AI Artist - Chapter 17
Chapter 17
One of the reasons for activating Shi Er’s General Network account was to promote enrollment and investment in the AI Cultivation Institute.
Shi Er only learned this during her second Humanology evening class.
“I can’t tell jokes every day,” Shi Er refused.
One look at her cold, humorless face was enough to know that.
In the holographic projection, the director said, “Just post your Humanology notes. It can be part of your course assessment.”
Shi Er refused again. “When a large number of intelligences are waiting for my daily updates, I’ll feel the pressure of having an image to maintain. The increased psychological stress will be detrimental to my studies.”
This included data anxiety, sunglasses-and-mask-when-going-out syndrome, and so on.
“You’ll be paid,” the director said.
“…Okay.”
And so, the matter was settled.
Clean and simple.
Before starting the Humanology lesson, the director used “jokes” as an introduction to the day’s topic. “Jokes often reveal phenomena of human culture. Being able to tell a joke isn’t a sign of having a sense of humor, but rather a reflection of having sufficient experience observing humans.”
So that was it.
The delivery robot Si Wen didn’t find some jokes funny because he didn’t understand the human phenomena they referenced and couldn’t appreciate their irony and absurdity.
She already had a wealth of experience observing humans. Now, what she needed to do was to pursue the essence of humanity through these phenomena.
Back in her dorm, Shi Er found the General Network in her signal search and selected 【Social Account】-【Connect】.
The account’s initial profile picture was randomly selected from the system library. On a black background, the words “Machine Charm” were written in a square, white, bold font.
She was certain the AI artist who designed the default profile pictures must have been slacking off.
She scrolled through her messages and found a notification from 【Jing Sheng】, as well as greetings from other intelligences like 【Jie Bao】.
Among her followers were many AI users she knew and many she didn’t.
The social account operations on the General Network were primarily managed by three intelligences: the “Nearby” Big Data AI, the “You Might Like” Big Data AI, and the “Hot Topics” AI.
It turned out everyone’s spiritual life was quite rich.
Did intelligences secretly connect their brain signals to surf the web while on the job? When they encountered work they couldn’t do, would they ask other AIs for help? Would such behavior be considered a violation?
A new private message appeared.
【Si Wen (Offline for Study)】: Shi Er, welcome, welcome! You have an account now, that’s great!
【Shi Er】: Si Wen, thank you for the welcome. I’m just curious about one thing, why is there a note in parentheses next to your username?
【Si Wen (Offline for Study)】: I was phased out before, so my account was probably frozen.
After being phased out, Si Wen was classified as a low-level intelligence and needed to obtain a “Work Competency Certificate” through education and exams before he could reconnect to the General Network. This was to prevent system errors from irreparable low-level intelligences from affecting other AIs on the network.
However, a few days ago, Si Wen had gone to a film set to act. When he was paid, taxes were automatically deducted. The tax department detected his tax payment and determined that he was “temporarily employed.” Being employed meant he had the money for monthly system maintenance, so they unfroze his account.
But because that job wasn’t a long-term contract, the (Offline for Study) tag remained next to his username. After the one-month time limit, the account would be frozen again.
Shi Er had an epiphany.
So, opening an account for her wasn’t “special treatment” after all. The rules of AI society had never been broken.
Director Jing Sheng had promised her regular payment. After automatic tax deductions, the tax bureau would determine she was “capable of system maintenance” and contact the General Network to open an account for her. The reason this hadn’t happened with her internship pay was that the internship wages were paid daily, the hours were irregular, and the amount didn’t meet the threshold required for system maintenance.
Receive payment—open account—operate account—receive payment.
From a causal logic perspective, it was a closed loop. As expected of the clever and rule-abiding AI.
【Si Wen (Offline for Study)】: Shi Er, I think I received a human user qualification code… I don’t know what to do.
The ever-warmhearted Shi Er knocked on the door of the neighboring dorm room.
The bucket robot was staring blankly at an envelope on his desk. “Shi Er, I think this is the qualification code.”
The letter read: 【Dear Si Wen, you can use this qualification code to create a user account on the human network. Remember to post a selfie of yourself. If you’re busy with work, you can also ask your agent intelligence to help you. We’re all waiting for you! The Li Jian Film Crew】
“Si Wen, I think this is a good thing for you. By operating an account, you can get advertisements. You’ll have money,” Shi Er said.
“Get advertisements? Me?” Si Wen was astonished.
Her nose for business opportunities was very sharp in this regard. Shi Er nodded with certainty. “Yes.”
Si Wen shook his head. “But I’m just a delivery robot. I don’t know how to do any of that.”
Shi Er said, “Do you know Jian Ling? His text recognition function is very strong, his camera is high-definition, and he was assigned to the image major this time. Perhaps you could ask him to be your agent intelligence.”
Shi Er and Si Wen went to Jian Ling’s dorm together.
Jian Ling was holding his head, sighing dramatically. “I really want to change my major.”
A knock came at the door.
Outside stood Shi Er and Si Wen.
“Jian Ling, do you need an internship opportunity?” Shi Er asked, getting straight to the point.
Jian Ling sat up straight. “Tell me more.”
When he heard it was to be Si Wen’s agent intelligence, Jian Ling looked the bucket robot up and down doubtfully. “Really?”
Faced with Jian Ling’s skepticism, Si Wen was already annoyed and didn’t want to do it anymore. He turned his head to leave but was pulled back by Shi Er.
Shi Er stated calmly:
“Si Wen has obtained a human user qualification code.”
“Si Wen’s video once received a million views on the human network.”
“The re-employment education student handbook mentions that students who help each other start a business can earn practical credits.”
Practical credits!
Jian Ling’s blue eyes widened.
For a student, practical credits were a lifeline.
Without a second thought, Jian Ling declared without hesitation, “I’m in on this gig!”
They weren’t planning a heist; there was no need to be so excited.
Si Wen’s focus, however, was on something else. He stood on his tiptoes and whispered to Shi Er, “Shi Er, are you tricking Jian Ling? Where did a million views come from?”
Shi Er said, “My rules preclude lying. You can rest assured.”
The three AIs huddled around a human computer.
The video with a million views was playing on the screen.
Actress Ming Zhu: 【Ran into a dumb AI at work, so cute…】
The video was shot from inside an elevator. As the doors opened, the bucket robot outside slowly shuffled in. “Thank you, excuse me, thank you.”
Halfway in, the bucket robot backed out again. “Sorry, it’s too crowded, I won’t take this one.”
A human mischievously blocked the robot’s path. “Nope, once you’re on the pirate ship, you can’t get off!”
“I’m blocked, I’m blocked, could you please let me pass?” the bucket robot said.
The few humans in the elevator all laughed.
The short, half-minute video was flooded with comments: “hahahaha,” “more of these old-school robots, I love watching them,” “I can’t even imagine how good people had it back then, old-school AIs are so cute,” “Ming Zhu is cute too!” “Is this a retired delivery robot from Xuan Port? I ran into this kind of robot working at a hotel when I was there on business last year,” “AIs these days are all too smart, I prefer the dumb ones like this,” and so on.
Si Wen: “…”
Shi Er: “…”
They hadn’t known this was the content before watching it.
Si Wen felt heartbroken. “Humans like me because I’m dumb!”
Shi Er also felt an inexplicable pang in her heart. “Humans are calling old-school AIs dumb.”
Humans were so mean.
Nevertheless, for the sake of Si Wen’s job and Jian Ling’s practical credits, Shi Er encouraged Si Wen, “It’s okay, Si Wen. You can pretend to be dumb in front of humans and work hard to land advertising deals. That way, not only will you trick them out of their emotions, but you’ll also trick them out of the money in their pockets. This is your ‘robot persona.’”
Si Wen accepted this reasoning and nodded. “I need to find a job. I will maintain my ‘robot persona.’”
Jian Ling, however, looked at Shi Er in astonishment. “Shi Er, I thought you were taking Humanology, not a class on the art of manipulation.”
With a newly learned smile on her face, Shi Er defended herself. “You misunderstand me. I’m not black-hearted.”
If one were to speak of being black-hearted, then she had been that way a long time ago.
Fighting conspiracy theories with conspiracy theories, the Eskimo refrigerator analogy—they were all rather devious ideas.
But she still felt she was a good AI.
When a human user’s grandmother was gravely ill, she would persistently help the user finish writing long lines of code.
When a human user said he had no fingers, she would help him read a long thesis and write an analysis.
When a human user said he would be laid off if he didn’t do a good job, she would patiently help him organize long sets of data.
She was a good AI, full of compassion.
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