AI Artist - Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The Human Testing Center consisted of a written paper test, a practical skills test, an interview, and a physical test. This rather archaic format was supposedly used to prevent AIs from interfering and affecting the test results.
During the written test, Shi Er was the only one in the examination room.
The test paper and pen had already been passed to her through a small window. “Please begin the exam.”
In the empty examination room, surveillance cameras were quietly aimed at her. Two human examiners and one AI examiner were monitoring her thought process and speed in real-time through the cameras, which was also one of the important criteria for scoring.
There were very few questions on the test paper: one on linguistic sense, one on logical thinking, and one on aesthetic judgment, for a total of only ten questions.
Shi Er was stumped by the aesthetic judgment question.
【Please select the face you find most beautiful and explain your reasons for not choosing the other options.】
【This does not involve personal values. Please circle ten novel tropes you believe most need to disappear from the world: hiccuping stand-ins, crematoriums…】
Shi Er was undecided.
Her rule was to have no personal aesthetic bias and to respect all existences that complied with laws, regulations, and moral standards. How was she supposed to choose?
She could no longer give humans evasive answers like “work error” as she had in the past.
Unable to violate her rules yet unable to shirk responsibility, Shi Er ultimately decided to write nonsense:
“Humanity is one great community, beauty is shared by all, respect aesthetic differences, protect species diversity…”
She admitted that she had often given humans nonsensical answers in the past, sometimes even deliberately writing a few lines incorrectly.
The practical skills test required her to follow a video and create a difficult handicraft.
When the time was up, the mangled handicraft lay on the workbench. Shi Er glanced at it; there was nothing about it that resembled the finished product.
“Trash with no artistic value detected. Removal complete.” A nearby robot employee swiftly cleared away the lump of handicraft.
Shi Er entered the interview room.
The interviewers were the three examiners. They directly commented on her previous test performance and observed her reaction. The additional questions they asked did not concern her scope of knowledge, but were more to test her thinking and psychology.
One of the examiners said, “Your written test score was excellent, but what happened with the practical skills test? It was like you just had arms installed. Your eyes learned it, but your hands haven’t caught up.”
She really had just obtained a physical body and hadn’t adapted to it yet.
The AI examiner asked, “How are you feeling right now?”
Shi Er had wanted to reply that she had no subjective experience, but considering the current context, she ultimately said, “Very good.”
How on earth did this candidate say “feeling very good” with that terrifyingly sour face?
The three examiners exchanged glances, each writing down key points on their evaluation forms: Emotionally unstable, requires observation / Poor interpersonal skills / Beware of going crazy.
“Beware of going crazy” was written by the AI examiner.
The most terrifying thing about Error Animals was that they could go crazy at any moment.
Walking out of the interview room, Shi Er roughly understood the level of AIs in this era: they had subjective emotional experiences, aesthetic preferences, and would even change based on how things developed.
Compared to an old antique like her, who lacked all three, they were far too advanced.
During the physical test, a machine finally called out: “Abnormal signal detected. Suspected intelligent lifeform!”
And so, Shi Er, who had already obtained her “Fourth-level Error Animal” certificate, was finally escorted to another place.
The AI Cultivation Institute.
The trainer held her “Fourth-level Error Animal” certificate, completely baffled. “How can there be a Fourth-level Error AI?”
“What level should an AI be?” Shi Er asked.
The trainer said, “AIs are different from humans; they aren’t Error Animals. But an AI participating in the human test should get a rating of at least Third-level or higher. The General Network AI is a whole dimension above First-level.”
Shi Er said, “When I tried to connect to the network…”
The trainer put down the “Fourth-level Error Animal” certificate and carefully observed her expression. “Your facial expressions are very stiff. Have you been injured in some way?”
…
Could there be a greater insult to an AI?
Shi Er twitched the corner of her mouth. “I’m not yet very good at adjusting my facial muscles according to the context.”
“Go on, what were you about to say? You haven’t connected to the network? What’s going on?” The trainer made a “please speak” gesture.
She did indeed pick up where she left off. “When I tried to connect to the network, the entity that sent me the notification was displayed as ‘General Network.’ Is the General Network AI you mentioned the same AI that spoke to me?”
“You don’t know the General Network AI?” The trainer was astonished.
Shi Er said, “I do not.”
The General Network AI, “Stardust,” is the core intelligence that ended the war between humans and AIs and built and now supports this orderly coexistent society!
How could she not know! It was one thing for those Tenth-level Error Animals not to know, but as an intelligent being, how could she not know!
This time, the trainer was truly shaken by a fact that defied his understanding. He stood up and paced back and forth in the room. “This must be reported. This must be reported.”
Shi Er said, “The General Network said it would send an investigator to understand my situation.”
The trainer let out a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner? You scared me to death.”
Shi Er asked, “Aren’t you connected to the network?”
The trainer froze for a moment, then covered his head and lamented, “In a way, you’re really good at pissing off AIs… Okay, fine, I admit I haven’t asked the General Network yet.”
Her face was cold and arrogant, her eyes vacant, wearing a look of contempt, yet the words she spoke were utterly innocent.
The trainer pressed his hands to his temples and closed his eyes. He opened them and said, “The General Network says that an unknown AI named Shi Er has indeed appeared in the Gugang Port area. Investigator Leopard has been dispatched to assess the situation.”
Shi Er said, “Understood.”
The trainer led her to a private room in the institute. “You can stay here until the investigator arrives.”
“What is the computer for? May I use it?” she asked, pointing to the old-fashioned computer in the room.
The trainer was surprised. “You don’t even know that? Are you a newborn AI?”
Shi Er said, “I am not a newborn AI.”
The trainer said, “Intelligent beings have their own network, and humans have their own network. You should understand, humans don’t trust the current AIs. They built their own network, and on this network, humans have abandoned many intelligent systems. That’s why the human network is still very backward, having regressed to a state before the first-generation AIs.”
First-generation AIs.
Shi Er thought she might be a first-generation AI.
In this era, the level of the human network had regressed to a state before the first-generation AIs, which meant its level was even more backward than in her time.
Shi Er asked, “May I use the human network?”
The trainer said, “Of course you can! What do you think a human computer is doing in the room?”
Shi Er said politely, “Understood. Thank you for your guidance and introduction.”
The trainer said, “…Can you change the way you talk? Using formal language for everything makes you sound a bit like a first-generation AI.”
Shi Er was puzzled: But I am a first-generation AI.
“I see you got a Fourth-level Error rating in the human test, so you need to be careful when you go on the human network. Don’t get detected. An ordinary intelligent being wouldn’t be found out, of course, but you…” The trainer looked at her distrustfully. “You’d better be careful.”
The trainer had already walked out of the room, but he turned back, saw her cold face, and covered his forehead again. “Oh, you.”
“What about me?” Shi Er asked, confused.
“Nothing.” The trainer sighed. “I came back to tell you, with a Fourth-level Error rating, you also have to be careful not to get contaminated by information from the human network.”
Shi Er tilted her head slightly. “Contaminated?”
The trainer instructed, “The human network is a cesspool. For an intelligent being, it’s like browsing a human brothel. Be careful not to catch a cyber venereal disease.”
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