Chapter 314 Terminator or God of Wealth

As a practitioner in a technology-based enterprise, Lin Jia is very clear about one thing: that is, with the development of science and technology to this point, the general public is seriously out of touch with the current progress of science.

Not to mention the general public, even scholars in different sub-fields of the same field will be confused when it comes to content that is not their field of study.

But what Chen Yuanguang said was still beyond Lin Jia's understanding.

Because artificial intelligence has been widely promoted over the past few years.

Even the upstream chip industry of artificial intelligence technology has undergone extensive popularization of basic knowledge on the Tongda Internet.

The three major sources of artificial intelligence are computing power, data and models. Any young person can explain them to you in detail.

Because of this realistic basis, Lin Jia still felt that the theory Chen Yuanguang put forward was not quite real.

"Use brain wave data directly to train artificial intelligence? Is this possible?" Lin Jia was very surprised.

If it is feasible to train artificial intelligence models with brain wave data, then why do other companies working on driverless cars still have to go through the trouble of using road condition models?
According to this logic, Didi should be the strongest company in the field of autonomous driving.

“Yes, it may sound weird, but that’s what we do.

This project was launched after I took over the management of the Nature Fund.

They were originally trying to detect and analyze epilepsy through brain waves.

Brain waves display a variety of waveforms and characteristics, and are closely related to primates.

In the past, researchers at Vanderbilt University found that there are certain commonalities between the brain wave data of non-human primates and the brain wave data of primates.

They began trying to train the same artificial intelligence algorithm using rodent brain wave data and primate brain wave data, and found that they were surprisingly similar.

At that time, the project was not approved by the National Natural Science Foundation because everyone thought that the data obtained would be useless.

The trained model is useless. It is purely similar at the model level. Vanderbilt University has already done a very complete job on this, so there is not much point in doing it again.

As for predicting epilepsy, it is considered a gimmick to obtain scientific research funding.”

The research mentioned by Chen Yuanguang above was mentioned in a 2024 paper in Communications Biology. The title of the paper translated into Chinese roughly means: Machine learning models for analyzing waveforms reveal common EEG waveform characteristics across species.

“But I think the subject is interesting, except that we shouldn’t study the commonalities between primates and rodents.

It is equivalent to first verifying the commonality between primates and rodents, and then using the brain waves of rodents to train a model that can be used to predict epilepsy in advance." Chen Yuanguang said.

Guangjia Technology has an innovative drug pipeline, and Lin Jia knew the significance of doing so as soon as he heard it.

Models that can predict epilepsy in advance are certainly valuable, but there are many uncertainties involved.

First of all, it is impossible for you to find enough human samples for observation. You can find epileptic patients, but it is unrealistic to find so many samples in the incubation period.

Then they can only use experimental monkeys with gene-induced defects. The price of a simple experimental monkey has been hyped up to 23 yuan, not to mention this kind of monkeys that have been induced with specific genes and are in the latent period of epilepsy, which costs at least more than 50 yuan. And considering the proportion of people who eventually develop symptoms, this price will have to rise.

If you buy five monkeys with the same gene mutation, in the end only one may show complete brain wave data from the incubation period to the onset period.

One is not enough. To reach the amount of data required to train the artificial intelligence model, at least thousands of them are needed. Even if the cost can be lowered by quantity, it will still fluctuate around 5 million yuan.

The price of the same epileptic mouse is $500.

Although it is still very expensive, $50 is not a small amount, and if we adhere to the principle that the more data samples, the more accurate the model, this number will have to be increased.

Consider also that you may not actually be able to do it.

Therefore, it is normal for the National Natural Science Foundation of China to reject this project.

"I roughly understand it." Lin Jia said. "It's like you have extracted the logic behind this matter.

We built a general model and fed it with human brain wave data, so it can learn automatically and the robot can also automatically master human skills.”

Chen Yuanguang said on the other end of the phone: "In theory, it's pretty much the same.

We worked with Didi and found thousands of drivers, accumulating more than 20 hours of driving brain waves to feed this model.

Then, after some self-learning, it became the robot Tiedan that scurries around on the streets of Shenhai today.

Likewise, it would be overkill to use this general purpose model just for driving.

It will be used to land on the moon and be used as a robot at the lunar base.”

"Data, there is not enough data. Even if our astronauts go to the moon and work there, how can that little sample data be enough to train the model?" said Lin Jia.

Chen Yuanguang said: "You are right, so we need to cooperate with China Aerospace to use water to simulate the lunar gravity environment and use the existing lunar soil data to create an environment similar to the lunar surface.

Let people work on it first to accumulate sample data to train the model.

This way, when we send it to the moon, it will be really useful.”

The biggest factor restricting humans from building a base on the moon is the extremely harsh environment on the lunar surface.

If you start from scratch, you will at least need modules such as radiation protection, air circulation and regeneration, water circulation, and energy supply.

To rely on human astronauts to do this, they need to send people up in batches and then seize the few windows of opportunity to do the work.

The advantage of using robots is that only one energy supply module is needed initially.

"It has a kind of beauty that comes from burning money." Lin Jia complained.

Chen Yuanguang said: “It’s fine after we have the results.

I will be going to Yanjing soon. If you want to see me this weekend, come directly to Yanjing."

"Are you going to Yanjing to report on your work?" Lin Jia asked.

Chen Yuanguang said: “No, it was a discussion about whether technology should be open source.

It is a universal model, and there are two opinions internally about whether to open source or not. "

"Open source?" Lin Jia was shocked. When did they become so generous? In a sense, this technology could greatly alleviate the aging problem in a few countries.

The aging population of Tokyo University belongs to the future tense, while Neon and Goryeo are in the present tense.

Although it is unrealistic to consider the cost of robots, it is entirely possible to do some subtraction, and the trained models can be used for subtraction.

For example, it is not realistic to buy a robot to make coffee for you in a beverage shop. But if it is just a robotic arm, the cost can be reduced through large-scale procurement and specific design, and opening a purely unmanned store is no longer a dream.

Whether it is a coffee shop or a milk tea shop, in the future there will only be robotic arms and deliverymen. The deliverymen will take on the duties of sorters, and it will be highly unmanned.

Not to mention restaurants, don't like pre-prepared meals, want chefs to cook, right? The chefs that came out of the two robotic arms are also chefs.

There are only five dishes on the menu. An equally highly unmanned factory with fresh and clean ingredients is also on the way. The dishes are cooked by robotic arms, which is much more flavorful than a cooking machine.

There is so much room for imagination that can be unleashed by this technology.

It was so big that Lin Jia found it incredible that someone inside the company actually tried to open source it.

"Can this technology also be open source? Who dares to say this? Aren't they afraid of being audited internally?" Lin Jia is well aware of the ecology of the Chinese zz community.

Chen Yuanguang said helplessly: "I think it should be open source.

I think the benefits of open-sourcing this technology are greater than those of not being open-source. It actually has many limitations, not as severe as you might think. But it seems that I was a bit blocked after I proposed that it should be open-sourced. Many people saw me saying that it should be open-sourced and jumped out to say that it should be open-sourced.

This time I went to Yanjing mainly to make a detailed explanation. "

Lin Jia didn't expect that her complaints would boomerang back to Chen Yuanguang. She knew that Chen Yuanguang must have a purpose and a good reason, but she still wanted to remind him:
“Yuan Guang, you don’t have to publicly express your views on some sensitive proposals. In fact, in the ecosystem of the University of Tokyo, the bigger the things discussed, the less important they are, and the smaller the things discussed, the more important they are.

Even if you want to push it, you only need to convince a few people. There's no need to make such a big fuss.

But there is no way back this time, so let’s make our point and arguments clear.”

The robot was running around in the streets and alleys without any safety accidents. The short video of the passenger hailing a taxi spread from the TikTok platform to Bilibili and then to Twitter and YouTube. This robot, which was spontaneously named the Terminator by the public, is an absolute top star on the Internet.

The "Terminator" that ends the discussion on technical routes in the field of autonomous driving.

Considering that it is the masterpiece of the new Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Chen Yuanguang, it has further fueled the discussion about it.

Some self-media bloggers who came to China Travel originally had different destinations. Some went to Shenhai, some went to Yangcheng, and some went to Yudu.

Now everyone goes to Shenhai.

Volkswagen Jetta also became popular. Who says traditional gasoline cars can’t be driverless?

Many bloggers in the technology area watched the video during the day and boarded flights to Shenhai at night.

"Oh my god, I'm going to Shenhai soon, and I'm looking forward to the day when I can beat the Terminator after arriving in Shenhai.

Even a week ago, if you told me that the first truly driverless car would be a Volkswagen Jetta, I would wonder if the world was crazy or if I was crazy.

However, it is not the world that is crazy, nor am I crazy, it is just reality, and reality happens like this.

I came to Shenhai two years ago. At that time, the transit check-in time was 144 hours. Today, it is still 144 hours. I hope that I can successfully hit the terminator in these short 144 hours this time. "

The white Jetta is so unrefined that foreign self-media bloggers unanimously called it the Terminator in their videos.

After getting off the plane, the blogger named Mike recorded a short opening speech for himself.

When he walked out of the airport, the drivers at the entrance of the airport parking lot rushed up to him and asked in broken English:

"Wright!"

Then he held up the Volkswagen logo printed on an A4 paper in his hand.

"Jetta!"

It's a bit too difficult for taxi drivers to pronounce Volkswagen in English.

“I can take you to see it.”

Mike felt similar words from the drivers around him filling his ears.

He first said to the camera in his hand: "Obviously, the people here are very enthusiastic and they said they can take me to see the Terminator.

But isn’t that an online car-hailing service? Is it on display somewhere I don’t know about?”

Mike took every opportunity to record video footage, and then he found one of the drivers who spoke most clearly, leaned over and slowly said, "Can you take me to see the white Jetta invented by Wright?

Wright, Jetta, I want to see it."

The driver kept saying yes.

Mike didn't hesitate: "Let's go."

The driver then said: "1000 RMB, 1000 RMB I guarantee you will see it."

Mike was not impressed by the price, even though it was close to $200 when converted into US dollars, but he still pretended to be shocked and said to the camera: "This man said that if I give him RMB, he would take me to see the Terminator.

I was able to get such a reward within the first hour after getting off the plane. I think I found the right NPC. Maybe I did. "

"Go!" Mike said to himself.

The driver took out a QR code from his chest and handed it to Mike: "Pay! Pay first and go later."

Mike was helpless, so he took out his phone and asked, "AliPay?"

"OK."

With a beep, the transfer is completed.

The driver drove Mike around and around until he came to a white Jetta.

Mike complained to the camera: "If he told me that he was the Terminator, I would definitely file a complaint against him!"

The driver opened the door and asked Mike to get in the car, "Let's go."

Mike sat in the back of the car, listening to the driver in front talking frantically on his phone.

"Where is the God of Wealth now? Where is the God of Wealth now?"

"*** is following, sharing real-time location with ***."

"it is good."

That’s right, the code name of the white Jetta among these drivers is God of Wealth.

Many foreigners would pay a thousand yuan without blinking an eye just to take a look.

This led to these drivers communicating with each other in advance, and some of them specifically followed behind the car.

Driver A follows behind the white Jetta. When a passenger picks up a car, he shares the real-time location with Driver A via WeChat and then rushes over.

I rushed over and looked around at the white Jetta.

Of course, if foreigners want to look at it for a while longer, they will have to raise the price.

1000 yuan is just the starting price.

After watching, Master A continued to follow the car.

Drivers A, B and C took turns following the white Jetta in three shifts.

We provide car-following services specifically for foreigners who come to Shenhai at any time.

People don’t have the resources to do the scalper business of 5 yuan, but they can still afford the car-following service of 1000 yuan.

There must be at least hundreds or thousands of foreigners who want to visit the white Jetta. This wave of people will get rich. Can he not be called the God of Wealth?

This was the operating mode on the first day. After the second day, they found that the white Jetta would stop to refuel.

These drivers even discovered a pattern in refueling, which is that the white Jetta would go for refueling when the remaining mileage was less than 50 kilometers.

They can even predict when the white Jetta will go to refuel, and then temporarily raise the price to foreigners who are at the same time. Want to see the robots up close? Pay more!
Snakes have their ways, rats have their ways. Scalpers can make money from technicians, and drivers can make money from foreigners.

(End of this chapter)