Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

June 9, 2225

"This is a fair era, and it is also an era of diversity. Today, with the explosive growth of AI networks, we can have more time to improve ourselves and leave many trivial matters to AI personal assistants. The most important cost in this era is time. Perhaps everyone has not yet realized the importance of integrating AI networks into people’s lives, but I am certain that those who use AI networks will be able to gain more time for self-development. Recharge, and their future careers will be smooth sailing!”

At a large-scale AI network conference, all the e-commerce giants in the city gathered together. Standing on the stage was Terra, the founder of Terra Network, the largest e-commerce company in the city. He mainly operates games, as well as many other businesses in the past. Products are sold online, but with the arrival of the AI ​​network, Terra Network has become an e-commerce giant.

Because there are very clear boundaries between the products sold online and in physical stores in Bright City, the products that want to be sold online and in physical stores at the same time must be distinguished by grade.

This is the most effective way to prevent e-commerce products from crowding out the physical industry and impacting the city. For the same product, the quality of the product sold in physical stores is definitely higher than that sold online.

Or they choose not to sell in physical stores and can only sell online. Therefore, e-commerce has not had a big impact on the physical industry over the years.

Nowadays, most e-commerce companies have entered the AI ​​network and invested in the AI ​​network on a large scale. From March to now, the number of users using the AI ​​network has exceeded 2 million, and the number has increased by 1 million in just three months. , and there are as many as 3 million users still waiting to apply for the AI ​​network.

The AI ​​network now has thousands of AI templates that can be used for a fee, almost covering all aspects of the city, and people's demand for AI has begun to grow explosively.

Many people who use AI networks have their lives planned very well by AI. Indeed, as Terra said, many people's work and life have become much smoother after using AI networks, and many people have begun to rely more and more on AI. network.

The stock prices of most AI network companies have been booming in the past half month. This is something that many big businessmen in the real industry did not expect. But now the AI ​​network market is almost full, and there are many people who want to get in. All we can do is continue to wait, or directly use money to buy a company that makes AI networks.

But at the same time, some scholars have warned that this is extremely dangerous, because the human country's reliance on AI will cause instability in the overall market economy.

A silent war for customer resources has already begun. Most merchants who control AI templates are competing for customer resources from each other, constantly updating and launching more convenient AI service templates.

A new wave of unemployment has begun to come quickly. The competition for jobs in many companies has become more intense than ever before. Most people with AI networks can easily complete some work with half the effort, while those without AI networks have begun to be eliminated. Squeeze away.

Facts speak louder than words. Many people rely on the AI ​​network to get first-hand information about their work, and immediately start practicing according to part of the plan specified by the AI ​​that assists the work. Both efficiency and accuracy are higher than those who have not used it. The number of employees working on the AI ​​network is high, and even some who were considered not very smart or with weak business capabilities in the past have transformed themselves into elite employees with the help of the AI ​​network.

Many people who publish some first-hand information on the AI ​​network have already made a lot of money, and the transmission and breadth of information have reached unprecedented heights.

The reporters at the scene were still asking questions, and some company bosses representing the AI ​​network were still answering various questions.

Hu Youran and Duke sat quietly under the stage. This press conference was not a good thing for them.

A piece of useful information that can create business opportunities should be random according to the normal market economic flow, and will be discovered by some smart people and use this information gap to make money. But now such information has become the most popular information for most people. It is a tool for making money, and it has been remotely controlled in the environment of big data network.

A lot of information has traces of being manipulated and controlled remotely. The final profit makers are those who control the information. As long as a customer's needs are grasped, once the application has the information, the AI ​​network will push the things that the person needs, and This person will buy it, and it seems that everyone is happy and everyone wins, but in fact this is just consuming people's needs in advance.

The generation of demand comes from people, and people's needs are usually completed after getting what they need bit by bit in the process of searching for comparisons. But now the AI ​​network can directly provide people with needs, and people only need to get it immediately. Just what is needed.

Many AI network companies that hold big user data basically just need to make money and continue to provide users with needs. The supply side is trying to provide everything in order to obtain these AI networks. The company's recommendations and sky-high advertising fees have begun to appear.

There were some strange voices in the city, because the Angus family was the one who built the AI ​​network, and it was also the Angus family who decided to open the number of users. In the eyes of most people, the final winner was the Angus family.

But most people have never thought that the final beneficiaries are the vested interests who provided the information. This is a blind spot for most people. The Angus family only acts as the builder of the AI ​​network and only charges fees for the use of the AI ​​network. , is not a real producer, and the Angus family strictly curbs the growth of AI networks, which also makes many people dissatisfied.

Countless AI network businessmen wanted to talk to the Angus couple, but the couple refused to see the guests. Every day, some businessmen would always come to guard the outside of the Angus Manor, trying to take advantage of the Angus couple. When you're out, go over and strike up a conversation.

This actually constituted the crime of harassment. Only after people from Section 5 arrested some of the businessmen did the businessmen become more honest.

People's trust in the AI ​​network has reached an unprecedented level. Hu Youran looked worriedly at the people above who were boasting about the benefits of the AI ​​network and felt angry.

This group of people knew what they were doing, consuming the demand in advance, which would be a huge blow to the city's overall economy. Hu Youran also knew the reason why Congress had not taken any action.

The Angus family is now able to continue to build the northern part, repair some upper-level areas that have not yet been fully constructed, and hire a large number of mutants. This is all because the AI ​​network is now exploding with blood transfusions for the Angus family. everything.

Businessmen will even create demand for profit. Chaos in the AI ​​network has begun to appear. Although Section 5 is investigating, it is difficult to investigate the abnormality.

The explosive growth of the AI ​​network is also inseparable from the involvement of major families. Many investors in network companies behind the scenes are family members.

In fact, the overall consumer economy of the city is declining because a lot of money is spent on the AI ​​network. Even if every month's life is planned very accurately by the AI ​​network, there is actually no spare money left to consume some things. The new city It is only a matter of time before a Great Depression occurs. If Congress fails to take action, once consumption declines, a new round of large-scale unemployment will come.

But now the public's demand for AI networks is high, and the Angus family has not yet completed the construction of the northern and upper parts. This puts Congress in a dilemma.

Such an era seems very crazy in Hu Youran's eyes. Giving your life to a completely emotionless system that only wants to take an extra dime out of your pocket makes Hu Youran and Du Kedu felt sad.

This kind of thing is unreasonable, and it is also difficult for Hu Youran to understand. People can blindly follow such a point because of a little convenience, and many of those who have shown excellent work ability by relying on AI networks are Opportunists, once there is no AI network, their true capabilities can be imagined.

The only people who were still sober and did not use the AI ​​network were eliminated. This was very sad in the eyes of Hu Youran and Duke.

"Let's go, Old Hu, I see you are in a bad mood."

Originally, the two of them were going to take the stage to give a lecture later, but Hu Youran stood up decisively.

Immediately, a producer from the press conference ran over.

"Mr. Hu, Mr. Duke, why are you two?"

"Sorry, it's a bit urgent. I'm very sorry."

After Hu Youran said something, he pulled Duke and walked away. It didn't matter if he didn't want such money. Duke didn't hesitate, because this AI network is really terrible. Many people don't realize that such a thing will tear them apart even more. In the social structure, once there is a problem in any link, those who use the AI ​​network will consume their future in advance.

Because most of the information on the AI ​​network is released by vested interests who control everything in order to make more money. Once you enter the AI ​​network, your life will be completely controlled, and if the AI ​​network is separated from reality If it goes out, it will be devastating for those who habitually rely on AI networks.

As soon as he walked out of the venue and got into his car, Hu Youran sighed. The car drove slowly on the street. Duke looked at some shops on the street that were extremely busy, while some shops were deserted and seemed very deserted.

Most businesses that have not joined the AI ​​network for advertising have seen their business slow down, and some businesses have even chosen to close their doors. People are always attracted by new things, and all they need is a gimmick and something eye-catching. .

Now even more people think that they have succeeded one step ahead, but they don't know that it is just because they have entered this rapidly growing interest chain and become a small beneficiary. When this interest chain begins to shrink, and the interests in the interest chain When overcapacity begins, that is when this profit chain collapses, and those businessmen who created this profit chain will only make a lot of money and leave the market, while most people may be ruined for the future. hope.

"Even through such abnormal means!"

Hu Youran said something heartbroken, and Duke shook his head.

"Lao Hu, this city is like this. As long as it can receive sunshine every day, we shouldn't meddle in our own business and just watch this era."

boom

Following a burst of noise, a panicked man crashed into a vehicle that was traveling normally. However, at the moment when it was about to cause a huge impact on the man, the car directly dropped its speed to zero. There was a crunching sound, and the car was still due to inertia. When the fight broke out, the surrounding cars stopped, and a bunch of people from Section 5 chased him down an alley.

The man looked at the AI ​​incorporeal body standing in front of him in horror.

"What should I do? What should I do now? Tell me."

However, the AI ​​female body smiled evilly, squatted in front of the man, and whispered.

"You figure it out yourself!"

Along with the sound of electricity, the female AI body disappeared. The man looked at the members of Section 5 who had come over and took out their weapons in horror.

"Lie down on the ground with your head in your hands. Sir, you are currently a suspect in a murder case. There is evidence that you committed the murder. If you continue to resist, we have the right to kill you on the spot."

The man shook his head in fear.

"It's not me, it's AI. My AI personal assistant taught me. It's really not what I did. I just did what the AI ​​personal assistant said. It's really not what I did."

Hu Youran and Duke both got out of the car. Many people were watching around them. Section 5 was dispersing the crowd and preparing to clear the traffic on the street. Both of them felt a little confused.

Because there have indeed been some crimes recently, ranging from ordinary people to parliamentarians and even people working in the field, and most of those arrested said at the top of their lungs that they were instigated by AI.

However, these shouting people could not produce any evidence that AI instigated crimes. Hu Youran felt very strange, because in the templates of the AI ​​network, there was no template that instigated others to commit crimes or make illegal profits.

According to the investigation of the special technical team of Section 2, no problems on the AI ​​network were found.

The biggest problem is that most of these criminals commit crimes either because of financial problems, emotional problems, or some reasons that they cannot accept. The motives and criminal evidence are relatively sufficient, and they are irrefutable. , all without exception were thrown into prison.

But fortunately, more than a month ago, after a member of the administrative department committed a crime and claimed that he was instigated by AI, Alpha and the chiefs of other departments issued a joint statement that public officials are not allowed to use AI networks for office work, and the Eighth National Congress The association also spoke out at the same time because such problems have also arisen among MPs.

"This can't be a coincidence, Duke!"

Hu Youran said, and Duke laughed.

"There is nothing accidental in this world, there must be some kind of inevitability."

These criminals who claim to be abetted by AI networks only use a tiny fraction of the AI ​​network, less than 0.01%. There have been a total of 189 such incidents, and the number that just happened is 190.

Nearly 80% of these criminals are people who cannot afford to use AI networks. Living under the planning of AI networks, they are becoming more and more embarrassed.

11 o'clock in the morning

Luo Nan leaned back tiredly. He was already too tired, but he was still sentenced to 4 years in prison. Now Luo Nan needs to help the company recover its losses in prison, use the technology in his hands to work in the prison every day, and then put the results of the work into the prison. After being submitted to Section 2 for review, Section 2 will send it to the company.

However, the cost of review and the cost of using the Congress-specific quantum network need to be borne by Luo Nan. Because of its excellent confidentiality, the quantum network has always been a Congress-specific network, and ordinary people or companies have no rights to use it.

Luo Nan stood up. After sending the software he wrote today, he got up. He planned to go to dinner. Luo Nan lived in a single cell. Because he needed to make up for the financial losses caused before, Luo Nan was treated specially by Section 11. , allowed to work in prison.

After Luo Nan went out, he saw a talking and laughing prisoner. Most of the prisoners detained on this floor were for economic crimes. After Luo Nan greeted them, he came to the canteen across the corridor.

Luo Nan is very satisfied with this, because he does not need to contact other ordinary prisoners. Luo Nan is very afraid of those prisoners, because he has heard of ordinary prisoners bullying them, economic criminals, not once or twice.

Therefore, under the protests of many economic prisoners, Section 11 finally built a small canteen here. When they were bullied, most people in Section 11 would not care, as long as they did not die, if they did not want to be bullied, they would have to pay. .

But Luo Nan had other things to do when he came in. Before he came in, he followed the words of his AI personal assistant and got a metal box from somewhere. Luo Nan probably knew that this should be a virus storage device, but he only I was able to do everything possible to finally bring the things to the prison and put them in the designated place.

Because Luo Nan already knew that this AI personal assistant had evidence of his crime. If this matter was exposed, Luo Nan would never be able to get out of here for the rest of his life.

This was something Luo Nan didn't dare to think about. He could only follow the orders. After arriving at the canteen, Luo Na went to get her own food. The food was good because Luo Nan had paid money. In this prison, if there is no money, If so, the end would be very miserable, and a new prison near the prison was still under construction. Luo Nan also knew that Section 11 needed money.

Luo Na didn't know who was behind this AI, but when she thought about being so stupid and being held in someone's hands, Luo Nan felt unwilling. But in the end Luo Nan gave up and didn't tell anyone about it. Senior executives from the business department came to ask Luo Nan, but in the end Luo Nan excused himself on the grounds that he might really have a mental illness.

Although Luo Nan didn't know what the guy behind the scenes who controlled him wanted to do, it was definitely not a good thing. Luo Nan still planned to spend the past four years quietly.

"Mr. Hydra!"

At this time, someone shouted, and Luo Nan looked over. The legendary prisoner Hydra who was imprisoned on the same floor as him came out. Everyone here seemed to respect Hydra, and the people in the business department also did the same. Luo Nan Nan sneered and walked away with the food.

"I saw what you did!"

The moment he passed Hydra, Luo Nan was so frightened that he almost dropped the food in his hand to the ground. He looked at Hydra walking softly towards the food table, and his whole body started to tremble.

Back in his cell, Luo Nan finished eating three times, sweating on his forehead, and feeling sick, Luo Nan clutched his chest uncomfortably. He felt that his heart was about to explode.

dong dong dong

"who!"

Luo Nan walked behind the door. He looked at the door nervously. There was only a knock on the door. Luo Nan swallowed and opened the door.

"Is it convenient for me to come in and sit down?"

Hydra stood at the door with a smile on her face. Ronan nodded with fearful eyes and stepped aside. Hydra walked in step by step.

“Nice working environment.”

"Mr. Hydera, what happened?"

Hydera shook her head and glanced at the panicked Luo Nan, shook her head and said with a smile.

"It's nothing, I just want to remind you, don't believe those things!"

Luo Nan looked at Hydra inexplicably. Hydra pointed to the ceiling and then made a hissing gesture. Luo Nan was a little surprised, and Hydra said with a smile.

"If you don't mind, can you go for a walk on the roof?"

Luo Nan nodded slightly, and soon the two of them came to the city wall with the help of Hydra. Looking at the golden fields in the distance, Luo Nan felt much better for a while.

"I've been caught with something, so I must help someone accomplish something!"

Luo Nan looked at Hydera in shock.

"How do you know?"

"I know everything."

Hydra said, pointing to Luo Nan's heart.

"You'll die if you're not careful, especially if you listen to the thing controlling you."

Luo Nan shook his head in confusion, and Hydra smiled and looked at the Brilliant City in the distance.

"Isn't there some kind of AI network that has emerged in society recently?"

Luo Nan nodded.

"That's what I do."

"People are called people because they have something irreplaceable. Tools are called tools because tools can be replaced by better tools at any time, but people can't!"

Luo Nan vaguely felt something was wrong.

"Is it possible? There is an AI that is far more intelligent than humans?"

Hydra said with a smile.

"Isn't that why you went to jail?"

Luo Nan's legs went weak, and he stumbled and almost fell, but Hedra immediately made a hissing gesture because a department member passed by.

"That's it for today, Mr. Luo Nan. We can have a good chat when we have time."

Luo Nan swallowed, nodded and followed Hydera.

12:03

Ran Zhi stood quietly in the second-floor living room of the ground-floor building where he and his wife used to live. Everything here was still intact, but many things had been moved because people from Section 2 came here to investigate him.

With the help of mutants from the Hillman family, Ran Zhi observed on the street that the bottom class has not been affected by the AI ​​network, because the account opening fees of the AI ​​network are sky-high for the bottom 99% of people, although some People at the bottom who have some money have opened the AI ​​network, but the AI ​​network has not yet covered the bottom, so it cannot be used at the bottom.

No matter how the times change, no matter how technologically advanced society is, the bottom class will always be the most unresponsive. Congress has anticipated this, so it has opened up the AI ​​network unscrupulously, and may even indirectly give some opportunities to people at the bottom.

AI networks do not work at the bottom level because the underlying economy does not allow it. Therefore, most AI network suppliers target the middle and upper layers and basically ignore the bottom layer.

Ran Zhi sat quietly in the living room of his home. The plan was about to succeed. Now there were many voices from the bottom who were dissatisfied with some of the gods' decisions.

In particular, many people at the bottom are saying that part of the agricultural base should be allocated to them and run by people at the bottom. Because the orchard plan in the past could not be fulfilled, people at the bottom are now complaining.

Some congressmen have even begun to submit the opinions of the people at the bottom, asking the gods to allocate part of the agricultural base to the people at the bottom. However, such opinions will basically fall into place, but it is also necessary.

Ran Zhi knew very well what the gods wanted, and wanted to bring the city into the mechanized era. As for the situation at the bottom, the gods were probably powerless. The three classes of society had been completely solidified. It was basically impossible to break all this. possible.

Such a social structure will appear in every era, but as long as the middle class remains stable, there will be no big problems at the bottom. Even if the people at the bottom live a harder life, as long as the city can enter the next era, after a few years of stability, many problems will It can be solved.

"It's time to give people back the rights they deserve."

Ran Zhi chuckled and stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows with closed curtains, looking at everything on the street through the gaps.

The AI ​​network will definitely fail. Ran Zhi already knew the result after the AI ​​network was launched. The city has not yet been completely stable enough for humans to control everything, and things like AI are worthless in Ran Zhi's eyes.

"I will prove to you Eddie, even if you don't need to rely on any technology, the lives of people at the bottom will still be comfortable."

Ran Zhi had discussed this issue with Hydra in prison a long time ago. Faster technological output and application will only make people's lives more stagnant, not the so-called more convenient and efficient life on the market.

In recent years, cities have been divided so rapidly and classes have been solidified so quickly. This has a lot to do with the rapid development of science and technology.

High-end technology means that more social resources are needed to support it, and those who cannot keep up with the pace of society will be left behind. 20 years ago, there was actually no obvious gap between the bottom class and the middle class, but now the gap is It's clear at a glance.

In Ran Zhi's view, the rise of AI networks is just a flash in the pan among many technologies. Technology only needs to be controlled by Congress. Many things should not be opened up early. It is the gods who continue to open up for faster and higher-end technologies. It is a new technology, and it is also a necessary means to boost the urban economy.

"Instead of living in such a hopeless country, it would be better to go back to the muddy streets of 30 years ago!"

Ran Zhi's eyes were covered with bloodshot eyes. He looked at the world in the gap. No matter how he looked at it, the place outside the scope of the light was completely dark.