Riding the wind of rebirth

"It's not what you think." Zhou Zhi quickly explained: "The project that Xiao Miao brought back can be said to be a forward-looking technology in information technology. The reason why the country has not established a laboratory is because... the country has too many scientific research projects that require money, and this project is too expensive."

"And Xiao Miao's project has a big feature, which can be best described by the animal neural network. It is similar to the working organization of the cortex. The larger the neural network, the greater the efficiency it can exert."

"For example, the human cerebral cortex has about 140 billion neurons and an area of ​​about 2200 square centimeters. Its frontal lobe and sulci are orders of magnitude different from those of other animals. Therefore, in terms of behavior and learning ability, there is a world of difference between humans and other animals."

“If we don’t invest enough, the computing system we can get will not be powerful enough. We must invest enough to make it large enough to achieve the leap from solving linear problems to solving nonlinear problems.”

"What exactly are the concepts of linearity and nonlinearity that you mentioned? Can you give us an intuitive understanding of them?"

"The concept of linearity is very simple. If we know that one plus one equals two, then we know that two plus two equals four. This type of problem is called a linear problem."

"Non-linear problems are very complicated. For example, even if a piece of music has no lyrics, we can recognize that it is a sad piece of music after listening to it. However, when asked about the specific reasons, that is, what factors make people think that this piece of music is a sad piece of music, many people cannot explain it."

"This kind of phenomenon cannot be simply summarized by all the 'parts' to get the whole phenomenon. It is a phenomenon whose law cannot be constructed by functions. It also represents the complexity of nature and is the most difficult peak to reach in human science so far."

"Nonlinear problems have many unique features. The most special one is that one operation can map to multiple results. In the linear world, one plus one is absolutely equal to two, but in the nonlinear world, one plus one can be equal to any number. We can only say that the probability of it being equal to two is the highest."

"And these results are superimposed countless times, which means that if we want to solve a problem, we cannot do it through a single nonlinear operation, but must rely on a series of operations."

"For example, there is a type of iterative nonlinear operation, where the mapping of the previous operation is the independent variable of the next operation. After a series of iterative algorithms, we can get a result that can be used to solve problems such as typhoon direction prediction, social and economic development trend prediction, or why a piece of music makes us feel sad."

"The system designed by Xiao Miao uses a similar approach to solve problems, simulating the ability to think through a huge neural network computing system. This is an important step forward in the realization of information technology."

"So this one hundred million is just the beginning. Although this system can already solve some problems, such as the propeller silencing research and the optimal cavitation elimination solution for the navy, it is still a long way from being truly applied."

Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "There are countless projects that burn a lot of money all over the world. For research like Xiao Miao, it is rare to be able to produce a lot of results with just an investment of 100 million yuan. This also shows that there is no problem with our research direction."

"This has further strengthened Clover Group's confidence in moving in this direction. We will definitely continue to invest in the future, and the scale will only get bigger and bigger."

"Mr. Yu, the food is ready." At this time, the manager knocked on the door and walked in.

"Then let's eat and talk at the same time." Sister Xiaoliu asked everyone to sit down: "Xiao Miao is so amazing! It sounds like you want to use a computer to create a human brain?"

Mai Xiaomiao looked at Zhou Zhi, seemingly not knowing how to explain.

However, Zhou Zhi said casually and arbitrarily: "That's about what I mean. Sister Xiaoliu has a good understanding." Judging from the dishes, the Yinhai Hotel is basically influenced by Rong Leyuan and inherits the style of palace cuisine, which is somewhat different from the characteristics of the local Xiaohe Gang in Manzhou.

This is actually a phenomenon of economically strong regions invading weaker regions, which is unavoidable. The business in the lobby seemed to be good, but the southern Sichuan specialty dishes that Zhou Zhi really wanted to eat were nowhere to be seen.

"What do you think of the elbow?" Sister Xiaoliu asked, "You are a picky person, give me some advice."

"Very good," Zhou Zhi said, "Master Zhang designed the fire order himself, it's not bad."

"I also asked a few chefs in Manzhou for their opinions." Sister Xiaoliu said, "Their suggestion is to introduce some local specialties, such as stir-frying dishes quickly over high heat, which can easily reflect the level of the kitchen."

"That's absolutely not possible." Zhou Zhi rejected it directly.

"Why?" Sister Xiaoliu was a little confused: "I remember you liked quick-cooked dishes very much, and you even took me to eat at Lao Xu's shop on Jiachuanma Street."

"Quickly cooked dishes require a high degree of heat control. For example, stir-fried liver and kidneys only take a dozen seconds from the time they are out of the wok to the time they are served at Lao Xu's. How long does it take to get from the kitchen here?"

"Also, Lao Xu's restaurant is full of gourmets, and they know that Lao Xu's fried pork liver is a dish that requires just the right amount of heat. It's normal for a few slices to ooze juice when they're first served, and you can bury it under the rest of the liver slices and eat from small slices to large ones, and then the heat is just right, and you can enjoy the delicious flavor of the wok."

"What would happen if such a dish was served in Yinhai? Would customers complain? But if it is fully cooked before being served, the residual heat from the journey would make the food overcooked." Zhou Zhi said, "So, it is a thankless task for a big restaurant to cook dishes cooked quickly with a quick fire. Master Zhang must have taken all these into consideration when making the cooking list for the big hotel."

Xiao Liu now understood the reason: "I asked the chef to try the dishes several times, but they still couldn't compare to Lao Xu's taste. So this is the reason!"

"Then how about we go the other way and bring in the Jiachuan Chicken Soup?"

Zhou Zhi gave a thumbs up: "This idea is completely correct! Although the Sichuan chicken soup takes a long time to make, its quality is easy to control. The pure natural clear soup simmered over a long fire can be paired with any Sichuan banquet. It is a reliable and safe dish with local characteristics!"

Mai Xiaomiao didn't know much about the subtle classification of Sichuan cuisine, but she found that the taste of Piangong cuisine was not as spicy as the local cuisine in southern Sichuan, which was more to her taste, so she enjoyed it.

At the table, the father asked about his childhood friend's project. He learned that Zhou Zhi fully supported it and even provided a batch of equipment to the Academy of Sciences for the Ship Power Research Institute to equip it with a neural network computing system. After allocating a batch of equipment from the Academy of Sciences to the Ship Power Research Institute, he patted Zhou Zhi on the shoulder and said, "Sometimes it's like this in the system. There are too many rules. It's hard for you."

"Uncle, Elbow said that the reason there are so many rules is because there is a strong error correction capability, which is itself a kind of 'engineering advantage'. The many rules themselves are not a problem. Whether they are reasonable and easy to use is the direction to consider." (End of this chapter)