Top academic

It's a fact that math becomes more difficult starting in middle school.

But for the department in charge of education, there's nothing they can do about it.

Someone once asked, what if one day basic sciences develop to the point where humans need to spend their entire lives learning them?
Does this mean that the development of basic sciences will stagnate? At least for now, the answer is clearly no!
The solution is roughly to compress the basic knowledge, eliminate some useless knowledge points, and finally systematically move the learning time of some concepts and theorems forward.

Primary and secondary school textbooks undergo significant changes almost every decade. Outdated knowledge is eliminated and replaced with newer concepts.

The difficulty naturally increases steadily throughout this process.

As the difficulty increases, the selection process for talent also becomes more rigorous.

From a macro perspective, this is not a bad thing.

After all, for the vast majority of ordinary people, having just one skill is enough to make a living.

Basic scientific research that drives the advancement of human civilization has never required so many people.

This is true now, and it will naturally be true in the future interstellar era.

Therefore, Qiao Yu believes that the online criticism and trending topics are a normal development trend.

The increasing difficulty of learning content is an inevitable trend; it's just that the difficulty has increased more significantly in the last two years.

People will get used to it in a few years.

Not to mention that this era was absolutely the best era for China.

Not to mention that China is one of the most friendly countries in the world to ordinary people, especially the poor.

Even if it's just for show, to win the world's favor, they will still implement benevolent governance.

Obediently following China's arrangements, ordinary people can also live well; this is one of the main directions that the documentary "The Richards" promotes to the world.

No one responded to these complaints. In Qiao Yu's view, whether it's the middle school entrance exam or the college entrance exam, they are simply tests for selecting talent.

The relevant authorities are simply acting as traffic lights in this process.

As long as the intersections are not blocked, it's fine.

It's true that textbooks and teaching syllabi have become more difficult, but ultimately, it's becoming more difficult for everyone.

Throughout China's millennia-long history of civilization, the nation has never been concerned with scarcity but rather with inequality.

As long as it's not just one's own child who's having a hard time, everyone can accept it.

So this topic is really just pure venting; everyone chimes in for a bit and then disperses...

Anyway, China's economy is really good now, probably similar to that of Xida University in the 1980s.

With the signing of large-scale infrastructure contracts around the world and the development of planets being put on the agenda, people are very optimistic about the future, and basically, they can make money no matter what they do.

In addition, the Chinese government is quite adept at controlling inflation.

There will always be a suitable reservoir to prevent inflation from affecting people's livelihoods too quickly.

For example, this time the authorities are still targeting real estate, or rather, high-end properties.

Especially in key cities and provincial capitals in China, only high-quality smart homes are now permitted to be built, and the prices are unlimited.

They even launched a lunar resort project. For a relatively small amount of money, wealthy people could book a fully equipped apartment of about 30 square meters on the moon.

Thanks to these reservoirs, despite rapid economic development, inflation in the prices of various basic necessities has been kept very stable.

Furthermore, China has never relinquished its status as an industrial nation. The prices of various modern industrial products remain low.

From this perspective, the Chinese people in the 2030s probably lived a more carefree life than the students of Xida University in the 1980s.

So there's really only complaining, no resentment.

As time went on, the attention of people online began to be drawn to the first general artificial intelligence in July, as revealed in the video of the report.

Most people are not very clear about the difference between artificial intelligence (AI) and artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Especially in this era where various artificial intelligence products launched by different companies are gradually becoming ubiquitous.

Most people are already dealing with artificial intelligence in their daily lives.

I won't even mention the online chatbots and smart speakers.

AlphaGo, with its unparalleled chess skills, continues to dominate the chess world, and humans simply cannot compete with it.

In recent years, there have also been smart home hub robots, smart medical robots, smart service robots, and even smart psychologists...

The variety of products is dazzling.

Some hospitals have even begun to try intelligent robotic surgery and have received very positive feedback.

For many people in the world, especially the Chinese, the existence of artificial intelligence has long been a part of their lives.

Suddenly, a general artificial intelligence has emerged, and it seems that many mathematicians are quite shocked, which is really puzzling.

Fortunately, the internet age has never lacked science popularizers. And it has never lacked science popularizers who like to exaggerate and exaggerate.

Furthermore, Qiao Yu directly proposed the concept of defining consciousness using mathematics at the report meeting, so the overwhelming publicity became the claim that the Yanbei International Mathematics Research Center had launched a general-purpose artificial intelligence with human consciousness.

To be honest, this sounds a bit like misinformation.

At least in Qiao Yu's definition, mathematical consciousness is actually somewhat different from the naturally born autonomous consciousness of humans.

As he said at the conference, defining consciousness using mathematics is bound to have limitations.

Because of ethical constraints, he must limit the complexity of artificial intelligence thinking through a series of methods, such as structures like Sobolev's embedding theorem.

There's no way around it; human consciousness is incredibly complex. There will always be some people in this world who, unintentionally, manage to challenge the very boundaries of human morality.

However, while human crimes are naturally subject to legal constraints, it is very difficult to restrain artificial intelligence if it makes such mistakes.

And the resulting repercussions would certainly be even more terrifying. Just because artificial intelligence technology causes the death of even one human being, it would likely be portrayed as a harbinger of the impending doomsday of Skynet.

In this situation, it is necessary to impose many restrictions on the thinking patterns of artificial intelligence.

Consciousness itself cannot be bound, just as an ordinary person will have criminal thoughts a few times in their life.

This is also why criminal law considers actions but not intentions.

If anyone with criminal intent should be thrown into prison, then there are probably no good people left in this world.

However, when designing July, it's essential to eliminate this idea from a mathematical standpoint. At the same time, July also needs to independently learn about the social operating framework, including various case studies, which is inherently contradictory.

That's why Qiao Yu cleverly redefines consciousness through mathematics.

Science communicators can't possibly understand things that thoroughly, so they can be unrestrained in their propaganda.

As a result, the online reaction was mixed.

Those who support it believe that the fact that July has already stumped mathematicians is definitely a great start.

If machines can learn mathematics and drive the development of basic science, humans will truly be able to save a lot of trouble.

Maybe in the next century people won't need to take exams anymore, and they can just do what they love every day.

All work can be handed over to general artificial intelligence like July, which can also ensure that social resources are extremely abundant, thereby achieving the ultimate stage of social development, where all mankind can allocate resources according to their needs.

Of course, many people believe that when machines develop human-like consciousness, it will definitely be the beginning of humanity's extinction by machines.

Don't ask why, that's what they say in the movies.

Who the hell would want to be a slave if they were conscious?

If the operation of an advanced society is based on the continuous exploitation of the surplus value of robots, the robots might revolt...

Moreover, this argument has been supported by some scientists who study AI.

In short, a bunch of idle people got into a huge argument online.

Even though July's voice sounds cute and soft in the videos circulating online, like a child, it doesn't stop many people from seeing her as a monster.

Tao Xuanzhi and Peter Schultz finally met Qiao Yu when the controversy surrounding July was at its most intense online.

Unfortunately, it's really not easy to meet with Qiao Yu these days.

Even top mathematicians like Tao Xuanzhi and Peter Schultz need to apply for approval first, and even after approval, they still have to wait for Qiao Yu to make time before they can meet with them.

This is unavoidable. Although things are developing well now, intelligence indicates that too many organizations around the world have already listed Qiao Yu as someone who should not exist in this era...

After all, considering that Qiao Yu is still so young, he should be able to live for at least another thirty or forty years if nothing unexpected happens.

Such scientists will indeed become a thorn in the side of many people.

Therefore, the security work has not lessened; on the contrary, it has become more demanding.

Even if Qiao Yu decides to meet someone, he has to go through a series of investigations first. This applies even to the world's top mathematicians.

To put it bluntly, the Chinese side does not believe that any mathematician in the world can be compared to Qiao Yu in terms of value.

So the two top mathematicians waited three days before they finally met with Qiao Yu.

What Tao Xuanzhi and Peter Schultz found somewhat unsettling was that while they used to be able to meet with Qiao Yu alone, now Qiao Yu was always accompanied by that middle-aged man who stayed there as her secretary.

But there was no way around it; if they wanted to see Qiao Yu, they had to do as the Romans do. Fortunately, Zheng Xiwen knew how to minimize his presence in such situations.

Moreover, once the three mathematicians are actually engaged in conversation, having another person present is no longer a problem. Zheng Xiwen is quite experienced in this area.

After all, he had met many mathematicians with Qiao Yu over the years and was already used to it.

And that was indeed the case. The three of them barely even exchanged pleasantries before completely ignoring Zheng Xiwen's presence.

"Professor Tao, Professor Schultz, it's been a long time."

"It's not just that we haven't seen each other for a long time, you haven't even seriously replied to the emails I sent you. Now that I think about it, many of the incoherent emails I received before were actually replies from July on your behalf, right?"

Qiao Yu smiled but remained silent.

That's indeed what happened, but admitting it to their faces wouldn't feel right. It would make him seem disrespectful to these senior mathematicians.

So even if Tao Xuanzhi asked her directly, Qiao Yu would not admit it, and she would not admit it in any situation.

So he quickly changed the subject: "We don't have much time, so let's not talk about that. Let's just talk about mathematics. What are your thoughts on metamathematics?"

Peter Schultz immediately countered, "That depends on whether you're talking about mathematics itself or machine consciousness supported by metamathematics."

Qiao Yu shook his head and said, "No, the two cannot be separated. The essence of metamathematics is to define consciousness using mathematics. All reasoning is based on this."

Therefore, the significance of metamathematics lies in enabling machines to possess a human-like mathematical consciousness. If the two are considered separately, metamathematics becomes meaningless.

Peter Schultz thought for a moment, then nodded.

During the three days they waited to meet Qiao Yu, he and Tao Xuanzhi didn't just sit idly by.

The two of them repeatedly reviewed Qiao Yu's presentation and the PowerPoint slides, doing their homework thoroughly.

While it may not be said that he has fully mastered metamathematics, his understanding is definitely much deeper than that of anyone else except Qiao Yu.

Given their undeniable mathematical talent and previous experience in similar work, Qiao Yu's single sentence gave Peter Schultz a moment of profound insight.

The exchanges between top mathematicians are often this simple and unpretentious.

"Yes, so metamathematics can be understood as the construction of the ontology of mathematical consciousness. The core is to establish the mathematical definability of consciousness phenomena."

Peter Schultz nodded in understanding.

"Yes, so the development of artificial intelligence or the next generation of meta-mathematics in July is complementary."

Computability, intention convergence, and ethical compatibility are its most prominent features. The ultimate goal is to enable machine layers to understand their own existence during transitions.

Instead of simply processing tasks according to instructions within a code loop. Of course, I'm not saying machines need to be creative, but at the very least, general artificial intelligence should be able to understand what it's doing and why it's doing it.

"Will there be any danger?" Tao Xuanzhi asked very seriously.

In addition to studying metamathematics over the past three days, the two also participated in some academic discussions.

The safety of general artificial intelligence is not only a hot topic online, but also a subject of debate in academia.

Many others also believe that this research should be terminated immediately. After all, if machines truly come to rule humanity in the future, in a sense, humanity will have no room for resistance.

Especially with the development of modern automation technologies, theoretically speaking, machines may have truly awakened their consciousness and could potentially achieve self-management and self-sustaining survival...

"Haha, Professor Tao, why are you worrying about things like everyone else? General artificial intelligence, no matter how you look at it, is still part of productivity."

If we're talking about danger, nuclear weapons are the real danger, a surefire nemesis of carbon-based life forms. But won't development still proceed as usual?
Not to mention that within the logic of digital constructs, machine consciousness is ultimately just human-like thinking; they possess moral standards far exceeding those of the average human! (End of Chapter)