I built an armada.

Su Dingping remained silent.

This silence lasted longer than any before.

Su Dingping lowered his head slightly, looking at the report in front of him, his fingers unconsciously tracing the pages related to the report.

The conference room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. In the dim light, Su Dingping felt he could even hear the faint, low hum of the central air conditioning.

A full minute passed before Su Dingping finally raised his head again.

His face remained expressionless.

The panic that some people imagined he would feel after his weakness was exposed did not appear on Su Dingping's face.

Su Dingping did not try to argue; his face showed only a deep, almost solemn calm.

"Old Li is absolutely right. His question hit the nail on the head."

"This is also one of the most important challenges in the entire plan."

Su Dingping's voice was calm, but his speaking speed gradually slowed down.

He spoke each word carefully, as if each word weighed a ton.

"I admit that the material we need is indeed the most important challenge that controlled nuclear fusion projects, and even any practical fusion reactor in the future, will face!"

"and……"

"I do need to admit that this material currently only exists in my imagination."

"Of course, I already have some ideas about the specific synthesis method."

"However, as Mr. Li said, this method is only a theoretical possibility."

"We probably still have a long way to go before it is truly implemented."

He actually admitted it!

Several gasps of surprise rippled through the conference room.

Many people think that Su Dingping will probably change the subject or use some other method to gloss over the issue.

Some people think that Su Dingping might be blurring or oversimplifying the issue.

They even shamelessly claimed that they already had a solution, but it would just take some time.

No one could have imagined that Su Dingping would so openly admit the problem!
This shocked everyone present.

Similarly, a few people's perception of Su Dingping has changed slightly.

In any case, as long as he sincerely admits the problem, it means that he is at least not beyond redemption.

Or rather, this plan didn't actually contain much of his personal agenda.

“However,” Su Dingping’s tone shifted, his gaze sharpening, “'Non-existent' or 'extremely difficult to achieve'... does not mean 'forever impossible'!”

"Breakthroughs in materials science are, most of the time, not a linear accumulation!"

"When a coincidence occurs, or when a completely new understanding of physics emerges, or when an unprecedented preparation method appears, the field of materials science often experiences a leapfrog breakthrough!"

In some cases, the technological breakthroughs in materials that are crucial in a certain field may even come from technological breakthroughs in a completely different scenario.

Stainless steel is a familiar material, and almost every household in modern society has one or more stainless steel items or furniture.

Stainless steel chopsticks, stainless steel spoons, stainless steel sinks, and even stainless steel pots and pans...

It is well known that iron rusts rapidly when it comes into contact with water and air.

This problem has puzzled people for thousands of years without being solved.

While researching how to make gun barrels more durable, a gunsmith inadvertently added carbon and chromium to them.

Although this practice did not make the iron harder, the addition of chromium formed a thin film of chromium oxide on the surface of the steel.

This film effectively prevents steel from rusting, and it is also self-healing.

Thus, the world's first piece of stainless steel was created.

Stainless steel tableware eliminates the worry of rusty taste contaminating food.

Even the razor blades that people use most often are made of stainless steel.

This is a typical example of an unexpected breakthrough in the field of materials science.

There's even a saying circulating online that goes like this.

The speed of light is theoretically unbreakable.

Is it possible that humanity's technological development has gone astray?

In fact, the prerequisites for the faster-than-light engine technology are very simple, so simple that even medieval technology could create faster-than-light spaceships.

Humanity has simply gone down the wrong path; no one has ever thought in that direction, nor has anyone considered this possibility.

Based on this idea, a very interesting science fiction novel emerged, titled "Eight Billion Mad Dogs Rushing Out of Earth".

Before Su Dingping transmigrated, there was an extremely famous academic fraud case.

One day, a scientist from a Korean tribe in his previous life suddenly claimed that he had created a room-temperature superconducting material.

The implications of room-temperature superconducting materials are self-evident.

Its technological value is in no way inferior to that of controlled nuclear fusion.

Furthermore, if room-temperature superconducting materials can be successfully produced, then we will not be far from achieving controlled nuclear fusion.

Even the scenes you've seen in any science fiction movie before are just around the corner on Earth.

The synthesis method provided by the scientists of the Korean tribe was outrageously simple.

It's so simple that even in the Middle Ages more than 1000 years ago, you could easily find a workshop and a furnace to produce room-temperature superconducting materials!
But before the experiments were actually completed and their claims were thoroughly debunked, no one dared to confidently guarantee that the synthesis approach proposed by the scientists from the Korean tribe was absolutely wrong!
Breakthroughs in materials science are just that illogical, that simple.

Su Dingping previously used graphene materials when developing stealth coatings for sixth-generation fighter jets.

Who would have thought that this single-molecule material was originally torn off with tape?

So this sounded absurd, but no one refuted Su Dingping's statement.

Su Dingping turned on his computer, which brought up a completely new interface.

This is a collection of academic charts containing numerous complex formulas and crystal structure diagrams.

Some experts can even see the quantum chemical calculations hidden within.

"Before introducing this material, we must first understand the difficulties in synthesizing it."

"Then we will try and solve these problems little by little by taking trial and error."

Su Dingping explained slowly.

"The first challenge we face is the precise control of the structural order across scales."

"Because our requirements for materials are so high, we need to control the distribution of a variety of different elements at the nanometer to micrometer scale."

“Even their lattice orientation!” “Traditional methods such as epitaxial growth, ion implantation, and powder metallurgy are actually unable to achieve this level of precision adjustment over such a large scale and with such complex compositions!”

"I already have some ideas about this."

A sentence popped out of Su Dingping's mouth.

"Atomic-level physical vapor deposition guided by ultra-strong magnetic field combined with laser interference patterning."

After finishing his sentence, Su Dingping gave everyone present some time to digest what he had just said.

Although the terms he used were somewhat obscure, those present were all experts in their respective fields, and they were able to understand some of them.

It must be said that he did indeed come up with a very peculiar idea.

Because no one has spoken out against it so far.

"I have designed a device that can generate a continuous, ultra-strong, steady-state magnetic field."

"Of course, because of this device, certain components require the use of superconducting materials, so the maintenance cost of this device will be quite high."

"This means that the cost of the final product may be difficult to control."

"However, when it comes to technologies like controlled nuclear fusion reactors, I think these costs are negligible."

Seeing that no one present was willing to refute what he said, Su Dingping continued his introduction.

"...This device, during the deposition process, performs..., then precise spatial deflection and energy screening...simultaneously, it uses multiple femtosecond laser beams on...this..."

"Ultimately, they will grow into the gradient heterogeneous structures we designed!"

"Essentially, we are extending the concept of atomic manufacturing directly to the field of macroscopic functional materials."

Su Dingping's brief pause gave everyone time to digest and absorb the information.

This is just an introduction to his design concept; there's no need to go into too much detail about the technical aspects.

All he needs to do is let everyone know that his proposed design idea is sound.

"Secondly, there is neutron transmutation catalyzing self-organization."

"This is……"

"We need to introduce...local modifications during the material growth process..."

"The main challenge lies in how to precisely control the neutron field and how to ensure the non-destructive nature of the materials?"

"I also have some ideas about this."

"Integrated design based on..."

"This is a coupled system..."

"My plan is to surround a miniaturized neutron-generating target outside the vacuum chamber where the material is grown..."

"Using... directional irradiation... to drive atoms to diffuse and recombine along a pre-calculated path..."

This seemingly whimsical design idea has surprisingly gained the approval of quite a few people.

To be fair, although Su Dingping's idea was somewhat bold and abrupt, upon closer examination, it was indeed quite feasible.

"Finally, and most importantly, how do we ensure real-time representation and return control under extreme conditions?"

"During the production process, we must monitor every detail of material growth in real time so that we can adjust the parameters in a timely manner."

"If this cannot be done, it is very likely to result in a low yield rate of the final product."

For such precise instruments and materials, even a slightly larger error could render the final product unusable.

Cost is a minor issue.

The key issue is that if the yield rate cannot be guaranteed, it is very likely that out of 10 or even 100 sets of materials produced, only one or two sets will be usable.

This leads to high time costs and greatly limits the expansion of controlled nuclear fusion technology.

After all, production capacity is limited. Even if you build a controlled fusion reactor, you can't start it without the key materials.

"This brings us to the hottest topic in my country right now: artificial intelligence."

Someone frowned slightly.

"Chief Engineer Su, I understand your thoughts, and I have to admit that artificial intelligence is indeed a system that perfectly meets our current needs."

"But if we need to rely on artificial intelligence for everything, then isn't that a little dangerous?"

"For me, artificial intelligence is just a tool."

Su Dingping said calmly.

"You and I both know that with the current level of artificial intelligence technology, no, even decades from now, it is impossible for true strong artificial intelligence to emerge."

What is strong artificial intelligence?
Simply put, artificial intelligence that is no different from humans in terms of emotions is called strong artificial intelligence.

In fact, the learning ability and knowledge reserves of this artificial intelligence are superior to those of humans in 99% of cases.

Once such artificial intelligence develops its own emotions, it will only view humans as inferior evolved animals.

In the end, the fate awaiting humanity will be extremely tragic.

This is particularly evident in works of art and literature.

For example, the T-800 in Terminator, or the agents in The Matrix...

The main reason why Su Dingping is not worried about potential problems with artificial intelligence is that, given the current level of technology, it is simply impossible to develop truly strong artificial intelligence.

It turns out that human imagination is actually quite limited.

In science fiction movies of the last century, the computing power of Skynet, which destroyed all of humanity, was only 600000 trillion floating-point operations per second.

This number was indeed astronomical at the time.

However, even today, a single 4090 graphics card can perform 100 trillion operations per second.

In other words, the computing power of Skynet, which destroyed all of humanity, was actually only equivalent to 0.6 times that of a 4090 graphics card!

Unless a true quantum computer is invented and there are significant breakthroughs in other areas, it will be impossible.

Otherwise, given the current level of technology, the emergence of strong artificial intelligence is virtually impossible.

"What I'm talking about is not so-called strong artificial intelligence."

The man replied.

"What I mean is that artificial intelligence technology is not yet mature. If a programming error occurs, it could very well lead to the complete collapse of our entire production chain."

"In this situation, is it really necessary to risk using artificial intelligence?"

"We cannot stop using a technology just because it is not yet mature."

Su Dingping said slowly.

"Moreover, I believe that it is precisely because of continuous investment and application that artificial intelligence technology can develop faster and faster, become more mature, and be used with greater confidence!" (End of this chapter)