Chapter 1477: Shrouded Clouds

“Did you hear the news?”

“Hear what?”

“The gunshots that were heard on the outskirts of Jinling high-tech zone. Some people saw a lot of police… Apparently, it is related to the raging robot crime that was reported some time ago.”

“Really? Don’t spread false rumors. I heard that someone was shooting a movie over there… Doesn’t that refute the rumors?”

“Oh, really? I just heard from someone else… But do you really think that robots are safe? The Jinling Institute for Advanced Study Museum lost one some time ago. Apparently, it slipped by itself.”

“Maybe it is to celebrate the resurrection of Academician Lu? Anyway, the three laws of robotics are unbreakable. The Hippocampus Group’s technical strength is also quite strong. They won’t have illogical loopholes in their robots… Okay, let’s change the subject.”

On the campus of Jin Ling University, walking on the tree-lined path leading to the preparatory classroom, Lu Zhou couldn’t help but twitch his eyebrows when he heard the discussion of the students walking in front, he unconsciously quickened his walking pace.

He didn’t want to listen to others talking about himself. He wanted to leave here quickly.

However, when he passed by the two students, they were so frightened that they were speechless.

After arriving at the classroom, Lu Zhou glanced at the students scattered in the classroom. He randomly found a place to sit down in the first row.

About five or six minutes later, the class bell rang. Instructor Sun walked in hastily from outside the classroom.

When she saw Lu Zhou sitting in the first row, the young girl suddenly widened her eyes. She was stunned as if she had seen something extraordinary.

“Lu-Academician Lu, hello!”

“Hello.” Lu Zhou smiled in a friendly manner while looking at Sun Lan, who was nervous to say hello to him. “Don’t care about me, start the class.”

“Ah, okay, okay!”

Perhaps it was because she had never thought that one day she would give Academician Lu a lesson. During the lecture, Instructor Sun was very nervous; she even accidentally bit her tongue.

Lu Zhou was quite surprised she was able to make such a boring theory class this interesting.

Of course, what surprised him most was the things he learned in the class.

Like the robot technology that affected the entire human civilization and society in the 22nd century, and a series of social problems brought about by this technology, and so forth.

Although Lu Zhou himself paid more attention to things on the technical level, this interpretation of technology from the perspective of the humanities was eye-opening for him.

After the class, Lu Zhou spent 10 seconds sorting out the problems he learned. He then stood up from his seat and walked to the podium.

“Can I ask a question?”

The girl standing behind the podium subconsciously stood up straight, as if she had committed a crime. She said nervously, “Please… please go ahead!”

“Don’t be so nervous, it’s not a personal question.” Lu Zhou smiled at the nervous-looking Instructor Sun. He then continued in a calm tone, “I have some doubts about robots in some places… It was mentioned in the class that in the history of Pan-Asian Cooperation, there has been a debate about whether robots have a complete personality. I want to know the reason and final result of this debate.”

Sun Lan: “Are you talking about the ‘Artificial Intelligence Management Measures’ in 2077?”

Lu Zhou nodded, motioning her to continue.

“The cause of that controversy… In fact, it was nothing mysterious. A long time ago, after the birth of highly anthropomorphic and strong learning ability, the academic community has been arguing whether advanced artificial intelligence algorithms have a complete personality. Part of the opinion is that artificial intelligence designed based on machine learning theory is just an imitation of human behavior, and the emotions it displays are only a performance of imitation. The opposite of this view is that some people think that advanced artificial intelligence already has the basic form of life, and it should be endowed with human rights, or at least limited human rights.

“Originally, this controversy stayed in academia. Until 2076, a lawsuit extended the controversy from the academic circle to the level of national discussion. The defendant was the Civil Affairs Bureau, and the plaintiff’s reason for suing was that the defendant was forbidden to complete marriage registration with his robot, which violated the spirit of the Constitution.

“This lawsuit finally came to an end in the form of an out-of-court settlement, then in the ‘Artificial Intelligence Management Measures’ issued the following year and the final draft in 2078, it was finally determined that artificial intelligence has no political rights and limited human rights. This bill has also been used for reference by other countries and has become the basis of the current artificial intelligence management bill. Many concepts that modern people are accustomed to, including AI’s identity, were determined at that time.”

“As for whether a robot is alive…” Regarding this question, Sun Lan pondered for a while. She then said with a smile, “This is really hard to say. Although reason tells me they are just a program, sometimes I will unconsciously treat them as real human beings.”

“I see…” Lu Zhou nodded thoughtfully. He recalled the data collected in the holographic computer and continued to ask, “But I heard that there seems to be a way to jailbreak the robot and modify the underlying logic of the robot.”

“Theoretically, this is the case, but not all the underlying logic can be modified.” Sun Lan continued, “For example, they cannot harm humans. In the design logic of the robot memory software, this behavior is already set beforehand.”

“What if it is a virus?”

“A virus?” Sun Lan looked at Lu Zhou blankly and said, “This is beyond the scope of my knowledge. My research on artificial intelligence is mainly at the sociological level. A virus that can change the underlying logic of a robot… sounds terrible. It’s like your significant other becoming untrustworthy.”

Lu Zhou: “It does seem terrible.”

Sun Lan: “If you are interested in research in this area, I would recommend you to talk to Professor Zhang Zhongcheng from the Institute of Information Engineering. He is an expert in this area.”

“I will contact him if I have the opportunity.” Lu Zhou nodded and said with a smile, “That’s all of my questions, thank you for your answers.”

“Don’t thank me, this is my job.” Sun Lan smiled shyly. She tried to overcome the tension and said embarrassedly, “Um… Can I trouble you with one thing?”

Lu Zhou said, “What?”

“That is, can I buy you lunch?” With interest gleaming in her eyes, Sun Lan continued, “I have a lot of things to ask you about your era… This is relevant to my research!”

Although he wanted to help her, Lu Zhou showed a helpless expression on his face.

“Sorry, I’m afraid it won’t work today. I have another meeting in a while, but next time for sure.”

Sun Lan was slightly disappointed, but she still smiled and said, “Another day then.”

…

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