Chapter 144: A Shockwave in Science and Tech Circles

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

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The principle behind the Little Star learning machine’s ability to rapidly solve questions laid in its two brains. One was the primary brain of knowledge that was composed of more than 10,000 TB of data. It was stored in the server port. The other was the secondary brain of logic that was integrated into the AI chip of the learning machine.

When the Little Star scanned a question, the secondary brain of logic in the AI chip would operate at rapid speeds to determine the question type before comparing it with the primary brain of knowledge in the server port. It would then search for the answer in the big brain and get the strategies needed to solve the question. If it was a question based on memorization, it simply had to conduct an intelligent search to find the standard answer.

If it was a question based on logic, the solving process would be slightly more complex. It would first undertake a judgment process. If it was a question that was already stored in the knowledge brain, the answer would be provided rapidly. If it was an entirely new question, the server and the local AI chip would jointly derive and compute the correct answer. If a particular question type had a typical form, the server would save it to enrich the knowledge brain, thus making it more powerful.

Theoretically speaking, the knowledge brain could become more powerful as the number of Little Star learning machine users increased. That was the problem: could an intelligent learning machine with the potential to change the structure and style of education in Z country and also influence the profits of countless entities, be successfully marketed? In other words, could it remain in the hands of Xing Hai Technologies? Education was a nation’s capital!

Was there any country that would place education, one of its very foundation, in the hands of a private company? Would any country place it in the hands of an individual?

In the meeting’s discussions, Li Yuan Liang had a sudden realization. “President Chen, I understand why you did not mass produce the Little Star learning machine on a larger scale. This is a double-edged sword, one that could allow us to take the entire education market for ourselves! The parents will be happy if we mass-produce the Little Star on a larger scale. But other educational related organizations will hate our guts! Cutting off their source of profits is akin to killing their parents. This would become a deadly feud. You can imagine their responses.”

However, Hou Xiao Feng shook his head. “I don’t agree with this reasoning! In this world, the strong will survive and the weak will be eliminated. This is a timeless law. Our Little Star is strong. The structure composed of training institutions and organizations providing supplementary lessons should naturally go along with the market flow and be eliminated! Parents and students will vote with their money. They won’t give business to the eliminated out of pity. This kind of elimination is necessary. No matter how great their resources are, they can’t ever dream of controlling the parents’ choices! Therefore, President Chen, I feel that your thinking is still somewhat conservative. We should first produce another 100 million units of Little Star, then we wait and see what happens. We take control of the entire market. The parents will be satisfied and the students’ grades will be raised. Those organizations whose profits have been hurt can stop dreaming about making a single cent. Because as compared to us, they are the weak. Faced with our full-scale attack, weak entities that are so far beneath us will have no other choice besides death.”

Another upper management personnel agreed, “Manager Hou is right. President, you’re too conservative. As the strong, why do we have to be afraid of the weak? It’s necessary for them to be eliminated. It’s a fate that they cannot change. President Chen, there’s no need to show mercy.”

However, Chen Jin shook his head. His gaze was dark and endless. With a low voice, he said, “My focus has never been on the weak! What I’m worried about are not any obstacles in the business world. Xing Hai Technologies will never be afraid of any business competition! But, you have to know that the most influential people in Z country are never the businessmen.”

Ling Jundong immediately understood. “What you’re worried about is… the government?”

“Yes.” Chen Jin nodded. “Frankly speaking, my original intention in making the learning machine product was to transform the current state of education in Z country. I hoped that many more children would become talents that benefit our society. At the same time, I could also profit from the educational market. But, this market is not based on free competition. There is a high level of government interference. The market is also a representation of the educational strategy adopted by the government that heavily favors the sciences. It is a market that cannot be carelessly infringed upon. I maintained my prudence and self-control by releasing only five million units of Little Star to test the waters. I don’t want to increase its impact on the market and damage the current structure. At the same time, it was for self-protection. We have to protect our profits! Recently, I’ve seen opinions by many educational professionals on the internet. The opinions can be summed up in this phrase; ‘surrender it to the government.’ They want us to surrender the technology behind the Little Star learning machine to the government.”

Chen Jin chuckled. “Haha, the product that we’ve spent tens of billions of dollars to develop and the result of the efforts of thousands of development technicians has actually become a ‘cultural relic’ that we have to surrender in some experts’ views. I have to say, dream on! They are totally unaware that the learning machine is merely a product for me to test the waters. If it works, Z country will be transformed, accelerating the rise of our nation. If it doesn’t work, we’ll never touch the education market again. We’ll go back to how we were before the learning machine was ever produced; it’ll be like it never happened. Xing Hai Technologies will then continue to only focus on making progress in the free sectors for the businessman.”

The audience finally understood the Boss’s meaning! So… this was all a test. In other words, this was a strategy that would allow the user to advance or retreat. He would be in absolute control of making the first move. This allowed the company to avoid huge potential losses, as well as thwarting the unrealistic “fantasies” of certain forces. Brilliant. It was really brilliant. The audience could only sigh in silent admiration with regards to the unknown depths in the mind of the young boss.

…

News about Little Star’s impending participation in the national senior high school entrance exam across twenty-eight provinces had been announced. Enthusiastic responses peppered the internet.

“F**k, the Little Star can even take part in the entrance exam?”

“Hey, so the learning machine can also be used in this way. Why hadn’t I thought of that before?”

“Can other learning machines participate in the entrance exam?”

“The questions in the entrance exam are complex and highly changeable. There are many new questions. It’s already pretty good if the learning machine can even correctly answer some of the questions.”

As compared to netizens with only a smattering of scientific knowledge, the Weibo comment by Xing Hai Technologies was akin to dropping a bombshell on the science and tech circles in Z country! Scientists in Z country who understood the real significance behind this news were unbearably excited. Their collective attention was placed on the Little Star learning machine, as well as its creator, Xing Hai Technologies.

“How… How is this possible? How is the intelligent learning program in the Little Star able to achieve such a high level of intelligence where it can even comprehend content in the textbooks?”

“AlphaGo, developed by the DeepMind Company, was only able to achieve its peak in the game of Go. And the intelligent learning program developed by Xing Hai Technologies is an all-around learning program equivalent to 100,000 AlphaGos?”

“A tech company that was established for less than two years actually seeks to transform the entire Z country and turn our education system upside-down.”

“Hi everyone, I am Yuan Lanfeng. You are watching this week’s episode from the program ‘The Original in Science and Technology’; welcome. Recently, news has broken out about the Little Star learning machine from Xing Hai Technologies. It was announced that it will take part in the upcoming senior high school entrance exam. After this news was announced, many audience members privately messaged me about the significance of this matter, asking if its ‘dramatic’ portrayal in the news media was exaggerated and if the scientists’ evaluation of the learning machine was too good to be true. Isn’t it just an ordinary learning machine? Now, I have to tell everyone, it is not exaggerated in the slightest! Even some of the news with attention-catching headlines are not suitably shocking enough. I think it’s more appropriate to use the word ‘shocking’ three times. Say, we would have named the title of this episode like this, “Shocking! Shocking! Shocking! The Significance of the Little Star learning machine”.”

A famous scholar in the field of popular science on Bilibili, Professor Yuan Feng, dedicated three full weeks of episodes to explain, in layman’s terms, the huge significance that Little Star represented for Z country. Throughout the episodes, his tone was extremely excited about his topic. He even received an unlocked Little Star learning machine loaded with the junior high school syllabus. With this, he was able to do a 100-minute live video stream. In the live stream, he had Little Star complete more than 10 mock senior high school entrance exam papers. The highest number of online audiences for this live stream was over 10 million, almost causing the server of Bilibili to crash. After this live stream, the Little Star learning machine caused a nation-wide sensation and attracted a high level of attention from foreign media and scientific circles. In the midst of increasing scrutiny and even more intense discussions, the national senior high school entrance exam was about to be held on the 6th of June.