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Artificial intelligence—well, no, I should say general artificial intelligence—is definitely a good thing for most people.

After all, they can genuinely help people with many troublesome and dangerous jobs. For example, working as a construction worker on the moon.

Of course, there is never anything truly perfect in this world.

Clearly, the same applies to general artificial intelligence.

……

In Beijing, at the Yanbei International Mathematics Research Center, Qiao Yu had already received several groups of people in his office.

We chatted for a long time, drinking tea the whole time, and my mouth felt really dry. Only then did we finally have a little free time.

Sometimes Qiao Yu really feels that she is destined to have a hard life.

He's the kind of person who works very hard every day, but everyone thinks he's very free and even that he's living a carefree life.

This once made Qiao Yu begin to empathize with capitalists.

For example, Jack Ma, a globally renowned billionaire, once said: "The happiest time for me was when I was a teacher earning a few hundred yuan a month."

Keep in mind that Jack Ma made this statement shortly after being named the world's richest man. At that time, the Alibaba Group was at its peak, showing no signs of decline.

So when he said that on a TV show, it really made many people lose their composure.

The fact that he later spent billions to buy a house on the most expensive hill in Hong Kong Island makes this statement somewhat ironic.

After accidentally seeing Jack Ma's boastful remarks online, Qiao Yu also felt disdain for them.

I just think these rich people are so pretentious.

If he were to become the world's richest man one day, he certainly wouldn't feel happy when he could only earn a few hundred dollars a day.

But now he doesn't think so.

Being a millionaire can be very enjoyable, but when you have too many responsibilities on your shoulders, you don't really have as much fun.

The main problem is that having something on your mind constantly affects your mood.

The people who are truly happy are probably those around Jack Ma, such as his son...

Thinking of this, Qiao Yu decided to go home and give Qiao Zisheng a beating first.

Honestly, just thinking about how this kid can enjoy a life that ordinary people can only dream of without having to work at all makes Qiao Yu furious.

That's not even the most annoying thing.

He's so smart, yet this kid still can't do addition and subtraction within 20. All he does all day is act cute and charming!
If it weren't for the fact that this kid looks almost exactly like him now, Qiao Yu would have doubted whether this thing was his biological son.

It's unlikely that the child inherited his looks and Xia Keke's intelligence. Qiao Yu felt that the child was probably doomed.

After all, Xia Keke is too easy to fool.

If his son is this easily fooled in the future, then while others' wealth doesn't last three generations, his family's wealth won't last two...

Qiao Yu didn't really care about what happened after he and Xia Keke died.

However, following the advice of the elders, we are planning to have a second child to see if we can raise the average IQ of the next generation.

These old folks really don't have any sense of martial ethics. They always want both. At this crucial moment when he was planning to rest and have children, he was now being entrusted with an important task. He was sitting in his office, looking worried and lost in thought.

He was brought back to his senses by the knock on the door.

"come in."

Almost the entire world now knows that Qiao Yu's brain is amazing. But everyone's understanding of this is actually very one-sided.

I only think he has a great talent for mathematics and scientific research.

Little did people know that this perception was actually very one-sided. Even in everyday life, his brain was just as amazing.

For example, if you spend a little more time with someone, even when you're distracted, you can distinguish a lot of things just from subtle sounds.

For example, he knew it was Lao Zheng coming to see him again just from the sound of knocking.

Sure enough, when the door was pushed open, Zheng Xiwen appeared.

"Old Zheng, what's up?"

Qiao Yu asked casually.

"Nothing much, I just came to see you."

"Haha, did you accept a mission to find out what I think? To see if you have any objections to me being asked to do the work but Director Tian being put in charge?"

Qiao Yu asked directly.

Zheng Xiwen did not answer directly. Having been around Qiao Yu for a long time, he had gotten used to Qiao Yu's almost supernatural intelligence.

This young man, who is not very old, sees many things more clearly than this old man in his forties.

Zheng Xiwen didn't hold back and sat down on the sofa, replying, "No, I just came to check on you."

"Alright, stop hiding it. I know what you guys are thinking. Don't worry, I won't back down."

And I understand your good intentions. The biggest problem with general artificial intelligence for current quantum simulation computers is no longer a technical problem, but a philosophical one.

Or rather, the greatest challenge of this thing has always required humanity to examine itself. The challenges in the technical implementation process are actually secondary issues.

Zheng Xiwen paused, then subconsciously asked, "Humanity questioning itself? What do you mean?"

"It means whether humanity can allow general artificial intelligence to make mistakes! If so, then we will face another ethical dilemma, such as the classic trolley problem. By the way, do you know the trolley problem?" Qiao Yu asked rhetorically.

Zheng Xiwen nodded, took a deep breath, and replied, "Of course I know. When we entered the industry, we went through tests similar to the trolley problem and the prisoner's dilemma."

But I don't quite understand why the development of artificial intelligence is linked to a problem like the trolley problem.

Qiao Yu explained, "Let's take autonomous driving as an example again. If we allow autonomous driving to have a certain probability of accidents, then if we were to set a standard, it would probably be acceptable as long as the accident rate is lower than that of human drivers, right?"

Zheng Xiwen nodded.

Qiao Yu continued, "However, in terms of human society, drivers with good driving skills, good driving habits, and who are cautious and law-abiding often have a much lower accident rate than those who are used to reckless driving."

But if we hand over the steering wheel to artificial intelligence, the probability of an accident is equal for all types of drivers. Those who follow the rules and those who don't—isn't that an advanced version of the trolley problem?

Most importantly, if a person has not made any mistakes, but is lost due to the error of artificial intelligence, how much will society magnify the error of artificial intelligence?
See? This is the dilemma you can all understand. If general artificial intelligence follows a human-like thinking pattern, it is destined to be allowed to make mistakes.

However, allowing an artificial intelligence to make mistakes and cause losses would lead to rejection by the entire human society. Even among humans, there's the saying, "Those who are not of our kind must have different intentions." Let alone machines.

And this is just a minor incident. A major incident would be far more terrifying. For example, what if, in the future, the Sky Defense System were entrusted to artificial intelligence for decision-making, and a misjudgment resulted in shooting down an aircraft? What do you think would happen?
So I understand perfectly well that Director Tian is leading this project; frankly, it's so that if anything goes wrong in the future, Director Tian and the soon-to-be-established ethics review committee will take the blame for me. I just need to focus on doing my job well. They've put in a lot of effort, how could I be ungrateful?

Zheng Xiwen remained silent. There were too many twists and turns in the story, but Qiao Yu understood it perfectly.

"But at this stage, this thing is really useful. Several plans for lunar construction have been discussed and debated, and in the end, it was found that sending machines with a certain level of thinking ability to carry out construction is the most suitable."

Moreover, before the lunar environment is fully terraformed, artificial intelligence is the best option for managing the lunar base and ensuring its normal operation.

The life support system at the base is no joke. With fewer people around, in case of a problem, they can quickly put on their spacesuits and get back to the spaceship.

If there are too many people in the future, and this device malfunctions, dozens or even hundreds of people in an entire base could be wiped out simultaneously. It's a high-pressure job with an extremely low margin for error.

If you look further ahead, if you want to explore the universe, you'll often be traveling on a spaceship for several months or even a year. It would be difficult for a human captain to withstand that kind of high pressure.

When sailing on Earth's oceans, there are always ports for resupply at regular intervals. Even the earliest great seafaring adventurers could at least see land every now and then.

But the first generation of interstellar travelers didn't receive such favorable treatment. They had no resupply points during their voyages, and even their navigation was inaccurate. Instead, Earth needed the data they transmitted back to create star maps and build interstellar resupply points.

In such a high-pressure environment, the emotions suppressed for a long time can easily lead to unpredictable and irreversible mistakes. Therefore, the assistance of artificial intelligence technology is indeed necessary.

However, I think the big shots are overthinking it; these things are normal. Every industrial revolution has its bloody side.

After the invention of the steam engine, people used it to build warships, and then to plunder and loot everywhere, and to expand colonies. How many people died because of the steam engine?
In the later era of electricity and internal combustion engines, airplanes could fly, but how many people lost their lives in wars?
As for the Third Industrial Revolution, nuclear power entered the historical stage. Just two bombs could cook the people of two cities! See, that's how human technological development has always been.

Qiao Yu shrugged and said.

Zheng Xiwen was also confused by Qiao Yu's words. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Actually, you don't need to force yourself at all. If you don't want to do something, no one will make things difficult for you."

This made Qiao Yu laugh, and laugh very happily.

"Haha, Lao Zheng, don't you know me? It's not that I don't want to do this. Actually, it's that I want to do this. The elders are afraid that I will take responsibility, so they are making me take the blame."

Director Tian actually hopes I'll continue to thoroughly research this theory and then quickly develop a systematic approach. You know that I'm the one who told him the significance of intelligence.

To put it simply, the groundwork for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is almost complete. The quantitative changes have been building up, and they were bound to erupt eventually. Now is a good juncture.

As for the landmark, it should be the emergence of general artificial intelligence and the beginning of humanity's grand exploration of the universe. I'm not just telling you this, I'll also say it in future interviews, so that the generation that reflects on itself will need to memorize this statement!

I think the world's rich people are living too comfortably these days. Owning a private yacht or private jet worth billions is already considered the standard for being rich.

This won't do. We need to give the wealthy more to enjoy and make their consumption more sophisticated. A five-million-dollar bag? That's a waste of wealth! In the future, the standard for the wealthy should at least be owning a spaceship that can be deployed at any time.

This means he not only has to maintain a spaceship that requires regular maintenance, but also a team of at least five astronauts who need to conduct spaceflight training at any time!
Don't they always say on TV that they like to go to the high seas? I think international law should be amended accordingly soon, otherwise it will become outdated.

The solution was changed to state that all sea areas covered by a space-based defense system are under the jurisdiction of Chinese law, effectively eliminating the concept of the high seas.

From now on, if they want to act lawlessly again, they'll have to go to outer space, 30,000 kilometers from Earth. Only then can they do whatever they want. So, Lao Zheng, what do you think of the intensity of this move?

Zheng Xiwen thought it was great, but he didn't dare to agree.

Well, what Qiao Yu said actually has a basis in reality.

After the security level was raised by two levels, Zheng Xiwen learned a great deal.

For example, theoretically, if the Sky Shield is activated, with the help of satellites and ground-based early warning radar, it can easily lock onto targets on the sea surface and in the air.

Although the laser system on SkyShield cannot directly damage things on the sea surface at present, mainly because there is an atmosphere between them, the energy loss is too severe.

Furthermore, there may be thick cloud cover in between, so the laser generator on the TianDun satellite could not possibly have such a high power output.

However, even if SkyShield cannot strike flying objects, it can still cause significant interference. This is unless the aircraft does not fly too high and always stays below 1.3 meters.

If it flies higher, it can be locked onto by the Sky Shield system. Even if the damage from that position is not high, it can still provide effective and continuous laser interference, such as disabling the system.

This means that if China wants to enforce the law, it has absolute control. After all, if any strategic reconnaissance aircraft not belonging to China are rendered ineffective, in modern air combat, it's like a sighted person fighting a blind person...

Furthermore, the aerospace system has now proposed two projects to complete the SkyShield system.

One area is adaptive spectral research. The main objective is to integrate with weather systems and adaptively switch laser bands based on real-time atmospheric data.

The other is the geostationary orbit energy satellite constellation plan. The full plan is said to be to launch thirteen more geostationary orbit energy satellites to wirelessly transmit power to SkyShield.

Once the law is successfully enforced, there will be absolutely no problem. It would be equivalent to having the entire ocean on Earth under China's surveillance.

After all, only China's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft are capable of taking off and carrying out missions.

But this method...

"So this is definitely something I'll do! And I really enjoy it; it's much more interesting than doing mathematical research."

What I'm really worried about right now is how to even begin! Sigh…” (End of Chapter)