Chapter 73: Strong Artificial Intelligence
Chapter 73: Strong Artificial Intelligence
“Whoa! Academician Qin Yu is awesome!”
Most people clicked on the related news the second they saw Qin Yu’s name.
When they read the specifics reported by outlets like Huaxin News Agency and the National News Broadcast, they naturally got extremely excited.
By this time, several years had passed since the birth of General Artificial Intelligence.
The massive construction of regional Computing Power Centers meant everyone in this era deeply and directly felt the significance and value of computing power.
The urgent need for computing power in the Intelligent Era had become perfectly clear.
Most people saw the emergence of the Carbon-based Chip, especially the part explaining it performed far better than the most advanced Silicon-based Chips. They immediately understood what this meant.
“Amazing! On behalf of myself, I declare Academician Qin the greatest scientist of the century, without equal!”
“Do we need you to declare it? I declare Academician Qin and Professor Qin are equals! Hard to choose the better!”
“Just yesterday, I heard experts say the biggest problem holding back our Intelligent Era was the overwhelming stress on computing power. We’ve been forced to build countless Computing Power Centers everywhere, and the cost to society keeps growing. And now… hehe, Academician Qin Yu just solved the whole thing.”
“Does this mean the barriers to developing the Intelligent Era are totally gone? I’d bow to Academician Qin right now!”
“More or less. It also means the potential of our current Intelligent Era just got a huge boost!”
On the internet, people excitedly expressed their feelings.
That Academician Qin Yu and his team, after giving the world General Artificial Intelligence, had now delivered another groundbreaking achievement like the Carbon-based Chip didn’t surprise most people.
After all, what could be more earth-shattering than realizing General Artificial Intelligence and ushering in the Intelligent Era?
To most people, Academician Qin Yu, who led civilization into the Intelligent Era,
producing new major breakthroughs to remove obstacles for its development was only natural.
Because he was Academician Qin Yu, after all.
Perhaps it was because many people had more free time since entering the Intelligent Era these past years.
Though the excitement around the Carbon-based Chip might not match the initial wave of General Artificial Intelligence popularity,
it actually seemed to last longer.
People discussed, debated, and shared stories.
Mainstream media reports about the Carbon-based Chip breakthrough were relatively restrained.
But other media outlets and self-media platforms described it much more dramatically.
“Academician Qin Yu Removed the Final Obstacle to the Intelligent Era!”
“In the Intelligent Era, Computing Power Means Productivity! What the Birth of the Carbon-based Chip Signifies!”
“Impact on Type I Civilization! Human Civilization is About to Step Truly Through the Door!”
Of course, people loved reading these bold claims in their current enthusiastic state.
As for the rest of the world outside Huaxia Nation at this moment,
it basically had nothing left to say.
…
Beyond the online excitement sparked by the birth of the Carbon-based Chip,
In reality, as a fundamental component for the Intelligent Era, the emergence and implementation of the new Computing Power Technology, the Carbon-based Chip,
was destined to influence every corner of society and production.
First came the upgrades for Intelligent Machinery and smart devices.
Previously, due to limitations in Computing Power Technology, many machines and devices used downgraded versions of Intelligent Program 012.
After updating their computing chips, the intelligence level of this Intelligent Machinery and smart devices could rise significantly,
allowing more extensive local run-times for Intelligent Programs.
It simultaneously reduced the burden on Computing Power Centers.
In the past, upgrading all of society’s Intelligent Machinery and smart devices would have been a huge hassle.
Swapping the core computing chip rarely ensured perfect compatibility with existing hardware systems.
The shift from Silicon-based Chips to Carbon-based Chips inevitably involved adjusting the entire industrial landscape of the Intelligent Era.
However, precisely because human civilization was now deeply entrenched in the Intelligent Era, this process became much smoother.
Just like how they had rolled out General Artificial Intelligence expansion like a snowball effect before,
they could do the same now with the Carbon-based Chip.
It started with the upstream and downstream production chain for Carbon-based Chips.
After every strand of Intelligent Machinery involved in the first complete Carbon-based Chip production chain got its upgrade,
the change rippled outwards. It spread from the Carbon-based Chip industry chain to others,
snowballing relentlessly, until finally, all Intelligent Machinery and smart devices across every industry, sector, and part of society received Carbon-based Chip related upgrades.
This process would certainly consume considerable social productivity.
But the Intelligent Era had no shortage of productivity.
Ultimately, completing this snowball-like transformation was just a matter of time.
Next came the matter of Computing Power Centers and the Brain Intelligence Project.
Building new Computing Power Centers and advancing the Brain Intelligence Project were mutually reinforcing.
Constructing new Computing Power Centers was foundational for the Brain Intelligence Project’s goal – creating a Strong Artificial Intelligence… Sufficient computing power is essential for a Strong AI to even operate,
like a phone from two hundred years ago couldn’t possibly run today’s Intelligent Program 012.
Conversely, the birth of a Strong Artifical Intelligence could accelerate the growth of human civilization’s productivity, thus speeding up the construction of new Computing Power Centers.
Inside the Information Denoising Research Institute,
After the first Computing Power Center built with Carbon-based Chips was completed and met its expected potential,
the ‘Brain Intelligence Project’ first took over the operations of the entire Negentropy Research Institute.
Beyond controlling basic facility functions across its multiple research institutes,
assisting research staff with precise experimental manipulations, and enabling cross-laboratory collaboration between different zones,
it also provided computational support, helping the Negentropy Research Institute solve problems.
Then, it expanded further,
moving from the Negentropy Research Institute to cover all of Lingchuan City.
Utilizing massive support from innumerable Intelligent Machinery and intelligent factories,
they completed the construction of the first truly ‘massive’ city-scale Carbon-based Chip Computing Power Center in Lingchuan City within a remarkably short time.
Then, leaning on this city-scale Carbon-based Computing Power Center,
the ‘Brain Intelligence Project’ took control of running the entire city of Lingchuan.
Lingchuan City’s original ‘Smart City’ project merged completely into the ‘Brain Intelligence Project’.
Starting with managing the city’s basic services like traffic control, healthcare systems, the Social Upbringing Bureau, and the educational framework,
the ‘Brain Intelligence Project’ quickly progressed to overseeing all the production activities handled by Intelligent Machines within the city.
Just as Qin Yu had earlier discussed with that Senior Leader,
the “Brain Intelligence Project” did not manage the operation of individual intelligent machinery or intelligent robots.
It only handled collaboration between different regions, different smart factories, and across the industrial supply chain.
Just like in traffic:
within Lingchuan City, vehicles with autonomous driving were still controlled by their onboard intelligent programs.
But the “Brain Intelligence Project” simultaneously mapped the routes and directions of every vehicle in the whole city.
It integrated all this data and directed each vehicle’s intelligent program to cooperate according to its plan,
making all the city’s vehicles work as one tight, incredibly efficient unit.
The same principle applied to other fields:
It didn’t run a single factory’s intelligent machinery, but ensured multiple smart factories worked together flawlessly as planned.
What was true for one city,
was true for multiple cities.
At this stage,
the Strong Artificial Intelligence within the “Brain Intelligence Project” had essentially begun to take shape.
The next steps simply involved adding more computing power to the project and connecting it to wider areas and more fields.
…
The first Carbon-based Chip city-level computing power center built in Lingchuan City was completed and activated in March, 270.
People in Lingchuan City gave this municipal landmark, expected to symbolize the city for some time, a simple name: “Computing Power Tower”.
This name quickly became the common way most people referred to such Carbon-based Chip city-level computing power centers.
The second batch of “Computing Power Tower”s,
scheduled for different cities and regions, didn’t wait until the next year.
By September of that same year, ten more towers were activated.
The pace of “upgrading and replacing” Carbon-based Chips was accelerating.
The consequence was,
later that same year, productivity within Huaxia Nation surged forward rapidly once again.
People experienced lowered costs again for basic necessities.
Or rather,
by now,
the concept of “prices” itself was losing its original meaning.
Because,
alongside the rollout of the “Brain Intelligence Project”,
the long-expected complete elimination of the private system,
finally had all the necessary foundations.
…
The line dividing private enterprises and collective enterprises,
had become blurry ever since Collective Social Rearing became universal.
With the arrival of the Intelligent Era, the existence of private enterprises lost all meaning.
Or rather, the very market system that accommodated these private enterprises became obsolete.
There was no need for heavy human labor.
All essential materials needed by society could be produced by the Strong Artificial Intelligence within the “Brain Intelligence Project”. It planned, coordinated, and directed production within smart factories across different regions.
There was no market exchange of production processes, no journey from raw material to initial processing to fine processing. It went straight from smart factory to the consumer.
People didn’t earn wages by producing things either.
Under these circumstances, having the Strong Artificial Intelligence produce what people directly needed, according to a plan, was the optimal solution.
As long as statistical techniques kept up, planned production was a superb strategy.
Now, with the “Brain Intelligence Project” widespread, all the prerequisites were met.
Producing based on people’s needs, according to a plan, minimized waste and inefficiency throughout the entire social operation.
What purpose did a private enterprise serve within this production chain?
Private enterprises also used intelligent machinery and produced according to the plans of the Strong Artificial Intelligence.
Was it just to slap a private company’s name on top of a smart factory?
The method for phasing out these remaining, virtually non-existent private enterprises was actually quite simple:
The current generation running these private enterprises could choose to retire if they wanted.
Those willing to merge their operations into collective enterprises could do so directly.
Those who wanted to compete against the fully controlled production chain run by the Strong Artificial Intelligence within the “Brain Intelligence Project” were also free to try.
Additionally, certain remnants of the “market” were gradually being abolished.
For example, public transportation:
In the cities where computing power towers were built and the “Brain Intelligence Project” rolled out that year,
public transport was declared permanently free.
According to the plans people made then,
a form of currency would still exist within the civilization in the future,
but it would lose most of its original properties, retaining only its role as a transaction token.
Social hierarchies would still exist within the wider society,
but even those at the very bottom wouldn’t worry about basic survival.
Social status would mainly translate into higher standing and better access to luxuries and experiences.
For the majority of people, their lifelong careers would likely be in research, philosophy, or the humanities.
The entire civilization would probably become a massive research institute.
While most individuals might not make groundbreaking discoveries,
simply maintaining the population and continuous learning itself would become their duty.
…
The year 272.
More Computing Power Towers were built across Huaxia Nation.
Larger-scale intelligent machinery completed the upgrade to Carbon-based Chips.
Even from a broader view, one could see
how much faster every kind of production activity across Huaxia Nation seemed to be running.
Human labor had been replaced almost entirely by intelligent machinery in nearly all production fields.
That year,
during this transitional period into the Intelligent Era, the official retirement age was lowered to 95.
Universities everywhere saw a significant rise in the number of adults returning for further education.
The curricula within the education system had been adjusted further over recent years:
Many subjects rendered obsolete by the Intelligent Era were dropped.
Subjects focusing on theoretical research were divided into much finer specializations to accommodate more Researchers making choices.
Though everyone understood
that not everyone would achieve breakthroughs in their chosen field,
a larger talent pool naturally yielded more brilliant Researchers.
In this period,
as the “Brain Intelligence Project” spread,
the entire academic world, across all disciplines and research fields, grew more vibrant.
One clear sign: academic journals had noticeably thickened over recent years, packed with findings from various fields.
Naturally,
a key reason was that, in this Intelligent Era, with abundant productivity,
the authorities could fund exploratory research projects across far more domains.
This indirectly impacted
the rapid expansion of several institutes within the Negentropy Research Institute: Institute 011, the Materials Research Institute, the Geological Research Institute, and the Information Denoising Institute.
The one that saw the biggest growth was, predictably, the Information Denoising Research Institute.
By this year,
the number of Researchers directly involved in studies at the Information Denoising Research Institute exceeded 40,000.
Across the entire Negentropy Research Institute, the total number of Researchers surpassed 100,000.
Reaching this scale,
even though the Negentropy Research Institute had operated as a secret entity before,
keeping it hidden became nearly impossible.
Its existence was practically common knowledge within Huaxia Nation’s academic circles.
Moreover, the results produced by the Negentropy Research Institute over the years had earned it a near-reverent reputation as a “paradise for science”.
However, whether its existence remained secret or not,
mattered little to the Negentropy Research Institute at this stage.
Development dictated that this step was inevitable.
The current fame actually made recruiting top scholars and Researchers much easier going forward.
Inside the Negentropy Research Institute,
Qin Yu paid little attention to the outside noise.
Or rather, the changes happening fitted broadly within his expectations.
Having spearheaded Carbon-based Chips and the “Brain Intelligence Project” that nurtured Strong Artificial Intelligence,
Qin Yu was now contemplating new questions.