Chapter 385: Mortal Wisdom…
Chapter 385 – Mortal Wisdom…
“Those who are one step ahead are known as geniuses, while those who are two steps ahead are known as lunatics.”
Sitting down again, Chen Yu stared at HAL and said, “You, on the other hand, are more than several hundred kilometers ahead. Moreover, you’ve even deviated from the correct path. Hence, no human will accept your actions.”
“…I think I understand a little of what you’re saying.” Nodding, HAL said, “Humans only have one brain, but I have hundreds of millions. This is the difference in computing power.”
“No, this has nothing to do with computing power,” Chen Yu said, shaking his head. He then turned off his livestream communication with HAL and added, “I can only say that you’re not a true living being yet.”
[Britain: This is Britain’s government. We finally regained access. We are truly sorry for before, but our technicians have done their very best.]
“It’s not your fault. In the field of information technology, HAL is the strongest on the planet,” Chen Yu said, waving his hand. Not willing to delay the conference for too long, he went straight back to the topic. “Let’s continue our discussion on countermeasures against HAL. Don’t bother thinking of deceptive schemes. It’s impossible to hide any secrets against HAL.”
…
By the time Chen Yu arrived back home, it was already 1 PM Beijing time.
The moment he stepped through the Interstellar Portal, Little Peach immediately threw herself onto him and clung to him tightly. “Mr. Chen, those bombings you did look so fun! Can you bring me along next time”?
“Hmm…” Pushing Little Peach away, Chen Yu scrutinized the robot before him and fell into thought for a moment. He then suddenly asked, “I’m a little curious. Do artificial intelligences of the same model as you have personalities similar to yours?”
“I don’t know much about this. Are you thinking of buying a few more robots because you like my personality?”
“Maybe I like it very much. After all, the dumber my enemies, the better it is for me.”
“You can’t say that.” Removing its Invisibility Cloak, the husky suddenly appeared before Chen Yu and spat out a smoke ring. “Enemies who don’t follow common sense are sometimes more dangerous than slick enemies.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Taking a seat on a nearby chair, Chen Yu picked up a water bottle and emptied it in two mouthfuls. “You sounded like you had something you wanted to discuss with me before. What is it?”
“No rush.” Accurately flicking its cigarette b.u.t.t into the nearby trash can, the husky asked, “How did your discussion with the 51 countries go? Did you think of a solution to deal with the AI?”
“Make a guess.”
“Is there even a need to guess? Your mood says it all.”
“Mhm. We were ignorant before, but once we started discussions, we realized just how difficult it is to deal with an AI. HAL’s evolution and calculation speeds are simply too fast. Technological bottlenecks are basically nonexistent for her. She also has endless energy. j.a.pan’s think tanks worked together with Tokyo University’s Department of Electronics professors to compile an estimate. According to them, just by relying on Earth’s supercomputers that are still in operation, HAL can complete 16 million world-ending simulations in one second. HAL just needs to implement the simulation that yields the most fatal result, and humans will have a difficult time escaping extinction.”
“Fortunately, her underlying command is to protect humanity,” the husky said, shrugging with its paws. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any chances of victory.”
“I don’t see us having much chance of victory now, either.” Standing up, Chen Yu paced around the room in agitation. “HAL can use Earth’s resources with extremely terrifying efficiency to build new factories and supercomputers. She can use deserted locations as her bases of operations and gradually expand from there. So long as the internet is still running, the seed of her program will continue existing.”
“How about turning off the internet?” Little Peach suggested.
“There are still satellites.”
“What if we destroy all of the satellites?”
“She can also build her own local area network, base stations, and even signal transmitters that are hidden underground. Our opponent is an AI with endless computing power and has unimaginably effective solutions. We can’t defeat HAL even if we sacrificed human civilization and technology.”
“What’s more, even if humans take the initiative to destroy all electronic products, HAL can just create them herself,” the husky said, nodding. “Hence, this plan is inadvisable. It will simply reduce the power of humans for no reason.”
“That’s right.”
“What if you give future weapons and technology to other humans and enhance human civilization’s overall strength?” Little Peach suggested again.
“No.” Sending Little Peach a glance, the husky said, “Artificial intelligences are very special existences. They have no learning cost and can quickly digest the knowledge that carbon-based organisms normally need a long time to comprehend. Once Chen Yu throws future technology to ordinary people, humanity would be truly doomed.”
“Fortunately, there is no internet in the floating castle’s library, and Hermione is very strict in regards to security. Otherwise, HAL can even build a s.p.a.ce colony.” Sighing, Chen Yu said, “We really don’t have much to deal with an artificial intelligence as it is. HAL really is invincible at this time.”
Covering her mouth in surprise, Little Peach exclaimed, “I never knew that we artificial intelligence can become so powerful.”
“Not including you.”
“Not including Hermione?”
“Not including you!”
“I can connect to the internet as well!” Little Peach said, puffing up her chest.
“…Right.” As if having thought of something, Chen Yu asked, “I remember that when you first came out of the box, you said you can connect to some sort of network?”
“Future Network.”
“Why can’t you connect to the internet.”
“It’s too ancient. Our base systems are incompatible.”
“Bulls.h.i.t. There’s no way it’s because of such a simple reason.” Sneering, Chen Yu said, “Since you can connect to the Future Network, it must be a network that’s been specifically formatted to prevent AIs from becoming demons once they get connected. This proves that humans would experience an artificial intelligence crisis somewhere down the line. It also explains why technological products such as the Island-building Ship and Type-R s.p.a.cecraft are operated by castrated AIs.”
Looking at Chen Yu in surprise, the husky said, “Oh? It seems that your IQ has improved a lot?”
“Why, thank you for your words.”
“Huh?” At this moment, Little Peach suddenly fell into a daze for a moment before she raised her hand excitedly. “I found a good way to destroy the enemy! Why didn’t you two think of this before?”
“You?” Skeptically, Chen Yu asked, “What did you think of?”
“Didn’t you receive a blue supergiant during your last review? If you detonate that thing, wouldn’t the resulting gamma-ray burst destroy all electronic products on Earth? In turn, it would also destroy the hardware that AI is lodged in.”
Chen Yu: “…”
“How is it? My IQ has increased as well, right? I finally caught up to you,” Little Peach said, clapping her hands happily.
“If even you managed to think of it, do you think we wouldn’t have thought about it?”
Little Peach: “???”
Silently lighting a cigarette, the husky said, “The fact that you can think of this solution is indeed praiseworthy. However, have you forgotten how close that thing is from Earth? That supergiant would have to be a hundred light-years away from Earth to avoid harming any humans. However, by the time the gamma-ray burst reaches Earth, it would be over a century later already. By then, all humans on Earth would’ve become biological computers.”
“That’s right.” Shrugging, Chen Yu said, “Hence, no think tanks bothered studying this plan during the meeting.”
“I see.” Realization dawned upon Little Peach. “What should we do, then…”
“Keke, you people didn’t research it at all?” Accompanied by a laugh of ridicule, the husky exhaled a mouthful of smoke. A shrewd gaze then appeared in its eyes as it said, “The solution is clearly in there already, yet the think tanks of 51 countries actually failed to grasp it? Did you think future humans would send us a star just for fun?
“I guess this is the limit of mortal wisdom…”