In San Francisco, after Xia Ming and Lin Cheng settled down in the hotel, they chartered the tavern in the hotel, talked with a group of people for two or three hours, and when they returned to the guest room, it was already late at night.

"Naruko, I still think you have to be the first author......"

In Xia Ming's room, Lin Cheng said earnestly.

Xia Ming said: "To be reasonable, who made this set of things? ”

Lin Cheng exclaimed aggrievedly: "I did the model and algorithm, and most of the code was also written by me, but the entire framework was designed by you!" ”

"Frameworks are just ideas, they're ideas, not concrete technologies. This paper is about technology, and I'm not a code farmer, so I'm the first author, which is shameful for me! Just let me follow you. ”

Xia Ming was completely cheating, and after speaking, he had an expression of "I don't want to talk to you and threw a coder at you".

"You......"

Lin Cheng was defeated by this expression: "Okay, I'll carry this pot." ”

Saying that, there were faint tears in his eyes.

Xia Ming put on a serious expression: "Lin Zi, I became a scientist because of fate, unlike you, you are pure scientists, this is what you deserve." ”

He patted Lin Cheng on the shoulder: "Get this set of things out, I can throw it to you in the computer room with confidence!" ”

"You're getting revenge, aren't you?"

Lin Cheng remembered the first time the two met, and that's what he said to Xia Ming at that time.

"That's right! It's revenge! ”

Xia Ming smiled: "Do you know what I was thinking that day?" ”

"I want the woman who dragged 2580,000 yuan to hug me and say that I love me, I want the bamboo pole farmer who dragged 2580,000 yuan, crying and saying to me that you are the best!"

Seeing Xia Ming stretch out his arms and look like a villain with a big revenge, Lin Cheng smiled: "I'll forget it, it seems that I haven't heard Xiaotang say that word to you." ”

"Huh?"

Xia Ming's hands froze. Hard-mouthed: "How can you hear this kind of thing!?" ”

"Xiaotang is a scientist, and for scientists, a successful career is the highest pursuit. So what is the standard by which to measure a career? ”

Lin Cheng said: "Look, just like me, get this." I'm the only one who can be regarded as a five-body surrender to you, so what about Xiaotang? What did she get? ”

"Is the dynamite prize enough?" Xia Ming muttered.

The 2019 IJCAJ conference in San Francisco was held in a complex mood in the academic community.

IJCAJ is an abbreviation for "International Conference on Artificial Intelligence", which was founded in 1969 and is exactly 50 years old this year. As the highest-level and most prestigious comprehensive conference in the field of artificial intelligence, it is almost the vane of the development of human artificial intelligence technology. Each paper included in each conference takes AI technology one step further.

This year's IJCAJ is extraordinary, on the one hand. The "artificial intelligence singularity" that is being hyped in the public opinion circles is likely to be detonated here, and human society is about to evolve from the information age to the era of artificial intelligence.

On the other hand, this singularity was not created by the traditional artificial intelligence technology that came step by step in the first 50 years, but by a new system from the field of bionics.

It is because of this that the participating scientists have a huge sense of loss, in contrast. The sense of loss created by the Chinese and not the Europeans and Americans is insignificant.

The reason why the academic community believes this is because of the papers included in the conference. There is a paper from the "Xu's Institute of Artificial Intelligence", according to the grapevine, Xia Ming will release his long-bounced general-purpose neuron chip on IJCAI. Combined with his earlier conversation with Hassabis, the inference of putting the ideas in the dialogue into reality is about to emerge.

Unsurprisingly, there was also a major realignment of the IJCAI's agenda, with the first item on the morning of the first day. It is to present the two most influential awards of the IJCAI: the Research Excellence Award and the Excellence in Computing and Thinking Award.

For scientists engaged in artificial intelligence research, if they were asked to choose between the Turing Award, which is known as the "Nobel Prize in Computing", and these two prizes, they would not hesitate to choose the latter, and these two awards are the Nobel Prizes in the field of artificial intelligence. Six of the past Turing Award winners have come from the field of artificial intelligence. But two of them didn't win the award.

The Research Excellence Award is a lifetime achievement award given to scientists who have pioneered a new direction, laid a significant foundation, or contributed new tools and methods in the field of artificial intelligence.

The Excellence in Computing and Thinking Award is given to young scientists under the age of 35 in recognition of their enterprising spirit. Hassabis once coveted the award, but until he was 35 years old, he had little academic achievement and could only look up to it. When he founded DeepMind at the age of 35, he soared into the field of artificial intelligence, and he became further and further away from academic research.

The chairman of the IJCAI Foundation first announced the winners of the Excellence in Computing and Thinking Award, and when he heard the name, the audience was buzzing.

is not the Xia Ming everyone expected, but an unfamiliar name: Lin Cheng.

As if stepping on the clouds, Lin Cheng staggered onto the podium and took the trophy from the chairman.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh...... Thank you very, very much......"

Facing hundreds of seniors, many of whom were even at the level of his mentor's mentor, Lin Cheng was really a little flustered.

[I'm also watching, don't make a fool of yourself!] 】

[I also passed the video of the scene to Professor Xu, and I believe he can see it.] 】

The information from Xiaotang and Xia Ming came from the chat, and Lin Cheng calmed down all of a sudden, perhaps the three words "Professor Xu" played a role.

He finally realized that he was no longer a mortal, he had QNI in his head, so he read the thank you speech in the QNI and finished it fluently.

This is followed by the highlights of each IJCAI, where the winners will give speeches, either to elaborate on their research findings or to look to the future, and the content of the speeches will be the hallmark conclusions of the conference.

This year's year's award to Lin Cheng was based on the paper he had previously completed with Xia Ming: "Quantum Computing Methods and Quaternary Artificial Intelligence Language Instruction Set and Compiler". He is the first author, Professor Xu is listed as the second author, and Xia Ming is only the third author.

IJCAI received not only papers, but also physical finished products. and test reports in several areas. Faced with this whole thing, the IJCAI Foundation had to overturn all previous arrangements and make every effort to clear the way for it.

"In our comprehensive research project of biomimicry-based quantum computing and biocomputing, we have obtained an analog system that is compatible with existing binary silicon-based transistor computer architectures. With the support of this system, we designed the corresponding hardware, but. Our biggest challenge was how to program on a new hardware architecture that mimicked the brain. ”

"The quaternary language is the first step we have made to simplify and simulate the mysteries of quantum computing, which determines that the artificial intelligence program based on it is still very far from strong artificial intelligence, and the operation of the brain is very rough, but this is already a method that can approach real randomness."

"With the help of such a tool, we have realized the feasibility of free programming on a completely new architecture and the editability of the instruction set. This is where versatility is achieved. With the help of the base mapping mechanism, we also solved the compatibility problem with existing programming languages. ”

Lin Cheng's speech was very obscure, basically retelling the main points of the paper, and because it was mixed with bionics and quantum computing methods, many scholars who only rely on traditional computing architectures to study artificial intelligence sounded very difficult, in other words, unclear.

"We're separating the instruction set and the compiler into this system, just for people who want to develop from the very bottom of the hardware. For the average developer, our instruction set and compiler are one. It's actually a secondary AI ......"

When Lin Cheng's PPT turned to a new page, the long-awaited thing finally appeared: the Terminator neuron chip!

The PPT is a schematic diagram of the physical architecture of the chip, and Lin Cheng did not explain the chip, but focused on how to create artificial intelligence on this chip.

For scientists, that's all that matters, what's the use of bare hardware? Give you a production line. But if you don't tell you the production principle, process and process, you can only stare dryly.

And this production line, according to Lin Cheng, is not only universal, but even the instruction set can be freely edited. This means a lot. It means that you can fully customize the artificial intelligence that integrates software and hardware according to your own needs, and if you don't have a completely closed system, you can directly use the programming intelligence that Lin Cheng said to customize.

No one asks about the hardware details of the neuronal chip, IJCAI is not an expo or an exhibition, and the attendees are not concerned about how a technology is commercialized and what commercial prospects it has, but only how to use this technology to advance their own research, or what new technologies they can develop on the basis of this technology.

When Lin Cheng finished speaking, warm applause rang out in the venue and lasted for two or three minutes.

The era of artificial intelligence has indeed arrived......

With hardware and programming methods, scientists who originally only conducted artificial intelligence research from all angles are like astrologers who have obtained astronomical telescopes, and the vast starry sky is about to show a new look.

Whether it is doing image recognition, language translation from the level of understanding natural language, or various intelligent judgments, etc., they no longer have to tinker with the hardware by themselves, or even have to think about the software by themselves, they can concentrate on how to make an algorithm model on this system, and then turn it into practical artificial intelligence to solve the corresponding problems.

The applause is completely spontaneous, and this system deserves to be called the singularity of artificial intelligence!

At this moment, Lin Cheng, a twenty-six-year-old young man from China, reached the pinnacle of artificial intelligence academia.

After Lin Cheng returned to his throne, the chairman of the foundation began to announce the research excellence award.

At this time, many people looked at Xia Ming next to Lin Cheng with incredible eyes, could it be that this award should be awarded to Xia Ming?

But think about it again, Lin Cheng's contribution only turned the idea into reality, thus laying a new starting point for artificial intelligence. And this idea, as well as the specific technical framework, were all proposed by Xia Ming, and Xia Ming deserved to win this award.

It's just that in this way, Xia Ming's limelight is too terrible.

Lin Cheng's award is more of an affirmation from the academic community and an encouragement to young scientists. The Research Excellence Award is a lifetime achievement award, which is equivalent to a gift from the academic community, and is even heavier than the Nobel Prize.

Compare Lin Cheng's award to an epic achievement. The Research Excellence Award is a legendary achievement! How old is Xia Mingcai? Twenty-three years old!

"I know, everyone is thinking of a name, but unfortunately, you are only half-guessed, let's unveil, the great man who really opened the era of artificial intelligence-!"

The chairman hung everyone's appetite. said solemnly: "He is, the director of the Xu's Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, Xu Ping!" ”

After a long silence, the venue burst into applause, gradually changing from less to more, from small to large, and finally into a tide of applause.

The chairman added, "Professor Xu is still in a coma due to an accident, and another of his students will give a speech on his behalf!" Please--Xia Ming! ”

There was a pause in applause. It's bigger again, and that's it!

"Thank you! Thank you! ”

Xia Ming took the stage to receive the trophy and said very humbly: "Thank you, IJCAI, thank you to all the seniors who are engaged in and concerned about artificial intelligence research for their affirmation of Professor Xu!" ”

Then his tone changed: "If Professor Xu was still healthy, maybe he would decline this award, because his research was once regarded by many people as a pseudoscientific ......"

Even the chairman coughed embarrassedly and frequently glanced at Xia Ming.

Xia Ming's tone turned back again. He held up the trophy and said, "Still, as his student." I think winning this award is the best response to those people and those opinions! ”

The chairman breathed a sigh of relief, and while clapping, he thought that this kid was not a magnanimous person.

Enter the speech session. Xia Ming continued not to follow the script: "I believe that many people are waiting for me to talk about artificial intelligence, but I came to the stage to give a speech for Professor Xu, who is my mentor ......"

Xia Ming took a moment to introduce Xu's academic career and achievements, and then said: "IJCAI's recognition of Professor Xu is based on the achievements of simulating the brain from the perspective of quantum computing methods and biomimicry. But I think that Professor Xu's real achievements are not only in terms of technology, but also in terms of society, but also in terms of ethics. ”

Then he unfolded the PPT, which shocked everyone's hearts, it's coming, it's really coming!

"Professor Xu is also an expert in psychology, and while he is doing artificial intelligence research, he has never stopped thinking about two questions."

"One question is the relationship between AI and humans, how exactly should we think about AI? Another question is related to us human beings, what kind of existence is the autonomous consciousness of human beings? ”

"These two issues are interrelated, and if they are not addressed, AI will always create social and ethical dilemmas for us."

"We can't solve it all yet, but we can slice the problem apart and get closer to the answer."

"Following Professor Xu's thinking, I found the preliminary answer, since we don't know how human beings should view artificial intelligence in the future, but artificial intelligence has been cultivated by us step by step, then we will first make a clear positioning of some artificial intelligence."

Xia Ming pointed to the two letters on the PPT and said: "This is EI, Extensions-Intelligence, as long as it is created in imitation of human thinking patterns, helps human beings solve problems, and promotes the development of human civilization, we should all fall into this category." ”

"EI is like primitive man taming fire, it is an extension of our wisdom, an extension of our will. EI is an extension of our brain, so it is no longer ethically in conflict with humans. ”

Xia Ming said something even more deafening than the artificial intelligence development system just now: "I suggest that from today onwards, AI should be divided into two categories academically, one is EI, which is artificial intelligence that serves human beings. ”

"There is another type of non-EI existence, I dare not say what to call it, and I cannot make any conclusions. Although they exist theoretically, and I believe, there will be scientists who will study them, but they are still far from humans. ”

This is not to divide into two categories, but to overturn the past human description of artificial intelligence, and replace the current "artificial intelligence" with "extended intelligence......

The phrase "artificial intelligence" is indeed too broad and arbitrary, as long as the intelligence created by humans is included. Extended intelligence is much more accurate: it is an extension of people, which must reflect people's will and serve people's needs.

Although I think it is reasonable for EI to replace AI, this kind of honor for changing the era of this word fell on Xia Ming, which cannot be compared with any award.

So the venue was silent for a long time...... (To be continued.) )

PS: Strive for two shifts a day in May, but I can't guarantee it, after all, there are other things, I hope you will forgive me.