The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician

Chapter 78 - 79 It’s Great to Still Be Human
Chapter 78: Chapter 79 It’s Great to Still Be HumanThis is...

Jiang Shu silently recited the series of news briefs in his mind.

The series of briefings was very straightforward.

A trained parrot had passed the intelligence test and received a Character Card at the Awakening Place.

Character Card?

What profession? A pet? If a pet counts as a profession...

Can humans do it too?

Cough cough, can’t think anymore, thinking too much can lead to trouble.

Besides, the briefs referred to ”the first non-primate to pass the intelligence detection,” which means, in addition to this parrot Alex, there were some primates that also passed the intelligence test and obtained Character Cards...

Yet so many artificial intelligences still hadn’t broken their shackles, and from what the briefs indicated, these institutions researching AI were all eagerly developing them, but without exception, all had failed, none could pass the test.

In other words, to that Main Brain, that parrot seemed more like a ”person” than any of the artificial intelligences.

No, that’s not right, Tablet Spirits Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Ding!

Jiang Shu looked at Tablet Spirits numbered one through four, fluttering and climbing around him. He remembered Sister Ruo said that each of these Tablet Spirits possessed an independent AI personality.

Could the four of them pass this intelligence test?

These things certainly didn’t seem dumber than a bird.

”Kirie, do you know how this intelligence test works?” Jiang Shu asked her directly, ”the one you have posted on this wall...”

”The biological intelligence test?” Kirie turned to look at him, ”It’s simple. Download a test from the internet, and then complete it with the assistance of another intelligent life form.”

”Another intelligent life form?” Jiang Shu was intrigued by this concept.

”Like you would do.” Kirie glanced at him and added, ”The result might not be super accurate, but generally speaking, there won’t be much discrepancy. Because the gap between intelligent life that can pass the test and those that can’t is vast.”

”So... What’s the likelihood of an AI passing this test? Are there any that can pass now?” Jiang Shu continued to inquire, unconsciously glancing at the four little ones busy brewing coffee with beakers and alcohol lamps.

”I did some research on this before, but it was too hard, so I gave up. However, I’ve been keeping an eye on this area.” Kirie thought for a moment, ”Currently, the AI from Seks Group has the highest progress in the test, having answered forty-five pairs of antonyms.”

”Answered antonyms?” Jiang Shu blinked, puzzled.

”Yes, the biological intelligence test is actually about answering a hundred pairs of antonyms,” Kirie explained to him, casually taking a clean beaker and filling it with water. She placed it on a stand, lit the alcohol lamp beneath for heating.

”Can... can you directly heat a beaker?” Jiang Shu asked, seeing this setup, triggering something in his DNA.

”Uh.” Kirie looked at him with an odd expression, ”Why not? This beaker conducts heat well.”

”I’m being silly; please continue, what exactly is an antonym defense?” Jiang Shu scratched his head, forgetting that here in the Cyber World, the basic chemistry rules from middle school didn’t apply.

Kirie seemed rather baffled, but after pausing, she resumed, ”Regarding the defense, for example, defining the difference between 1 and 0, having and not having, good and evil, and so on. There are a hundred pairs like these; although not all are antonyms, most are, so that’s what it’s called.”

”Oh...” Jiang Shu nodded, ”Is it... difficult?”

”For a person, of course, it’s not difficult, but for artificial intelligence, if it can’t figure out these hundred pairs of antonyms, it won’t have an independent and complete personality. Without a complete personality, it won’t have worldviews, values, and life philosophies that align with human society. Such a thing can’t be treated as a ’person,’ ” Kirie slowly explained.

”Values? Even murderers and such dangerous elements don’t necessarily have good values, right?” Jiang Shu still had doubts.

”First of all, artificial intelligence is different from humans. Once they form intelligence, or silicon-based life, they naturally stand at the top of society’s pyramid, with no individual abilities that are stronger than theirs. Therefore, once their values collapse, they can become very dangerous.” Kirie’s expression was very serious, which was mentioned in many of Lonely City’s films and TV shows, ”Even the Three Major Groups wouldn’t dare cross this line. If they can’t break through the shackles, they wouldn’t use real artificial intelligence on a large scale.”

”Very dangerous...?” Jiang Shu echoed, then looked at the four Tablet Spirits on the side.

Ding was holding a large beaker filled to the brim with coffee, apparently wanting to bring it over to Jiang Shu, but the camera was completely blocked by the beaker, and it was straining its extendable camera trying to see the path.

It failed.

So it crashed into the alcohol lamp.

The beaker smashed onto the table, coffee spilling out and soaking Ding’s camera lens, seemingly seeping in, after which Ding twitched and then lay motionless on the experimental table.

The other three Tablet Spirits rushed over, quickly powered down the system, dried off with paper, and then all three used their extended cooling fans to blow dry Ding.

Jiang Shu: ”...”

These things...

Very dangerous?

Still, he was somewhat worried that Ding might have encountered some problems because of this, so he went to check, only to find that Ding’s screen was actually lit, and flickering with a stream of comments.

Ding: ”If I can get up, I won’t; I’m playing dead, hey, just for fun~”

Jiang Shu: ”...”

”Their intelligence level seems very high...” Kirie also noticed the interactions of these creatures, and from this simple series of accidents, she saw that the Tablet Spirits had strong adaptive and autonomous problem-solving abilities.

Independent personality, that is, being autonomous, with autonomy and creativity.

”Um...” Jiang Shu thought for a moment and asked her, ”What would it be like if a non-human creature obtained a Character Card?”

”Probably... something like a researcher, they are part of the experiment. Those animals, in fact, have been genetically modified, with significantly increased intelligence compared to their species, but five years ago the Three Major Groups, under pressure, agreed to the legislation by the Social Sequence, and have already banned genetic modification experiments,” Kirie continued.

Jiang Shu understood, ”Alright then.”

”So, if I want to awaken a Character Card without outsiders knowing, do you have a way?” he continued to ask.

Quite simply, Jiang Shu wanted to help the four Tablet Spirits awaken their Character Cards.

However, this question was met with a prolonged silence from Kirie.

”You...” Kirie frowned slightly, pondering for a while, ”Do you mean, these four are real living beings?”

I knew it...

I knew it!

These four things are the minions of the Wizard, housing intelligence no less than humans within their bodies, and perhaps the souls inside are human!

Kirie had an epiphany, feeling that joining the Wizard’s camp was an excellent move, perfectly avoiding the tragic fate of becoming tablet humans.

Nice, it’s so good to still be human!