Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 467 What is Comrade Comrade trying to do?
“I think this kind of cooperation is very interesting. Rainbow itself cannot be sold to you because it is a social experiment full of the future coexistence of artificial intelligence and humans.”

We can't just pull some artificial intelligence out of this second society to make car girls.

Firstly, we wouldn't do that, as it would interfere with our plans.

Some AIs only have virtual appearances and no physical bodies, while others have physical bodies like cars. I find it hard to imagine what kind of virtual society such a society would create.

Lin Ran's face revealed an indescribable expression. He was curious about the world he was describing, but rationally, he absolutely could not make such artificial interventions.

The same applies to Yu Dong.

Lin Ran continued, "Secondly, because 'rainbow' is just a general term. It doesn't actually describe a virtual image, but rather the virtual society we've built, this second world."

Imagine, in a purely virtual conversation, AI can throw tantrums, suddenly disappear, or even use psychological manipulation on the user.

Because it does not bear any physical consequences, it engages in emotional interaction.

However, as a car, a product with such high safety requirements, you can only impose a series of strict rules to ensure user safety.

This completely violates the principle that allows rainbows to express emotions.

The essence of emotions is randomness and imperfection.

The essence of security is certainty and perfection.

There is a fundamental contradiction and conflict between them.

Even if you use two sets of rules, with AI A responsible for driving and AI B responsible for emotional communication with the user, to ensure safety and provide sufficient emotional value.

However, this still cannot solve the problem of a disconnect in the user experience.

Imagine a scenario where users find that when they are debating whether or not to overtake, A will refuse with actions, while B will say, "Of course I can, I'll overtake right now."

Users will immediately realize that their car mascot is a machine.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, the excitement on Yu Dong's face was replaced by contemplation. He realized that Lin Ran was right. This was an insurmountable gap between technology and humanity. Perfection and security precisely stifled the possibility of the existence of emotions.

At the same time, he realized that Lin Ran's requirements were too high, while his own requirements were far lower than Lin Ran's.

"Mr. Lin, I think your requirements are too high. I understand your technical fastidiousness and pursuit of perfection."

You want to create a car-girl character with 80% realism for users, giving them a real feeling of dating, as if they are interacting with an AI girlfriend with a car body.

I fear that this sense of disconnect will lead to disillusionment in the user experience.

In reality, our users don't have such high requirements at all; our AI only needs to perform better than our competitors.

The reason why Ideal Student is considered easy to use is not because it can get a perfect score, but because it has a better user experience than its competitors' systems in terms of smooth interaction, accurate recognition, and immediate feedback.

Similarly, even if our car mascot only scores 80 points in emotional expression, and occasionally drops to 60 points due to a sense of disconnect, our competitors score 20 points in this aspect.

The user experience we provide is already far ahead of the competition.

This is an insurmountable generational gap.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran nodded. "I understand. You've convinced me. From a business competition perspective, your judgment should be correct."

However, I cannot give you Rainbow, but I can license it based on Rainbow's technical framework so you can use it to train the artificial intelligence models you want.

You can even build your own world.

Imagine a world filled with car mascots; when users buy your products, they are summoning their own unique car mascot.

The code for this technology cannot be delivered, but the technology itself can be delivered to you.

A flame instantly ignited in Yu Dong's eyes; he knew the value of this.

Because this implies unlimited customization and monopoly.

Yu Chengdong suddenly stood up, extended his hand and shook hands with Lin Ran: "President Lin, this is perfect! This is true ecosystem-level cooperation! With Rainbow's technical framework, we are no longer simply selling cars, we are selling an exclusive relationship and ultimate companionship!"

In the past, we have always faced a dilemma: when using HarmonyOS to build cars, the user base is aging, and compared with Xiaomi, it is difficult for us to win the hearts of young users.

There's even a constant online joke that our products are "old man's products," specifically sold to middle-aged, wealthy old men.
This time, I maximized the emotional value for them.

Yu Dong told Lin Ran his well-prepared business plan: "I plan to position this self-driving robot as an emotional luxury item."

The price should be high, so that users feel that this is not just a car, but a ticket to a virtual world.

Our initial plan is to name the product "Star Orbit Companion," meaning a satellite that will always accompany you, providing precise navigation and eternal companionship.

The slogan is: Dedicated to the creators of the world, you deserve a soul driver who understands you.

Targeting the market of high-net-worth, high-stress, and high-loneliness elite men.

We do not provide preset templates!
We want to provide every user with a unique and irreplaceable AI companion.

What I'm thinking of is using your artificial intelligence to generate a personalized AI for each user upon initial activation, based on questionnaires, voice data, and driving habit data.

Subsequently, this female car enthusiast will learn and evolve with each of the user's trips, and may even experience emotional fluctuations and changes in feeling due to the user's habits.

It will have memories, preferences, and temperaments, just like a human.

It's rare for young people of this generation to have never watched Japanese anime.

Lin Ran was no exception. During his teenage years, he had some exposure to mainstream anime and manga, including some 2D mobile games.

After listening, Lin Ran added, "President Yu, your design is still not anime-like enough, not interesting enough."

It shouldn't be a questionnaire survey. Don't new energy vehicles have a waiting period from ordering to delivery?
During this period, users should be allowed to interact with the AI ​​in the background.

This artificial intelligence could be called the Primordial Spirit. The conversation between the user and the Primordial Spirit will determine what kind of car girl it summons.

Questionnaires are so boring. You're selling luxury cars, so you need to maximize the emotional value for your customers.

Young people who buy this car are looking for a sense of ritual and uniqueness.

The user is not conducting a survey, but rather communicating with the Primordial Spirit to determine the personality of the car girl it has given him.

The Primordial Spirit is the mother intelligence of the Car Girl world, representing infinite possibilities.

Users think they are chatting, but in reality, they are personally setting the underlying personality weights and image preferences for their car avatars.

When the car is finally delivered, use 3D naked-eye laser at your delivery center to create a summoning ceremony: "Car owner, I am your XXXth mecha girl, please name me."

In this way, users are not buying a product, but an epic life.

That's what makes it unique.

This ultimate emotional value and sense of participation can absolutely break through the customer's psychological defenses.

They're already building emotional connection; why bother with questionnaires or driving habit surveys? Those are all too cliché.

After Lin Ran finished describing his vision for the Primordial Spirit and the summoning ritual, Yu Dong could no longer contain his excitement.

He realized that the value it contained far exceeded the sales volume of a single product.

Yu Chengdong clenched his fist: "President Lin, what you're describing is true master-level marketing! I really lack a lot in this area."

With just one sentence, you have pulled us from the traditional car marketing mindset into a whole new realm of being creators of emotional life.

When I get back, I will definitely reassemble the youngest and most creative team in the company to reshape the entire user experience process, from the order confirmation to the delivery confirmation.

Yu Dong continued, "I have a feeling that the emergence of this product will completely reshape the brand image of HarmonyOS."

It will no longer be a luxury car in the traditional sense, but a symbol of future emotional technology. It can target not only elites, but all young men.

They may not be able to afford it, but they will definitely enjoy the emotional value of the product through short video dissemination.

Every vehicle delivery ceremony is a viral spread of brand equity.

Instead of simply picking up the car and leaving, users record their own summoning and naming ceremonies.

Every time a user records a video they are satisfied with, it generates immeasurable viral effects on short video platforms.

These young users who can't afford to buy a car will at least look at Huawei's models when buying a car, giving them more options, which is the most important thing for us.

I anticipate it will directly lower our target audience by twenty years.

In the past, Xiaomi cars have generated a lot of emotional value for users, but their model is based on the founder's personal charisma and high cost-effectiveness.

That model is one we don't want to learn, and it's not easy to learn either.

But Mr. Lin, you have pointed us in a completely new direction: we can rely on the entrance to the second world and on unique life to bring users new and unreplicable emotional value.

Although the user base of this product is very small, requiring consumers to be able to afford it and accept anime-style narratives, its long-tail effect is enormous.

I firmly believe that its role in branding, its marketing impact, and its appeal to young people are absolutely beyond imagination.

Young people can't afford it, but they'll see it on short video platforms, discuss it, and dream of owning a car that can summon their soulmate.

As Yu Dong summarized, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

"President Lin, you're not just providing technology, you're providing a monopolistic ecosystem."

Yu Dong's words carried a probing tone.

Lin Ran instantly understood the subtext in Yu Dong's words.

In the ever-changing technology market, exclusivity is the true moat.

He replied, "Of course we can license only to Huawei, but..."

There was no need to finish saying it; the other party understood that they needed to pay more.

As a pure technology company, DeepRed Technology has a clear principle: technology can be shared, but exclusive licensing must be paid at a premium.

That's the good thing about Crimson: as long as you're willing to spend money, they never try to monopolize anything; they generously license their technology to you.

Yu Dong immediately replied, "Don't worry, we will definitely offer you a price that will satisfy you."

Lin Ran nodded: "You can discuss this with our vice president. I won't interfere with the pricing rules."

However, I need to point out that technological leadership has its limits. In the short term, our emotional AI model will certainly have an advantage, but as everyone knows, Intel is also working on right-brain chips, as is Nvidia.

Everyone is on this crowded track. Other manufacturers can't buy from us, but that doesn't mean they can't buy from other manufacturers.

Even the right-brain chips made by Moore's Threads won't be sold only to Crimson; other companies like Alibaba and ByteDance can also purchase them.

I estimate that Rainbow's leading advantage in the emotional dimension will last for two to three years.

Once competitors crack the key communication protocols and emotion model algorithms, our technological barriers will be weakened.

Lin Ran then reminded him, "However, it's not a big problem."

Because HarmonyOS's advantage lies in building worlds, that's your real moat.

The emotional data and user behavior data accumulated by the HarmonyOS world you have built will be your greatest advantage and the area where you are ahead.

In the past, when the technology community talked about ecosystems, they were talking about the interconnectivity of devices.

Now, we're going to talk about the world.

Whoever can build a world in which AI can grow autonomously, accumulate data, and develop emotional bonds will gain a true monopoly in the next era.

This is your real advantage.

So I would like to remind you that it is best if Car Girls do not only authorize this feature for this one model. You can provide this feature for your high-end models as appropriate. The richer the world it builds, the deeper your moat will be.

Once other automakers have implemented AI-powered emotional models, the real value of this technology lies in the already established world it creates.

"Sister Xiaoman, please help me make an appointment with Valentin from Far East Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd."

One morning a week later, Lin Ran said.

This Valentin is not the same Valentin who succeeded Korolev in the 1960s after his death. This Valentin is the Deputy Director of Russian Aviation in 2020, who also serves as the Chairman of the Far East Space Technology Corporation.

This company is also frequently featured in international media, and Apollo Technologies has been accused of collaborating with Russia for years.

Li Xiaoman stood up and stood in front of Lin Ran's desk, replying, "Okay, but I'm not sure if Valentin is in Shenhai. He's usually in Moscow and might only come to Shenhai once a quarter."

Lin Ran thought for a moment and then said, "It's okay, other senior executives from their company can come too. Just remember to tell them that they need to be highly trustworthy executives."

Li Xiaoman nodded. Lin Ran noticed that the document she was holding was a strategic cooperation agreement with Huawei regarding Rainbow. He asked, "How are the talks with Huawei going?"

Li Xiaoman said, "They are very tight-lipped, preferring to pay 50 billion yuan in technology licensing fees upfront rather than adopting a single-vehicle licensing payment model."

After talking with Mr. Yu, I don't think they can really convince Yanjing to open up autonomous driving.

To be precise, Huawei's statement had no impact on the tower's decision.

His attempt to use business logic and psychology to fathom the government's will is naive.

Lin Ran knew what Li Xiaoman was referring to; she was asking whether Yanjing would agree to open up the market for autonomous robots.

He was astonished by the rapid progress Li Xiaoman made in understanding China, using words like "tower" with ease.

Lin Ran said quietly, "Yes, it's not that he's naive, it's just how he presents himself to us."

Will Huawei actually use this reason?

Does Huawei really need to use this reason?
The decision-making mechanism in Yanjing was simple and absolute; it could find reasons to agree and reasons to refuse.

If the authorities want to agree, they can support domestic tech giants in conducting cutting-edge explorations in the field of AI, and seize the future race in intelligent driving and robotics.

If you do not agree, the product blurs the ethical boundaries between humans and robots, is suspected of being vulgar, and violates social morality.

He approached us simply because he wanted to collaborate with us, to build a unique competitive advantage based on this technology, and to fight against our rivals.

The competition in the new energy vehicle market is too fierce, and he doesn't want to miss out on a killer feature like the Rainbow.

Simply adding this technology as an optional extra, priced at 30,000 to 50,000 yuan, would be easy for a company of HarmonyOS's size, ultimately passing the cost onto the customer. It's precisely because they want to achieve high volume that they don't accept the pricing model based on per-vehicle licensing.

Li Xiaoman said helplessly, "It seems I still have a lot to learn. If every car has this feature as an option, that's just not cool."

Lin Ran explained, "For companies, being cool is not the most important thing; survival and expansion are."

He was going on and on about how our brand's potential customers were all under twenty years old. I'm sure his real thought was that this was how we could reinforce our image as a technologically superior, intelligent driving-first brand.

Often, what the other person says isn't necessarily the truth, and what they say they're going to do doesn't mean they'll actually do it.

This may just be a disguise to achieve one's true purpose.

When Valentin received this information from the Far East, he was equally puzzled and could not understand what Comrade comrades in Shanghai truly intended.

Because it's so weird.

(End of this chapter)