Chapter 18 Scientific Advisor_1

Two days had flown by in the blink of an eye.

The military had been very true to their word. Just as Da Shi had promised at the beginning, they didn't disturb his life.

During these two days, Cao Ge had been very productive. He hardly went out, and apart from meal times, he stayed in his room, coding away.

He typed out code haphazardly following his own thoughts, and since it wasn't based on the current rules, what he produced was not executable yet because he hadn't reached the end.

He didn't know when it would end.

He didn't even know what he was typing. In any case, he just keyed in whatever came to mind. Of course, he still aimed to create artificial intelligence.

But he didn't possess the ability to do so, at least not for now. His code was made up of one judgment statement after another. He had been typing for two straight days, not understanding why he was writing them; he just felt that artificial intelligence should contain these elements.

That afternoon, Cao Ge stopped to look at the long stretches of code on his screen, brows tightly furrowed.

Up to this point, he didn't even know what he had created because there was just too much. Apart from eating, Cao Ge spent all his time coding, which led to his computer screen being filled with over two thousand lines of unrunnable code.

Cao Ge spent over an hour looking but could not make heads or tails of it, so he closed the file.

This attempt made him even more certain that he did not have the capacity to create artificial intelligence.

The two thousand plus lines of code that took him more than two days to write were initially understandable since he was the one who wrote them. But as he pieced together one structure after another, he soon couldn't understand it, and naturally, the computer couldn't run it either.

This meant that his approach was wrong.

However, he felt this was normal; how could creating artificial intelligence be so simple that he could succeed on the first try?

The key issue was that he didn't even know how to create artificial intelligence.

According to the common view of scientists around the world, the creation of artificial intelligence must start with artificial idiots, that is, from a simple Q&A machine similar to the voice assistant he had created.

Start by setting up a Q&A mechanism in the program, predetermining when the program should respond and when it should speak.

Then, use manual tagging to teach the computer through a multitude of examples.

Take the autonomous driving system, for example, which needs to identify obstacles on roads like trash bins. Trash bins come in different forms and are placed differently on various roads, and an untrained system wouldn't recognize them.

This is when humans can help by marking the bins in images, allowing the computer to memorize these pictures.

As long as there is a sufficient number of images, the computer will come across all the possible environments and positions where trash bins could appear.

Over time, when a trash bin appears on the road, the autonomous driving system will automatically compare the current environment with pictures in the database. Since there are enough training examples, similar images will always be found, enabling the computer to identify the trash bins in the pictures and avoid them.

Then, upgrade the algorithm to allow the computer to learn and train itself.

Similar to the AlphaGo computer playing Go, it first needs humans to input the rules of Go, then store extensive game records in its hardware. Afterward, it can begin playing based on these massive game records, and eventually, through algorithm upgrades and self-learning iterations, it can become a Go-playing robot far surpassing human players.

But none of these are artificial intelligence, only machines.

Because the only reason they can make these decisions is because humans have preset the rules. In other words, it isn't acting on its own accord, but rather as humans have dictated.

In Cao Ge's understanding, artificial intelligence should be like a living being, with its own self-awareness; otherwise, no matter how intelligent, it's just a machine.

This is the direction human development of artificial intelligence has taken.

Cao Ge was human, so his thinking was the same.

But after the system upgrade, he always felt as if artificial intelligence could be achieved in some way.

However, due to his limited technical skills and lack of specific know-how, he couldn't make it a reality.

Cao Ge shook his head and then shut down his computer.

"Indeed, I am better off being an ordinary person," Cao Ge said self-deprecatingly.

"Ring Ring Ring!!!"

Just then, the phone on the desk rang.

Cao Ge picked up the call and looked at the incoming number on the phone screen.

He had thought it was a call from Apple Inc., but it turned out to be an unfamiliar number.

"Hello?"

Cao Ge pressed the answer button, thinking it was someone else from the other side wanting to contact him when a familiar voice came through.

"Is that Brother Cao?" Da Shi's robust voice came from the other end.

Cao Ge smiled helplessly and then said into the phone, "It's me, Officer Shi. Do you need something?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I just wanted to ask how you've considered that matter I asked you about a couple of days ago. My superiors are waiting for a response. Are you going to accept or not?" Da Shi asked cheerfully from the other end of the phone.

Listening to Da Shi's conversational inquiry, Cao Ge laughed and after a while said, "About that, I've thought it over carefully these past two days. Let's not go ahead with it..."

"Come on, Brother. You know our operations center, full of rough guys. If it were about killing or fighting, that'd be fine, but when it comes to solving scientific problems, we're utterly in the dark, floundering. We can't do without you," Da Shi's robust voice came through the phone's speaker and into Cao Ge's ear.

"Officer Shi, I truly don't have the time. I'm really busy these next few days."

"Alright, alright, let's consider it settled," Da Shi said directly.

"This science advisor position doesn't require you to work regular hours or be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the operations center. You just need to come by when we run into a problem. Brother Cao, if you take this job, not only will you get the status of a national civil servant for nothing, but you'll also get an extra salary. How comfortable is that?"

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Brother, don't go silent on me. Can you accept or not? Just give me a straight answer," Da Shi bombarded from the other end of the phone.

Cao Ge was silent for a long time because it seemed that if he didn't accept, Da Shi would keep pestering him.

"Fine, I'll accept the job, but I need to make one thing clear first."

"Speak up, speak up," Da Shi immediately cheered up as he heard Cao Ge agree to become a scientific advisor for the operations center.

"I may be very busy in the coming time, so I might not have much time to solve your problems. Therefore, if my work conflicts with yours, I will choose to deal with my matters first and then help you with your problems afterward."

No sooner had Cao Ge spoken than silence fell on the other end of the phone, Da Shi falling quiet. However, the silence didn't last too long, perhaps three to five minutes later.

Suddenly, Da Shi said, "Deal."