Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 465 Rainbow

The Baoshan Apollo Technology Park occupies a large area of ​​land.

This area used to be an old industrial zone in Shenhai, and it was always disliked and couldn't be included in the list of Shenhai's five new cities.

Since Apollo Technology moved in, a large number of upstream and downstream companies have followed suit, as have the R&D centers of tech giants and a large number of foreign companies.

Now, this area is called the Shenhai New Economic Engine, and housing prices have soared accordingly, with the average listing price now exceeding that of Minhang District.

Local netizens in Shanghai complained that although Ran Shen studied at Jiaotong University in Minhang District, the development benefits he brought were all enjoyed by Baoshan District.

Today, the area centered around the Apollo Science Park and extending outwards is filled with a somber atmosphere.

After that report came out, Song Nanping was the most furious: How was the security work done? Before, we had to check every 20 kilometers around, but the Central News Agency kept watch and filmed us every day for more than half a year, and no one noticed?

Within the Shenhai Microelectronics Institute, who leaked the technical data?

Lin Ran joked, "For example, a sniper rifle that can kill with a single shot? Don't worry, Lao Song, if it really comes down to that, Da T can dodge a sniper bullet by simply turning to the side, and I can do the same."

He thought to himself, "I'm a man with a special trick that counters bullet assassinations. This trick even helped Robert Kennedy escape a fatal attack."

Xu Xian, after becoming a postdoctoral researcher, had a private room, which was always filled with the smell of takeout food.

This is what is commonly known as the "atmosphere of everyday life".

As a well-known blogger on Zhihu and Bilibili, Xu Xian, a high school friend of Lin Ran, has a large following on the Simplified Chinese internet.

His inbox is filled with countless followers who want to get to know him and then Lin Ran.

His walls were covered with posters of EVA and Genshin Impact, and on the screen, lines of code were competing with the latest episode of anime on bilibili for his limited attention.

Terence Tao is still learning to use artificial intelligence to solve mathematical problems, and he is learning about artificial intelligence.

When 11G was pursuing his PhD in biology at America University, he still knew that he should get a master's degree in computer science, as having more options meant having more paths to take.

Xu Xian is no exception. He uses his spare time to study artificial intelligence, which is both part of his hobby and part of his preparation for the end of his postdoctoral studies.

Who says he can't become a genius at Huawei, or get a job at DeepRed Technology by latching onto Brother Ran's coattails?
Suddenly, my phone vibrated, and a special notification popped up from the official Weibo account of "Crimson Technology".

Xu Xian clicked on the announcement and her eyes widened in shock.

"A brand-new AI called Rainbow, based on the left and right brain chip architecture, is about to undergo internal testing. This AI focuses on emotional communication and is more like a virtual girlfriend than a work assistant."

We expect to offer 10,000 spots this time. Spots are limited, and you will need to fill out a questionnaire. We will then select participants based on the responses. We welcome your applications.

"Holy crap, left and right brain chip architecture? So fast?" Xu Xian instantly snapped out of his two-dimensional world.

Of course he knew about this technical approach.

On Zhihu, the left and right brain chip architectures have been analyzed thoroughly.

Lin Ran, in an interview, mentioned that the most direct application of this new architecture would be virtual girlfriends.

The newly added right-brain chip, also known as a neuromorphic chip, is responsible for processing subtle fluctuations in emotions, non-linear feedback, and human-specific intuition.

In layman's terms, this new architecture of artificial intelligence will be more human-like.

Existing AI, whether it's Doubao, Yuanbao, or DeepSeek, is essentially a logic tool. It excels at writing code and generating reports, but it always feels cold and impersonal when it comes to emotional depth and empathetic feedback.

If the rainbow is too realistic, wouldn't the already terrible birth rate decline even further? Xu Xian thought to himself.

Then, he thought to himself, what does this have to do with me? If Rainbow could really simulate human emotional delays, illogical reactions, and emotional responses, that would be revolutionary.

Thinking of this, Seohyun rubbed her hands together expectantly, paused the video on Bilibili, and her fingers flew across the keyboard.

The application link for DeepRed Technology is not a simple click to register, but a questionnaire that lasts for an hour and a half.

As Xu Xian worked on it, she complained: "Goodness, this isn't a questionnaire, it's a written test! This is too insane! I'm going to give Ran-ge a good talking-to next time I see him."

The questionnaire was divided into several core sections.

In the technical knowledge section, the question asks, "Please briefly describe your understanding of the Attention mechanism in the Transformer model."

This is to select beta testers who are technically savvy and can provide high-quality feedback.

In the area of ​​emotional needs, the question is: "What do you think are the three most indispensable elements in an ideal emotional relationship?"

There are ethical and boundary areas. "If your AI companion expresses feelings of 'pain,' what is your first reaction? A. Debug the code; B. Offer comfort; C. Seek ethical help."

The questionnaire was extensive and complex, making it the most complicated survey Seohyun had ever conducted, much more difficult than the Bilibili entrance exam back then.

Seohyun spent forty minutes filling out the questionnaire with utmost care.

In the section on emotional needs, he unhesitatingly chose emotional value and unconditional companionship.

This is because it's an advantage of artificial intelligence, something that girlfriends in real life can't do.

The data statistics from DeepRed Technology's backend system are like an avalanche.

According to internal data from DeepRed Technology, the number of applications submitted exceeded one million in just two hours, while they were competing for only 10,000 slots.

Keep in mind that it has only been two hours.

This level of competition far exceeds that of any AI tool's beta testing.

This isn't because people want a virtual partner to fill an emotional void, understand human feelings, or provide emotional value. If that were the case, so many people would have applied after word-of-mouth spread. The fact that so many people have applied in just two hours is entirely due to Lin Ran's influence and users' curiosity about the left and right brain hemispheres.

Xu Xian looked at the screen and saw that the application had been submitted. She gripped her phone tightly and said, "Should I ask Ran-ge to pull some strings?"

“Rainbow,” Seohyun whispered to the screen, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, “If you really are from the world of anime, then come find me.”

He began to pray, hoping that the devotion to anime and the profound understanding of technology he displayed when filling out the questionnaire would be the key to his selection.

The next day, in a classroom in Building 2 of the Science Building at Yenching University, Xu Xian, as a postdoctoral fellow, was to be responsible for giving a problem-solving class to first- and second-year students.

The main focus is on mathematical analysis. Even in the School of Mathematical Sciences at Yenching University, not everyone is a genius and relies solely on self-study.

Xu Xian gently placed the chalk on the podium. The blackboard was covered with densely written solution steps. The problem he had just solved was quite difficult, involving uniform convergence and power series.

"Alright, classmates, let's take a ten-minute break." Xu Xian clapped his hands, looking a little tired.

His classmates assumed his exhaustion was due to pondering some profound problem, unaware that it stemmed from playing Civilization VI all night.

"Remember, uniform convergence is a stronger condition than point-state convergence. Just like when you're in a relationship, you can't just be nice to her for a single moment. You need to ensure that you're close enough across the entire domain to maintain stability."

A knowing laugh and the sound of chairs being moved filled the classroom.

The young students immediately detached themselves from the high-dimensional, abstract world of mathematics.

Xu Xian walked to the front of the podium and glanced at the students who were looking down at their phones.

Even the King of Scrolls couldn't resist the novelty of the outside world.

"Before today's class started, I heard many students on stage discussing DeepRed Technology's new AI, Rainbow."

The beta testing application period has already closed, right? Have any of you future elites of mathematics participated in this virtual girlfriend test?

"Teacher Xu, I applied, but that questionnaire was such a waste of time."

I only filled in the technical section.

I believe it is essentially a large-scale non-convex optimization problem. Using neuromorphic chips for sparse computation is to pursue a local optimum in terms of computational resources.

However, the demand for virtual girlfriends is too low-entropy and not worth the effort.

Xu Xian smiled. This was typical thinking among the students in the audience: trying to use the precision of mathematics to circumvent the complexities of life.

Xu Xian pointed to the power series on the blackboard: "Your view is typical. You believe that emotions are low-entropy, so they are not worth studying."

However, the core of the power series expansion we just discussed is to approximate complex functions with simple polynomials.

The difficulty of Rainbow lies in the fact that it uses structured code to approximate high-entropy, high-dimensional random variables and human emotions.

What I want to say is never underestimate Ran Shen (a nickname for a popular streamer). He won't do anything meaningless. This might be the necessary path to achieving general AGI (Advanced Gear Intelligence), or perhaps Ran Ge (Ran Shen) is using this to verify some of his conjectures.

Mentioning Lin Ran, the classmate immediately looked thoughtful.

"Professor Xu, do you have any inside information? Could you tell us? Do you mean that Ran Shen wants to verify the necessity of emotions in a general-purpose intelligent architecture? To use neuromorphic chips to simulate the emergence of consciousness?"

"Could you help me get an internal test account? Professor Xu, you know how hard it is to find a girlfriend in the School of Mathematical Sciences, I don't mind a virtual girlfriend!"

"Professor Xu, is this AI attempting to solve the theory of mind problem?"

Xu Xian looked at the students' eyes, filled with longing for inside information and privileges, as well as their academic enthusiasm for AGI, and felt both gratified and helpless.

Xu Xian shook his head and said with a smile, "I don't have any inside information, nor do I have a beta test account."

Aside from knowing the "Burning God" (a nickname for a PhD student), I'm just a pathetic postdoc, with only my computer and a tiny six-square-meter bedroom for company.

The students in the audience cheered and jeered, thinking that Teacher Xu was being too pretentious.

What does it mean to disregard knowing the "Burning God"? Can that really be disregarded? In the eyes of the students, this is Professor Xu's core competitiveness—he can advance into the industry or stay in academia.

The advancement needs no further explanation. As for the retreat, a close friend of an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, whom he had known since before he rose to prominence, means that the label that young scholars find most troublesome is not a problem for Professor Xu.

Xu Xian continued, "However, Zhao's question was very insightful."

The realization of the theory of mind requires AI to be able to process unstructured, noisy emotional data and make non-logical, probabilistic responses.

In my view, this is precisely the significance of neuromorphic chips.

Xu Xian walked back to the podium, picked up the chalk, but did not write anything.

"So, students, the internal testing of Rainbow is not just a commercial test; it is an experiment on the boundaries of human emotions."

It attempts to use artificial intelligence to simulate human instincts.

"In mathematical analysis, we pursue uniform convergence, certainty, and perfection."

Real life and emotions are high-entropy, non-convex, and full of uncertainty.

If Rainbow truly succeeds, it's not because it perfectly simulates emotions; quite the opposite, it's because it successfully simulates the imperfections, hesitations, and randomness inherent in human emotions.

From this perspective, I think it's impossible for a general AGI to be achieved through the large-scale model approach, because the underlying logic of a large-scale model is a reward and punishment mechanism, which cannot tolerate errors.

(End of this chapter)