Chapter 68: The Wheel of History Rolls On

The news of the Artificial Intelligence breakthrough wasn’t only known in Huaxia Nation.

However, compared to the pure excitement and enthusiasm of most people inside Huaxia Nation,

the situation outside was far more complex.

Thanks to Huaxia Nation’s own development over the past two hundred years and some contributions by Qin Yu,

at this point, Huaxia Nation’s GDP within the Human Coalition accounted for over half.

Adding in the nations around Nine Provinces that were influenced by Huaxia Nation,

this percentage became even more staggering.

To a large extent, this was also why Collective Social Rearing had quickly gained an absolute advantage worldwide

during the earlier dispute over traditional family versus collective social upbringing.

But even though Collective Social Rearing was widespread across the Human Coalition,

the situations in North Bear Nation and Moon Nation remained different from Huaxia Nation’s.

Outside Huaxia Nation, some small nations aligned with it also felt excitement and anticipation—

after all, when Huaxia Nation got the meat, they could probably drink some soup too.

In some nations within North Bear Nation and Moon Nation, people felt shock at the AI breakthrough

but mostly viewed the spread of Artificial Intelligence with worry and doubt.

First, these groups within the Human Coalition still lacked the power to confront Huaxia Nation.

Apart from threatening to nuke everyone as a mutual-doom tactic, they had no way to pressure Huaxia Nation.

In other words, they couldn’t offer anything worthwhile to trade for this AI technology.

Unlike the earlier 2611 Longevity Injection which boosted productivity,

Huaxia Nation saw no reason to share this breakthrough.

Second, many in North Bear Nation and Moon Nation believed even if they obtained some Intelligent Machinery,

it might not benefit them. In their nations,

traditional family rearing hadn’t been fully phased out.

The adoption of AI tech could follow Huaxia Nation’s model

or veer into a cyberpunk-style nightmare.

Huaxia Nation’s high welfare policies didn’t extend to them,

and their own nations might not implement such policies.

For them, the spread of Intelligent Machinery might just mean job losses.

Similarly,

when people in Huaxia Nation saw this news, they instinctively focused on the name “Qin Yu.”

Now, those outside Huaxia Nation took note of “Qin Yu” too.

For folks in North Bear Nation and Moon Nation, seeing this name again stirred complex emotions.

Really?

One “Qin Yu” died of old age,

then not even decades later, another “Qin Yu” pops up.

He could’ve at least changed his name to soften the shock.

Was this intentional? Was “Qin Yu” some honorary title in Huaxia Nation?

Especially since some found proof that he had indeed changed his name to Qin Yu.

Yet… regardless of whether people worldwide felt thrilled, scared,

or even feared an AI crisis over this breakthrough,

the whole world buzzed with unusual energy because of it.

…

At the same time,

seeing that Researcher Qin Yu and the authorities did not assume full control

over all Intelligent Machinery production,

manufacturers making Bipedal Robots and other smart devices reacted swiftly.

Of course,

in this era where Collective Social Rearing prevailed almost completely in Huaxia Nation,

private ownership had virtually dissolved. Any business—even called private or owned by one person—

belonged to the collective in essence.

Theoretically, everyone grew up through the Social Upbringing Bureau. With enough skill,

you could become a successor to any business, taking over from the prior owner.

Such “private” property was passed down based on ideas and competence—

similar to the Negentropy Research Institute’s succession model.

Now,

the maker of the Bipedal Robot used by the Information Denoising Institute

in its Intelligent Program 012 field tests stepped forward immediately.

Everyone knew the institute must’ve modified the robot for experiments,

but at least it looked about the same, right?

This company, named Illusion Wit-Tech, announced it would seek cooperation

with Researcher Qin Yu’s team.

Using their Bipedal Robots and other models as hardware foundations,

they planned to release home-service robots, elderly-care bots, companion robots,

and other smart Humanoid Robots soon for individuals and businesses to buy.

Naturally, in this era, several firms made Humanoid Robot parts.

Other manufacturers didn’t want to lag behind.

Securing partnerships could wait—first, declare intentions.

Everyone knew a new Intelligent Era was coming; laggards would fail.

Also, it wasn’t just about Bipedal and Humanoid Robots.

In the Intelligent Era, Humanoid Robots might only complement the broader automation network.

After other Intelligent Machinery upgraded hardware using AI,

Humanoid Robots would become less essential for production.

Several industrial equipment makers quickly announced plans to integrate Intelligent Program 012,

providing hardware support for its rollout in their sectors.

Accordingly,

the Negentropy Research Institute—or the authorities—gave a response.

The Negentropy Research Institute and its sub-group, the Information Denoising Research Institute,

were classified facilities unsuited for external dealings.

So officials and the Information Denoising Institute created a new department

to address issues like Intelligent Program 012’s integration and Artificial Intelligence diffusion.

Of course, matters related to Qin Yu’s project occasionally needed his input,

but these small, specific details didn’t require his constant attention.

As for the use of Intelligent Program 012 on humanoid robots and smart machinery,

no actual improvements to Intelligent Program 012 itself were necessary, and this step had nothing to do with Artificial Intelligence research itself.

It was already a versatile Intelligent Program designed for Intelligent Machinery.

When installed in different humanoid robots, all that was needed was to limit its scope of use.

Of course, considering the impact of Computing Power Technology,

before larger-scale Computing Power Centers were built in various cities,

Intelligent Machinery terminals without Computing Power Center support were probably weaker versions of Intelligent Program 012.

But things like this simply required time.

Even with the start of the Intelligent Era, many things couldn’t happen overnight.

…

The next day,

Huaxia Nation continued announcing new measures:

“…Within two years, we’ll gradually replace all existing road vehicles with smart ones. We’ll build a smart traffic system covering all cities, ultimately achieving fully self-driving capabilities for every vehicle on the road.”

Fully self-driving cars became one of the simplest tasks to achieve across many fields after Intelligent Program 012 was born.

In this era, most vehicles already had Level 2 or 3 smart driving capabilities.

That meant the hardware supported Intelligent Program 012’s control over the vehicles. So, all that was needed was for Intelligent Program 012 to take over each vehicle’s smart control system, and the self-driving feature would then be common everywhere.

Then, on the same day,

Huaxin News Agency released another initiative, encouraging everyone to take part in creative work.

It’s fair to say,

after the breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence technology, the whole world remained bustling.

…

The outside world’s excitement didn’t affect Qin Yu much.

After Qin Yu focused deeper on Artificial Intelligence research,

from top to bottom, very few people disturbed him.

The earlier major breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence had greatly boosted the morale of the Researchers working on related studies under Qin Yu’s leadership.

Afterward, guided by Qin Yu, both the original Researchers from the Information Denoising Research Institute and newly transferred Researchers in related fields (as Qin Yu required)

naturally pushed forward the further research of Artificial Intelligence technology with full fighting spirit.

In December of that year,

several months after the birth of Intelligent Program 012,

Qin Yu added the most anticipated abilities for Artificial Intelligence at the Information Denoising Institute—

active information gathering, screening, denoising, and analytical capabilities—into Intelligent Program 012.

The interactive abilities and intelligence level of Intelligent Program 012 further improved during this process.

Only now,

for Qin Yu,

did Intelligent Program 012 vaguely resemble a General Artificial Intelligence.

In fact, only by this point

could many expectations people previously had for the Intelligent Era be smoothly, easily, and fully realized.

The earlier Intelligent Program 012 focused on controlling Intelligent Machinery to perform complex or long-term tasks.

While it could manage some collaboration among multiple Intelligent Machinery units, it actually struggled a bit.

Strictly speaking, the previous Intelligent Program 012 wasn’t all that “smart.”

But now, Intelligent Program 012, or 012 AI, was different.

Compared to before, it was more versatile. Not only could it handle control of Intelligent Machinery, but it could also manage other interactive tasks.

Like the active monitoring and gathering of information, or denoising and analyzing data.

When coordinating tasks involving many Intelligent Machinery units over a broader area, it could also perform much more smoothly.

As for the future birth of a Strong Artificial Intelligence,

more would be needed than just algorithms and program support.

In Qin Yu’s judgment, 012 AI itself could already support the foundation for a Strong Artificial Intelligence.

But right now, Human Civilization’s computing power was insufficient.

And as for imagining a Strong Artificial Intelligence,

for Qin Yu,

this Strong Artificial Intelligence, built upon Human Civilization’s existing knowledge, would be nearly all-knowing.

With the backing of Human Civilization’s current industry and technology, it should be capable of controlling Intelligent Machinery to achieve everything human technology can produce.

It wouldn’t be limited to one field, but could coordinate and manage production activities across all areas and industries of Human Civilization,

responsible for the majority of Human Civilization’s production and the operation of the entire human society.

Every field and industry would be run by its sub-modules.

Not like now, where the Intelligent Programs in each machine operated separately.

Of course, reaching that point would require enormous computing power.

As for making a further leap to an Intelligent Lifeform,

Qin Yu couldn’t be sure exactly where the boundary was between a Strong Artificial Intelligence and an Intelligent Lifeform.

Logically speaking, the difference should lie in whether it possessed a sense of “self,”

whether it had its own primary driving force.

Without that, it’s a tool. With that, it’s life.

But how to cross from Strong Artificial Intelligence to an Intelligent Lifeform?

Qin Yu could only be sure of this:

Even if a Strong Artificial Intelligence was achieved later as planned, it would still have no true self.

Of course, this could easily create a paradox… If a Strong Artificial Intelligence wanted to imitate a human at the stage of its development,

judging by language or any external signs alone, you couldn’t possibly tell the difference.

However, this question felt very distant to Qin Yu right now—and to the Information Denoising Research Institute.

But after the birth of 012 General Artificial Intelligence,

further research on Artificial Intelligence at the Information Denoising Research Institute inevitably slowed down again.

…

Early in the year 263.

After installing a series of hardware equipment,

Researchers at the Negentropy Research Institute first tried fully integrating 012 Intelligence within the Information Denoising Research Institute.

Letting 012 take over and manage the entire operation of the Information Denoising Research Institute.

Then, in the following month,

the scope managed by 012 expanded from the Information Denoising Research Institute to the entire Negentropy Research Institute.

At the same time, 012 formally started participating in some studies conducted by the Negentropy Research Institute,

handling specific experimental operations and data monitoring tasks.

Meanwhile, Researchers at each institute focused mainly on thinking through new problems.

During that same year,

outside the Information Denoising Institute,

self-driving cars equipped with Intelligent Program 012 started spreading across the entire transportation system.

Even though city smart traffic systems hadn’t completed construction due to computing power limitations,

making coordinated efforts between all vehicles in the city impossible,

the Intelligent Program 012 installed in each vehicle was sufficient all by itself to guarantee fully unmanned intelligent driving.

As a result, the number and frequency of car crashes fell sharply that year.

Looking at the statistics, the numbers just fell sharply off a cliff that year.

Alongside this,

several companies launched Bipedal Robots and other types of Intelligent Machinery powered by Intelligent Program 012.

With different functions, they entered the market.

Of course, everyone knew their core technology was the same inside.

The differences lay in the hardware.

Cheaper models had arms and legs that couldn’t move well enough, limiting their ability to handle delicate actions.

Some were designed like drones, others used wheels or legs—shaped to adapt to different working environments.

In homes, for personal use, in businesses, within factories,

the corresponding Intelligent Machinery began appearing quickly, replacing places that used to require human labor.

Because of this,

that year, across Huaxia Nation, production value and productivity began surging dramatically,

and it was expected that

until the Intelligent Era had fully arrived, this explosive growth wouldn’t slow down but only intensify further.

…

Then, the next year.

Following the original plan,

that year saw more Computing Power Centers being built nationwide to support smart production across different industries and fields.

Meanwhile,

the official retirement age had dropped from 140 years old to 125 years old.

In that same year,

the space agency, alongside the Negentropy Research Institute, proposed an expansion plan for the Lunar Base to higher authorities.

Given the impending Intelligent Era,

whether driven by the need for more resources or by the increased capability of Intelligent Machinery to construct bases beyond Earth,

there was no good reason to not push further development and construction on the Lunar Surface.