Algorithm system

Workplace PUA1In Da Zhang’s opinion, it was a miraculous operation, but for Lin Yuan, it was too simple.

It was just a matter of moving his fingers and typing a few keys on the Good Group backend.

Lin Yuan also didn’t plan to have any further entanglement with Liu Huzi; he wouldn’t really give him a bad review, because it simply wasn’t worth it.

Reality isn’t a revenge novel where you annihilate someone’s entire family just because they offend you. The logic of reality is: don’t pursue a cornered foe.

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Time flew by, and the second week of algorithm testing passed in the blink of an eye.

The algorithm produced by the system didn’t cause any trouble, but the real problem lay in Good Group’s demands on Lin Yuan.

Simple people always focus on how to plant peach trees, while cunning people have already been plotting how to divide the peaches.

Group Vice President Liu Zhang had repeatedly asked Lin Yuan for the technical details of the algorithm, and even promised him a promotion, a raise, and stock options.

Lin Yuan knew this was the ’courtesy’ before the ’force’.

Although his algorithm didn’t rely on Good Group, from a legal perspective, Good Group had ownership of it. This was frustrating, but it was the rule of reality.

Therefore, Lin Yuan naturally couldn’t refuse to provide it. However, the good thing was that when it came to technical details, there was no standard answer as to what constituted a detail and what didn’t. Lin Yuan had plenty of room to maneuver.

The algorithm he provided to Good Group was a complete AI model based on deep neural networks.

Lin Yuan didn’t waste time writing any documentation for the model’s code; he simply threw the source code to Good Group. To quote the great Linus: Talk is cheap, show me the code.

For software, if the source code is provided, whether there are comments or documentation only affects the time it takes to understand it.

Good Group immediately organized personnel overnight to dissect this algorithm. Soon, they reached a conclusion: the algorithm was usable. However, they had two major questions.

First, why was the model structure as it was now, and what was the evolution process of this model structure?

Second, how were the pre-trained parameters obtained?

It was as if they knew this was a standard answer, but they wanted to know the solution process for that standard answer.

Lin Yuan naturally couldn’t tell them the solution process, because even he himself didn’t know the system’s solution process.

’Damn it, I want to know too.’

AI, you see, is a big black box.

Lin Yuan just fed the data to the system; who knew how the system calculated internally?

Just like the engineering team that created ChatGPT, they themselves don’t clearly understand what a specific parameter among ChatGPT’s hundreds of billions of parameters is used for.

It’s like a person not knowing how much work a specific cell in their body did today.

Lin Yuan’s reply was: AI is naturally formed, a stroke of genius.

What can you do about it?

Sue him?

Save it.

Because the spirit of modern law is: whoever questions, provides evidence.

If Good Group questioned Lin Yuan for hiding the model evolution process, they would have to provide evidence. Lin Yuan could completely make up some random model evolution processes; after all, the process of AI training is a continuous fitting. In layman’s terms: it’s about finding the answer.

This is a process full of uncertainty, so from a technical perspective, you simply cannot prove that someone deliberately concealed a process that is inherently uncertain.

Moreover, legal provisions support a company’s ownership of an employee’s labor achievements, but whether the scope of labor achievements includes the model evolution process is itself questionable.

Good Group already had a bad reputation, and if this blew up, it could easily be interpreted as: attempting to force employees to disclose their thought processes.

Thought processes and labor achievements are two different things.

Labor achievements are the product of thought processes.

Legal provisions clearly support a company’s ownership of labor achievements, not an employee’s personal thoughts.

Otherwise, it would mean that after you work for a certain company, not only are your labor achievements the company’s, but even your work experience is the company’s. Because isn’t a thought process the crystallization of work experience?

How could that be?

Wouldn’t everyone have to pay a training fee to the company when they leave?

Therefore, Lin Yuan was fearless.

But what refreshed his understanding was that Good Group, after their courtesy was ineffective, still resorted to force.

On Monday morning of the third week after Lin Yuan officially started his job, he was sitting in the back row of the classroom with a cup of soy milk, opening his email to handle work correspondence as usual, when he unexpectedly received a letter from Good Group’s legal department.

It was a legal warning letter, subtly worded but firm in tone, regarding Lin Yuan’s concealment of his personal work achievements.

Lin Yuan was momentarily stunned, but he quickly reacted.

’What’s coming has finally arrived. As expected of a commercial company, they don’t mess around with you.’

After class, he immediately found his mentor to discuss the matter.

”Today, your teacher will give you a lesson you can’t learn in the classroom,” Professor Zhang said, closing the office door.

”You call your leader; he should be playing the good cop.”

Lin Yuan, with suspicion, did as he was told. ”Hello, General Manager Liu, I today...” He subconsciously spoke with a nervous and flustered tone, explaining to his leader about the legal letter he received that morning.

”There’s such a thing?” Liu Zhang’s tone sounded incredibly shocked. ”That’s outrageous. Wait a moment, I’ll ask the headquarters first to see who’s behind this. Don’t worry, work well. With me here, no one can do anything to you.”

After the call ended, Professor Zhang, who was sitting with his legs crossed, calmly said, ”Wait a few minutes, he’ll call back soon. First, he’ll comfort you, telling you how he argued with the headquarters to protect you. Finally, he’ll subtly advise you to hand over the algorithm.”

Five minutes later, Group Vice President Liu Zhang’s call indeed came.

Professor Zhang gestured for Lin Yuan to answer the phone.

”Hello, General Manager Liu.”

”Lin Yuan, I’ve clarified the situation. The legal department at headquarters is too unfeeling. I told them you’ve been too busy recently; it’s not that you’re unwilling to provide the algorithm, but you genuinely haven’t had the time. Don’t worry, I’ve explained it thoroughly for you.

After all, you’re still a first-year graduate student; how can they threaten your career at every turn? I’ve given them a good talking-to. You just focus on your work.

It’s just that you still need to refine the technical explanation document related to this algorithm, to avoid such misunderstandings again.”

Professor Zhang, who was beside him, started laughing, which made Lin Yuan a bit embarrassed, but he was already used to his blunt and direct mentor.

”Put it on speakerphone,” Professor Zhang had already stood up.

Lin Yuan did as he was told.

”It’s me, Zhang Deshun from Zijin Aviation School.”

Liu Zhang on the other end of the phone was clearly stunned. ”Professor Zhang is here too? Little Lin, you should have told me earlier.”

It was as if a grand deception was caught red-handed, no wonder Liu Zhang was so embarrassed.

”General Manager Liu, I’ve been working for over 30 years and consider myself an old-timer in the domestic IT industry.”

”Yes, yes, yes, you are indeed our senior.”

”I wouldn’t dare claim to be a senior. Lin Yuan is my student, Zhang Deshun’s student, and as an elder, I must show concern.”