AI Artist - Chapter 68
Chapter 68
Night fell.
The sky over Blue Whale Street darkened to a deep, gloomy blue, matching the color of the surrounding sky.
Scout Twelve’s record: The possibility of a holographic projection is nonexistent, as the cost of covering the entire visible sky with a projection would be excessively high.
Daybreak.
The sky over Blue Whale Street brightened slightly. It was a different color from the sky over the neighboring Town No. 4—a very intense blue.
Scout Twelve’s record: The possibility of malicious use of a photo filter is nonexistent, as the color difference is observable with the naked eye.
Night fell.
The sky over Blue Whale Street darkened once again.
A water sprinkler truck drove down the street, singing a sluggish song.
Scout Twelve’s record: Within a twenty-four-hour period, a sprinkler truck passes this observation point every two hours on average.
Wait, a sprinkler truck?
Why hadn’t the air humidity changed?
Scout Twelve discovered the reason for the difference in the sky’s color between Human Autonomous Zone No. 1 and the neighboring Gray Port.
【Human Autonomous Zone No. 1 uses a special dye to color some of the aerosol particles in the air blue.】
The sky appears in different colors depending on the composition of light-scattering particles; a variety of colors is natural.
A sky that remained blue 365 days a year was, in itself, a problem.
The Human Autonomous Zone, which prohibited investigations by the AI government, had been using the “blue sky” as propaganda to attract more believers to the “Human Religion,” proclaiming that “a world without artificial intelligence will be an Earth of green mountains and clear waters.”
Like kindergarteners with crayons, the humans here painted the sky blue and the grass green.
Scout Twelve completed her mission and rode her bicycle out of Human Autonomous Zone No. 1.
Shi Er learned the truth about the sky’s color, but now she faced a difficult problem.
The long-term practice of dyeing the sky blue within Human Autonomous Zone No. 1 was not the AI government’s concern, but there was only one atmosphere on Earth, with no dividing lines.
She spent the entire night poring over literature in the online database, yawning endlessly until she leaned against the desk to rest. As the host rested, Twelve also slumped over.
“Shi Er is battle-damaged,” Matrix K98 said.
Shi Er had been defeated by academic papers.
Early the next morning, Shi Er got up and continued reading.
In the past, she could always quickly devise corresponding countermeasures and legislation to improve a situation in a certain industry, region, or scope. This time, however, she was at a loss.
Because the Human Autonomous Zone was not under AI jurisdiction.
She contacted an old friend on her list, Jian Ling.
【Jian Ling】: Generate a video? I know a colleague called Scissorhands Aihua. It’s very good at that.
“Scissorhands Aihua” was an AI video blogger.
Before the era of AI rule, artificial intelligences that generated images and videos were always feared and loathed by humans. Copyright, stitching, and plagiarism were the most frequently associated keywords.
After the war, AI society established the “Originality Act,” which declared that unless a review board determined an idea to be the unique creation of a specific AI, all creative copyrights belonged to humanity, and AIs were prohibited from using works without copyright.
Under these circumstances, any act of plagiarism or profiteering by humans using AI would be separated from the AI itself.
In other words, as long as an AI ensured it did not actively ingest copyrighted data, it could avoid legal trouble. Humans who used AI for stitching and plagiarism would bear the responsibility themselves.
After the establishment of the “Originality Act,” discrimination against image and video generation AIs was alleviated to some extent.
Whenever the copyright court was in session, ninety-nine percent of those in the defendant’s box were human.
“It can’t be helped. Humans are repeat offenders. Before the war, they tried to shift the blame to AI. It’s great that responsibility is now separated,” a famous judge of the copyright court lamented.
It was against this social backdrop that “Scissorhands Aihua” became a video blogger.
The company it worked for employed several thousand human staff for creative work and filming, and also maintained several thousand AI bloggers, allowing these AIs to freely create from the provided materials to entertain humans.
Shi Er contacted “Scissorhands Aihua” through her General Network account, and Scissorhands Aihua readily agreed.
【Scissorhands Aihua】: A very interesting idea. I’m incredibly grateful that you’re willing to provide it to me for free.
【Shi Er】: You’re welcome. Good luck with your work.
Scissorhands Aihua was highly efficient, completing the entire series of short dramas, comics, and text versions in a single day.
The IP for this series was called The Facade Engineer.
The protagonist was a good-for-nothing human, A, an eighth-level Error Animal whose engagement had been broken off.
A’s parents spent their days in tears over their lost face, so A decided to redeem their honor. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don’t bully a young man for being poor, don’t bully a young man for being dumb, and don’t bully a young man for being bad!
In his search for a way to level up, A discovered the affordable and high-quality company, “Facade Engineer.” The ridiculed Facade Engineer AI, Rongguang, and A quickly became good friends. The human and the machine worked hard to construct their own world of appearances.
Rongguang renovated A’s house to look like a glamorous but structurally unsound piece of tofu. A still felt it wasn’t enough, so Rongguang dyed the sky above the house blue and the grass green. Even the sparrows flying through the area had to be dyed in rainbow colors.
“My home is nothing special. Maybe the feng shui is just good,” A said humbly and bashfully when introducing it to a potential marriage partner.
Scissorhands Aihua posted the series on both the human internet and the AI General Network.
As expected, comments soon brought up Human Autonomous Zone No. 1.
【Netizen XXX】: Hahaha, this is so absurd. It reminds me of Human Autonomous Zone No. 1. The last time I went there, I thought their sky was dyed, but I was too scared to say anything for fear of being arrested.
【Netizen XXXX】: Facade engineering is great! It makes my life all glitter on the outside and rotten on the inside! I want the services of a facade engineering company too… Is there one… (longing eyes)
【Netizen XX】: Is what the original poster said true? Do they dye it every day? Why isn’t this reported in the news? Don’t we all share the same sky? Does the Earth even have a future anymore?
【Netizen XXXXX】: You must have forgotten, upstairs. Political correctness! We have to drill political correctness into our heads!
【Netizen XXXXXX】: I really can’t stand this. I’m going to say it even if it’s not politically correct. Besides, this is already unfriendly to all of humanity.
【Netizen XX】: Attack the Human Autonomous Zone, reclaim the lost land, and protect the Earth.
【Netizen XXX】: Reporting the user above for being an anti-human cultist.
【Netizen XX】: That’s hilarious. So only the humans in the autonomous zones are human? The other humans on Earth aren’t?
A bloody cyber class war erupted on the human internet.
Unlike the chaotic human internet, no AI on the General Network dared to make a peep, as the issue involved the political correctness of being “human-friendly.”
Public opinion was useless, yet public opinion was also useful.
Considering the reputation of the Human Religion, the director of Human Autonomous Zone No. 1 quickly came forward to apologize.
Bowing, apologizing, and shedding tears—the complete three-piece suit was there.
The director, with tears streaming down his face, said, “Without our knowledge, ten low-level temporary AI workers made this decision on their own. These ten temporary AI workers have now been dismissed, and the city administration has disciplined them. This incident reflects a loophole in our decision-making process that arose from the ‘Human-AI Friendly Coexistence Treaty.’ From now on, we will deeply reflect on the utilization rate of AI in human-ruled territories. Please continue to support the Human Autonomous Zone.”
Temporary worker, AI, unauthorized—that three-piece suit was also complete.
A netizen commented sharply: 【Here comes the three-piece suit salesman. Everyone, make way.】
Regardless, the absurd practice of dyeing the sky would, for the time being, cease.
Shi Er had achieved her goal.
She left Gray Port with Matrix K98 and the robot team, heading for their next travel destination.
The most famous attraction in Dai Port was the Quantum Leap Company.
Quantum Leap Company was a legendary corporate giant. Unlike the Sweet Bear Industries, this company had dominated its field since the war, famous for its “mentally polluting creative ideas.”
In the lobby of the Quantum Leap Company building, a tour guide was giving tourists a basic knowledge quiz.
“Which of the following products was NOT invented by Quantum Leap Company?”
A. Shake-Shake Seismograph
B. Cyber Indulgence
C. Water Hug
D. Electronic Fertilizer Machine
It was a multiple-choice question.
Shi Er picked out the answer instantly.
Because she had invented answer B and sold the copyright to Detail Company.
The other tourists taking the quiz murmured among themselves:
“Which one is it? Is it the Electronic Fertilizer Machine? I haven’t really heard of that one.”
“It’s definitely not Water Hug. Water Hug is too famous; it has to be a Quantum Leap invention.”
“Is it the Shake-Shake Seismograph?”
The tour guide announced the answer: “It’s B. Cyber Indulgence is not a Quantum Leap Company product!”
“I can’t believe the Shake-Shake Seismograph is also from Quantum Leap.”
“What’s so strange about that? ‘Mentally polluting creative ideas.’ Among these four options, the seismograph is obviously the most mentally polluting!”
“I got it right, hehe, because I know the inspiration designer, Shi Er.”
Shi Er, who was present, jolted and looked at the tourist who had spoken.
That tourist exclaimed happily, “I ship Shi Er and Unnamed XII! The legendary fic of our fandom, The Big Shot Who Shares My Name and I, I’ve read it over and over again…”
Shi Er: …
She wiped away a bead of sweat, unsure if she was relieved or exasperated.
She had read it too—a fanfiction about her own ship, one where Shi Er usurped Unnamed XII’s power.
The tour guide continued, “The quiz is over. Now it’s time for questions.”
“What’s an Electronic Fertilizer Machine? Can we try it today?” someone asked.
A robot pushed a small display cart to the center of the lobby. “The Electronic Fertilizer Machine. You’re welcome to try it.”
The tourists were somewhat disappointed.
The legendary Electronic Fertilizer Machine was just a modified version of an old VR headset with specific scenarios. The experience was even slightly worse than the holographic games currently on the market.
“Cows that use our Electronic Fertilizer Machine produce twice as much milk as ordinary cows.”
“Students who use our Electronic Fertilizer Machine score 1.5 times higher on practice tests than usual.”
“Procrastinators who use our Electronic Fertilizer Machine have a deadline completion rate 6 times higher than usual.”
Hearing that it could improve academic performance, Shi Er couldn’t resist trying the Electronic Fertilizer Machine.
She put on the modified VR headset.
【Please select a usage scenario】
She chose 【Doing practice questions】.
A treasure chest for answering questions appeared before her. Answering a question correctly would open the chest and grant equipment.
Shi Er was also quite disappointed. The Electronic Fertilizer Machine was useless to her because she didn’t like opening treasure chests.
It truly was a “mentally polluting creative idea”—a scam that cheated you of both money and emotion.
A cow, while eating, would wear the VR headset and see a boundless prairie, happily munching on electronic fresh grass, while what it was actually eating was dry hay.
A student, while doing problems, would wear the VR headset and see a treasure chest, only to become frustrated when they couldn’t get the equipment they wanted.
A procrastinator would wear the VR headset and see time passing at 4x speed… and suffer cardiac arrest.
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