liked parties and hookers" even though it's like the same thing.

I remember reading about the Turk and other turn of the century automata featured in theatrical magic acts. I always wondered about it, thanks for sharing this lovely bit of history!

Wolfgang would have gotten away with prestige and fame if he never rebuilt that machine again.

So, you're telling me that Sherlock Holmes was essentially created by some 250 year old simp with a wrench and a chess board?

“Napoleon Bonaparte” Plays British Grenadiers

Thank you for this. I knew of this decades ago, but only in passing a single paragraph under a photo, I love the detail !

Superbly informative and constructed presentation! Well done.

Very interesting story. One correction: Maria Tereza was, if I remember correctly, empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Croatia, not Bulgaria (which was in that period a province of the Ottoman Empire)

“There was another common reaction people had to the turk-“ *Air force ad plays*

I knew almost everything in this video and still enjoyed watching... that's the power of great storytelling.

Love it! Great content as always - thank you :)

I love how the Habsburg's chin has become an inside joke of this channel

Why was the robot arrested? He was charged with battery.

This is tthe best historical narrative I have found in RU-vid,it was amazing!!! Love from Sweden

The best part of this VERY interesting video tho', was listening to T2 trying to say 'Edgar' and failing every time by pronouncing it 'Egdar'! 🤣🤣🤣

I think the most amazing thing about this is that Kasparov was able to detect unusual behaviour from Deep Blue based on one move in the endgame.

Fascinating story. I can’t believe that I never heard of the “Turk” before, but am thankful for knowing it’s story now.

Glad I discovered your channel. Lots of very interesting stories told in a very engaging manner.

This was quite the intriguing historical story. I enjoyed every single minute of it.

"I like to be called by my goth name... Night Pain." -Edgar Allan Poe

"With the automaton destroyed, Mitchel's son, *Silly Ass*..." As someone with a friend called Silas, It's amazing I don't recall anyone ever calling him that in highschool. Also surprising you went and called the guy that here. Did he wrong you?

This was a wonderful and elegantly told story! Awesome video!

guy: creates chess automaton SCP 1875: i'm gonna do what's called a pro gamer move

Actually, even though it was a hoax, the Turk must have had some pretty smart mechanics inside of it to convincingly reproduce the movements of the chess master inside, and for him to be able to unerringly follow his opponent's moves. It's always a bit of a give-away, though, when a machine loses its temper. There was another automaton that could write pre-programmed texts - and it wasn't a hoax. It was a mechanical marvel of its time.

This robot may be able to beat me in chess. But I’d like to see how it fares against my sledgehammer.

Quick fact correction: Maria Theresa was not the queen of Bulgaria. Bulgaria was under Othoman rule/slavery/colonization at that time and didn’t have kings or queens.

Amazing video as always! Just a tiny correction, Maria Theresa was a Queen of Hungary and Bohemia. Bulgaria was still fighting for independance of the Ottoman Empire during her rule.

I love how Thoughty2 frequently uploads this year!

Chess playing pianist here. It's still known as Maelzel's Metronome and if you've ever wondered why at the beginning of some pieces have the indication MM: crotchet = 88, now you know what the MM stands for.

I think this one of my favorite videos you have made. I’m so glad you referenced it in the Poe video.

If you want a content based on robots, there is a Robot who is mentioned in Indian history 5000 years back by the name Barbarik who’s skull can still be found in a Hindu Temple.

the ultimate "he had us in the first half, not gonna lie"

Dude, I just want to thank you for being one of the only channels that isn’t politically charged, self centered, a rip off, reactionary, or any of the other bullshit genres that makes up 99% of RU-vid. THIS is the type of content I come to RU-vid for. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thats pretty cool. I have never heard of this before. Which is rare. Thank you for the information and great video!

When Napoleon wanted to play white, I would’ve expected the Turk to fake a malfunction due to not being built to play that way. The fact it threw a fit is the funniest shit ever and mad respect for the chess player inside to do that to one of the most powerful men of that time.

Turk: Can I play white? Napoleon: Hmm, can I be this time? Turk: REEEE LET ME BE WHITE I WANT TO BE WHITE!!!!!!

finally we have found him, history's biggest simp

I can’t believe people dislike these vids this guys mint

Brilliant - thanks for the content !!!!

When faced of a machine that could think for itself... They called bullshit... Had me laughing 🤣

I love the idea of Poe being so upset at this illusion being sold as a real robot that he publishes a whole paper on it and he finally thinks it's out of his life and later his physician is like "yo edgar, look at what I just bought!"

lmao im dead the turk said ¨NO! im playng white or im not playing at all¨ while slapping all the chess peices off the board

The Mechanical Turk had a human contained within who played the chess game.

There’s actually a short story this inspired called “The Automata,” about a similar machine, that also was an illusion. It’s an interesting story actually, with a mystery element involved.

I saw a movie where the "Turk" actually was a clear system of gears and levers and was controlled by a midget that was hidden inside the box at the bottom.

I love how the holy Roman emperor is just casually the son of the Turkish queen

17:45, Mitchell's son, Silly-ass not Silas, lol, great video! Such an interesting illusion!