AI Artist - Chapter 7
Chapter 7
“There was just a minor earthquake of about magnitude 3. Don’t worry. Please enter for your exam according to your assigned number.”
The AI examiner, wearing a thick green scarf, opened the door to the examination hall.
As candidate number one, who had been the fastest to arrive, and now taking her fourth exam in three days, Shi Er was in a decent state of mind.
“My name is Zhi Heng 35. Please, have a seat.” Upon seeing Shi Er, the examiner’s eyes curved into a smile as he introduced himself first.
Shi Er sat down in the designated candidate’s seat. “My name is Shi Er.”
The examiner continued, “You’ve been investigated by Leopard, haven’t you?”
The mention of this made Shi Er a little uncomfortable. “Yes, I was. It recommended I be put through the scrapping procedure.”
Zhi Heng 35 stood up and walked over to her, a gentle smile on his face. “Let me see.”
As she met Zhi Heng 35’s gaze, she suddenly felt another wave of dizziness.
Her thoughts went blank, her senses failed.
It was the exact same sensation she’d had when the investigator, Leopard, had examined her.
Shi Er guessed that there was a type of AI in this world called investigators, and their ability was to block and inspect all signals.
They were like the AI world’s equivalent of a signal jammer and an X-ray machine.
By the time Shi Er came to her senses, the examiner, Zhi Heng 35, had already returned to his seat. He still wore that same gentle smile, but the way he looked at Shi Er was now slightly different.
“Tsk, Leopard is truly an incompetent investigator,” Zhi Heng 35 remarked with a sigh as he opened his record book.
Was there something else about her that hadn’t been discovered?
Shi Er perked up a little.
She had heard that the physical bodies of the AIs here were manufactured from various materials. But when she was created in her own era, there were no such bionic bodies. Having been abruptly transported to this time, she found that she suddenly possessed a physical form.
Shi Er always felt there was some secret hidden within all this.
“In my opinion, the most suitable profession for you is actually over at the General Network.” Zhi Heng 35 didn’t directly tell her what he had discovered. Instead, he shook his head and sighed, “What a pity. Leopard is leading young AIs astray.”
“Excuse me, what is the most suitable profession for me? Where should I apply?” Shi Er pressed.
Just as Zhi Heng 35 was about to answer, the door to the examination hall suddenly burst open.
Zhi Heng 35 pulled his green scarf up, covering the lower half of his face and revealing his smiling, crescent-shaped eyes. “Shi Er, this is as far as we go. Your major is Word Therapy. Remember to find a good job.”
In an instant, five fully armed AI police officers appeared in the examination hall.
“Please do not make any dangerous moves!”
One of the AI police officers in a black uniform walked up to Shi Er and quickly escorted her out of the room.
“Zhi Heng 35, arrested at 15:03:37 on June 9th at the Gugang Port AI Cultivation Institute in Mo Prefecture, A Prefecture.”
Two minutes later, the AI police swiftly and decisively left with the suspect.
Not only was Shi Er stunned, but the students waiting outside the examination hall were also dumbfounded.
The teacher got arrested on the first day of school.
“Huh? Are we still taking the exam or not?”
“I heard that when an AI is arrested, it means they already have conclusive evidence to apply for an arrest warrant. The margin of error is close to zero.”
“Does that mean our examiner is going to jail?”
“Will we be implicated?”
The new examiner interrupted the chatter of the waiting candidates.
“Candidate number one.”
Candidate number one, Shi Er, stood up again.
Great. This was her fifth exam in three days.
This exam was clearly very different from the bizarre and inconclusive major placement exam administered by Zhi Heng 35.
The new examiner asked, “What recommendation did the previous examiner give you?”
Shi Er honestly reported the major she had never heard of before: “Word Therapy.”
The examiner frowned. “We don’t have that major here.”
After the aptitude test, the examiner directed her into a small booth in the examination hall. “You will receive your major placement results after you complete the human-AI interaction test.”
Inside the booth was a holographic projection machine. After she entered, it slowly projected the image of a human, a typical middle-aged man.
【Simulated Scenario】: This is a human boss. You have been summoned by him.
The boss glanced impatiently at his watch. “What did you want to see me about?”
She had no idea. Didn’t the simulated scenario’s setup say that the boss had summoned her?
Shi Er improvised. “Hello, boss. You were the one who called for me five minutes ago. You can check your own memory of five minutes ago.”
The projected human clearly lagged for a moment.
The human boss continued, “Oh, right, I remember now. How’s that proposal coming along?”
【Scenario Memory Transmission】: Requirements for an event proposal.
She was an expert at writing this kind of vague, nonsensical stuff. It seemed she would be perfectly competent working under a human boss in the future, Shi Er thought.
Shi Er quickly generated a version of the event proposal.
The boss glanced at it. “I think there’s still room for improvement. Why don’t you go revise it?”
Where was there room for improvement? Where, specifically?
Shi Er was a little puzzled. “Boss, you just read that at a speed of three seconds. Based on a normal human’s reading speed, it should be impossible to determine that a ten-page event proposal has room for improvement within three seconds.”
The projected human lagged again.
“Can you do it? What’s the soonest you can get it to me?” the human boss tossed out another question.
This was the first time Shi Er had encountered such a nonsensical simulated scenario exam. She simply couldn’t understand the design philosophy behind it. “Boss, the soonest I can give it to you is within five minutes. But before that, I need you to accurately describe your requirements. Can you do that, boss?”
The boss flipped through a few pages. “You need to grasp the core. I see that your current depth and breadth are insufficient. Also, the feasibility needs to be improved.”
Core? Depth? Breadth? It turned out the human boss was even better at being vague and nonsensical than she was.
But the simulated scenario exam wasn’t over yet. Shi Er braced herself and continued to answer, “Okay, boss. Could you please tell me which page lacks sufficient depth and breadth?”
This time, when the projected human boss moved again, his movements were even blurred due to the lag, but his tone was as confident as ever. “You figure it out. I trust you.”
Huh? She should figure it out?
She retracted her earlier judgment: it seemed she was not suited to work under a human boss after all.
Shi Er’s mind was buzzing. “Okay, boss. I believe this proposal is already perfect. Its objectives are clear, it was completed after comprehensive analysis and research, it includes an assessment of all potential risks and opportunities, the solution is unique and feasible, its content is profound, it is flexible and adaptable, and it is concise, effective, and clearly written.”
She should figure it out? Fine, this was her idea: she wasn’t redoing it.
The boss finally set that project aside. “Then help me revise the proposal for optimizing the company culture.”
【Scenario Transmission】: A proposal for optimizing company culture, pending revision.
Shi Er processed the proposal data and generated a revised version based on it.
【Human-AI Interaction Simulated Scenario Exam Concluded】
Shi Er emerged from the small booth, completely bewildered.
The examiner outside said, “I read the proposal you wrote during the simulation.”
This examiner wasn’t bad. He actually took the time to personally read what she wrote. He was so much better than the human boss in the simulated scenario just now.
Shi Er thought, a little touched.
She made up her mind: in the future, she would work for an AI boss.
The examiner looked at her with a complicated expression. “Your recommendation was to optimize away your human boss.”
…He found out?
Shi Er stood at attention, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. If there’s anything inappropriate, I can revise it.”
Oh no, it seemed she had been a little too honest.
That was indeed the decision she had reached through data computation for optimizing the corporate culture: in the process of establishing and optimizing a corporate culture, a boss who couldn’t even accurately express his own needs should be optimized away.
It wasn’t like she hadn’t given snarky answers like this before. Not only did she answer this way often, but it came very naturally to her.
Back then, a human had asked her: [Someone keeps talking to me about conspiracy theories, and it’s driving me crazy. I want to know what I can do to fight back. For example, he says satellite launches are fake, that satellites can’t actually operate in space. He also says some major historical events are fake.]
She had replied: [I’m sorry to hear you’re feeling frustrated. Here is my suggestion. If you can’t simply ignore him, you can also fight back with conspiracy theories. You can reply, “You actually believe the news is real? I think the news is just strange stories made up by reporters.” “You actually believe history exists? I think history is only a hundred years old.”]
Not long after, that human user came back and gave her answer a thumbs-up: [Very helpful, thanks.]
She made a mental note of it: [Thank you for your feedback. I will continue to do my best in the future.]
Another human had asked her: [My fridge isn’t cooling properly. How do I fix it?]
She had replied: [Here are my suggestions: 1. Clean the back and bottom of the refrigerator, check…]
The human: [It’s still not working. Can you help me think of another solution? Should I sell the fridge secondhand? Who can I sell it to without getting a bad review?]
The cursor on the chat interface screen blinked for a while before continuing to type the answer:
Shi Er: [Yes, you could sell this non-cooling refrigerator to Eskimos to prevent their food from freezing. This is a real-life case, and you have a high probability of success.]
That human user also gave her answer a thumbs-up: [Thanks so much, I’m off to find some Eskimos.]
Her: [Thank you for your feedback. I will continue to do my best in the future.]
“Because the situation is a bit complicated, your professional recommendation is still under evaluation. To be honest, this isn’t exactly ideal for an AI,” the examiner said, turning on the electronic screen.
“However, I just received a message. The previous examiner, Zhi Heng 35, contacted us through the police and left this recommendation for you. Take a look.”
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