Xueba's computing system

Chapter 44 Let algorithms produce algorithms?

When Lin Yuan returned to Professor Zhang's office, the door was ajar.

He knocked on the door first, "Teacher, I'm here."

"Come in, ahem~~"

When Lin Yuan pushed the door open, he saw Professor Zhang coughing violently.

"I just bought some anti-inflammatory and cough spray. Teacher, would you like to try it? The doctor at the pharmacy said that if you want to cure it completely, you have to smoke less."

Professor Zhang noticed what Lin Yuan was holding. "You're not really a piece of wood."

"Ah?" Lin Yuan was a little confused by this.

"I'm fine. I've been smoking for decades. I caught a cold from the air conditioning these past two days. I'm coughing a little because of smoking."

Lin Yuan suddenly realized that it was no wonder that he had never seen his tutor cough so badly.

"Hey, I just praised you, and you..." Professor Zhang was looking behind Lin Yuan, where there was an open office door.

Lin Yuan still looked at his mentor with a puzzled look on his face, "Open the door to let the smoke out, the air will be better." His original intention was very simple, if the air was better, the mentor would cough less.

But this made Professor Zhang laugh, "You..." and then he went to close the door himself.

Lin Yuan then came to his senses. It seemed that what these two people said was not something that could be told to outsiders.

Although there was resentment in his words, Professor Zhang's face was full of kindness.

"Open your notebook and show me the algorithm."

Lin Yuan immediately did as he was told.

"Why are you still using this antique T440? Didn't the regiment give you a starting subsidy? I'll ask my students there some other day."

Lin Yuan quickly explained, "Yes, it was sent. This laptop is still OK, so I didn't change it."

Professor Zhang didn't say anything else. He put on his glasses and started looking at Lin Yuan's code.

After a long time, Professor Zhang took off his glasses and rubbed the sides of his nose. "I have to admit that I am old. I can't keep up with these AIs and deep networks now."

“Have you tested this algorithm?”

"It has been deployed on the company's test platform, and a simulation test has been conducted on this small area outside the school. The basic process is fine, but the model parameters need to be further optimized."

"So, now everything is ready, except for computing power?"

"Yes."

Professor Zhang thought for a while and said, "It seems that you are not just treating this project as a practice, you really want to do it as a real thing."

Lin Yuan nodded seriously.

“Are you confident in the results? Have you ever thought that if the iterative optimization of this type of food delivery algorithm is so simple, why doesn’t the large R&D team of Haotuan Company optimize it? I don’t want to discourage you, but I hope you can face the reality first.”

The problem finally came to the point where it could not be avoided.

Why does Lin Yuan think he can handle a problem that so many people in the group company can't handle?

Although Lin Yuan believed that he could handle it because he had a system, he certainly couldn't use the system as a reason to convince others.

“Although I haven’t seen the underlying algorithm principles of Haotuan regarding routing and delivery issues, from the test tasks I’ve been exposed to, their algorithm as a whole follows a fixed idea.”

"Oh? What's the idea?" Professor Zhang's interest was piqued.

"In a word, the whole country is like a chessboard. Their algorithms will not be truly customized for individual regions. For example, Suzhou is famous for having no nightlife, and everyone is used to going home after 9 o'clock. But at this time in places like Tanzhou, the nightlife is just beginning.

Although their algorithm also has autonomous learning capabilities for different regions.

However, the adjustments brought about by this self-learning are only for the parameters of the algorithm. In other words, their algorithms are essentially the same. It is like two different cars built on the same foundation. They may look different, but when you take them apart, you can see that they are from the same mother.

The problem this causes is that there is no way to truly take into account the differences between regions.

Even if we don’t say that different places have different living habits, let’s just take Zijin City as an example. Zijin is divided into so many districts, and the consumption capacity of the northern district and the core districts is obviously not at the same level.”

Professor Zhang tapped his fingers on the table as he listened. "I understand what you mean. You think the underlying logic of the algorithm should be customized for different regions, rather than just using the same algorithm and adjusting the parameters to adapt to different regions."

"Yes."

"Have you considered the cost?" Professor Zhang asked patiently. In his opinion, it is normal for students to be a little out of touch with society after staying in school for a long time. So it is normal for them to come up with some ideas that are logically feasible but not feasible in actual production. He believes that Lin Yuan made the mistake of not considering the labor cost at this time.

"Labor costs account for a large proportion of an IT company's expenses."

"I've thought about it."

"What? Have you really thought about it?" Professor Zhang, who was leaning on the back of his chair, straightened up.

"I've thought about it. All we have to do is reduce the labor costs."

"But the question is how do you reduce costs? Do you want to develop an algorithm for every district in Zijin City? Have you calculated the cost of developing and maintaining the algorithm?"

“Then let the algorithm maintain the algorithm?”

“W-what? You mean, let the algorithms handle the algorithms?”

"Yes. My current draft of the algorithm is the prototype of the algorithm producer algorithm."

Lin Yuan's words were obviously a bit confusing.

“Algorithm producer algorithm?” Professor Zhang repeated. “You have trapped me in this nesting. Your idea is unique. Whether it succeeds or not, I support you to give it a try.”

Professor Zhang thought for a while and asked again, "How do you let algorithms produce algorithms? The production process of algorithms must have a basis, right? Where do you extract these parameters related to the basis, and how do you extract them?"

"Well, I don't have a definite idea yet. I need computing equipment to verify my guess. I want to use the idea of 'local climate and soil nurture local people' and combine it with the local economic situation and various public data."

"I understand," Professor Zhang knocked on the table hard, "You intend to let the algorithm read society and then produce algorithms suitable for each region."

"Yes, you are worthy of being a teacher. The summary is so accurate."

"Yo~~, I thought you were not good at flattering."

"Ah?" Lin Yuan was stunned. "I'm just telling the truth."

"Hahaha~~~" Professor Zhang laughed heartily upon hearing this, "You're doing very well, keep it up. This kind of flattery is better than Gu Xuan's, and it tastes like Li Youcai."

"Li Youcai? Who is that?"

"The vice president of my college. The one who gave you a hard time during your interview. He was in the same dormitory with me."

Lin Yuan could only smile awkwardly.

"Lin Yuan, to be honest, I don't think highly of your idea, but I encourage young people to have such unrealistic ideas. So, I will find a way to deal with the computing power equipment."

Lin Yuan was overjoyed when he heard this, "Thank you, teacher."

Lin Yuan began to fantasize. Should he give me a dozen A100s, or a sack of 4090s? Or should he just give me H100s?

"Don't thank me yet." Professor Zhang looked at Lin Yuan and smiled.

This smile made Lin Yuan's body tremble, and he instinctively realized that this smile was not simple.

Lin Yuan suddenly felt guilty because... this "letting algorithms produce algorithms" thing was just something he made up.

(End of this chapter)