Deceitful Game

Chapter 154 A Madman Like the Sun

Upon hearing Mingpo's words, Shen Yiqi neither became angry nor pondered.

He did not waver or hesitate in the slightest.

It was as if they had already guessed how Mingpo would answer.

I understand your concerns.

Shen Yiqi nodded seriously: "There is indeed such a possibility as you mentioned—machines and artificial intelligence may not be wrong, but the humans who manufacture, train, control, and maintain them may have ulterior motives or be incompetent."

"What if you joined in? If you don't trust me, can you trust yourself?"

No, it can't be done either.

Mingpo leaned back slightly on the soft sofa and answered without hesitation, "I don't even trust myself."

"Mr. Shen, have you heard of Richard Gatling?"

"...The inventor of the Gatling gun?"

"Yes, that medical doctor."

Mingpo slowly said, "He initially invented the Gatling gun because he witnessed too many casualties on the battlefield and was stimulated by it. He realized that he could not save everyone by his own strength alone... So, in order to enable one soldier to exert the strength of a hundred soldiers, he invented the Gatling gun."

He thought that if there were such a more efficient weapon, battlefield casualties could be reduced. Because then, the war would not require so many soldiers. If the number of soldiers on the battlefield were reduced, the war would end faster, which would be equivalent to reducing casualties.

"But then what?"

Mingpo shrugged sarcastically: "Has the number of soldiers decreased?"

"It's not that the increased killing efficiency means fewer soldiers are needed to kill the enemy; rather, it's that the increased killing efficiency means more soldiers are needed to resist the enemy's killing. The kind of machine you're inventing that 'replaces people's work' might actually make people even more exploited."

"Furthermore, how do you screen a person's talent?"

Mingbo countered, "There are always some people who only realize their talents halfway through life. Not all talents are 'discovered,' some are nurtured later in life, and some talents simply do not belong to the current era. If they are abandoned too early and their development is stopped, how can they escape their fate of being constrained when their time comes?"

"If you can discover secrets that even they themselves cannot discover... then it means you have completely controlled all their intelligence. Are you trying to see into their hearts and judge their thoughts?"

Mingpo showed no politeness whatsoever.

Under Zhuang Yan's admiring gaze and Shen Yiqi's extremely serious stare, Ming Po slightly raised her hand, delivering a judgment like a godfather. It was as if the person being interviewed was not Ming Po, but Shen Yiqi.

"What you've said..."

Shen Yiqi was silent for a while before speaking: "These are all problems that can be solved, aren't they?"

"Whether it's 'a vulnerability was embedded in the program designed by someone,' 'the iteration of AI is completely out of control,' or 'the laws and filtering functions are imperfect,' these are all issues that can be reported and modified by us. A program can never be perfect in the first place."

"Let's assume, Mr. Mingper, that we have the ability to travel through time and space."

"We've created this system together today. And what if we later discover it's deviated from its original design... it's out of control! Or it has a huge design flaw, or it's being exploited by someone, or AI awakens and becomes a ruler like 'Skynet'... then we'll go back to this moment and rewrite the code—you've seen Terminator, right?"

"Yes, I've seen it."

Mingbo said calmly, "But I think you're not building Skynet. You're building the Sibylla system."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yiqi smiled, a smile of delight at meeting a fellow enthusiast: "Psycho-Pass? I've seen it too... but I don't think the Sibylla System is wrong. Besides, there are other people actually doing this kind of thing."

"Do you believe... the Sibylla system is without fault?"

Mingpo sat up slightly and frowned.

The "Sibylla System" is a concept that appears in a work called "Psycho-Pass".

It can be simply understood as a fictional social management system. It can determine a person's psychological state, deepest desires, occupational adaptability, and even their crime index.

When someone's "crime index" reaches a critical value, it means that they are planning or have already committed a crime. In that case, they can be arrested before they commit the crime, thereby minimizing the losses to other citizens.

"I think that's good."

Shen Yiqi placed his hands on his knees and said frankly, "Aren't the problems that appear in Psycho-Pass all because the Sibyl system itself has loopholes, bugs, or is being exploited?"

"But it has indeed effectively reduced crime and improved the experience of the vast majority of good citizens, which means it is meaningful. The problems it encountered in the animation are actually because its capabilities are still insufficient—it can be fooled, which shows that it is not perfect or good enough. Its power has been stolen, and its administrative system remains rigid."

"Just like you said... I don't think Dr. Gatling is wrong either."

"His only mistake was that he wasn't strong enough. The Gatling gun did improve the efficiency of warfare, but it didn't lead to a qualitative change..." nuclear bomb.

Shen Yiqi slowly uttered this word.

His eyes shone with a fervent light, like the sun.

"The power of nuclear weapons has indeed constrained the nature of warfare, thereby significantly reducing casualties. That's precisely why we cannot afford to be timid, isn't it?"

Shen Yiqi, like a master orator, spoke with infectious enthusiasm: "We are determined to achieve our goals in one fell swoop! To transcend the shackles of the times! To break all the chains of the old era!"

"Law! Morality! Common sense! Instinct—a new era has arrived, the future has arrived. All forces that resist humanity's entry into this new era are remnants of the old."

"Don't you think it's incredibly foolish and inefficient for humans to be fighting amongst themselves on Earth in an era when they can touch the stars? If we're going to do something, we'll do it thoroughly! We'll destroy the existing concepts of 'work,' 'entertainment,' 'education,' and 'reproduction' in one fell swoop, just like creating a nuclear bomb to threaten the entire world!"

"What if we overlook some talented individuals?"

Shen Yiqi smiled broadly, his eyes gleaming with an imperceptible, imposing light: "This is an excellent question!"

"I think there are three aspects. First, it still means that our capabilities and technology are lacking. Society is a chaotic system, and human destiny is even more so. But if we can exhaust the human genome and thoroughly analyze social aspects, then human talent will be controllable."

"If that 'doesn't seem human,' then it's the next stage for humanity."

"Secondly, this means we still lack talent. But AI can iterate itself. So can technology. We're not just developing machines... Robots are merely tools, not the end goal. They are our servants, 'replacements of inferior humans'... Customized genetic engineering can allow superior humans to go a step further and become even greater."

"third"

He paused for a moment after saying this.

That radiant smile, for a fleeting moment, turned as ruthless as the sun.

"If the number of overlooked or missed talents is not large, then overlooking or missing them is not a problem. As long as the number of new talents discovered by this system can far exceed the number of missed talents, then it is still a great improvement in the overall efficiency of society, isn't it?" At that moment, Mingpo realized something.

This guy is probably serious.