The literary era since 1979

During these two days, science fiction fans, science fiction writers, science fiction editors, and many overseas media from all over the world gathered in Chengdu.

All of a sudden, many foreign faces that were never seen on normal days appeared on the streets.

The governments of Chengdu and even Sichuan have attached great importance to this event. They have not only allocated funds, but have also arranged many staff members to serve as volunteers and even recruited people who know foreign languages ​​from schools to take charge of a series of tasks such as guiding, translation, and reception.

Fangyan represented the Science Fiction World Publishing House, the organizer, and welcomed the important guests attending the World Science Fiction Convention at the airport, such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Orson Card, all of whom are giants in the science fiction literary circles of their respective countries and even the world.

Gong Xing did not accompany him to prevent him from being distracted. Of course, another key reason was -

As the eldest sister-in-law, she has to take care of her sister-in-law Fang Yan, and as a friend, she has to accompany her best friends such as Zhu Lin and Su Ya.

"Sister-in-law, my brother seems to be there!"

Fang Yan pointed.

Gong Xing, Zhu Lin and others followed the direction her finger pointed, and saw Fang Yan leading Jason Epstein, Asimov, Heinlein and others, who were enjoying the lion dance performance on the street. There were really loud gongs and drums, firecrackers, balloons flying, and huge crowds of people.

"Wow, Fang, this is the enthusiasm of the people of Rongcheng that you mentioned, right?"

Jason Epstein saw all this and couldn't help but sigh.

"How is it? Is it as hot as a chili pepper?"

Fangyan winked playfully.

“I definitely felt it!”

Jason Epstein laughed out loud and joined in the whole joyous scene.

The laughter, accompanied by the fierce sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers, soon infected Asimov, Heinlein and others.

"This is just the beginning. Once you enter the venue, there will be more surprises that you can't imagine."

Fangyan gave a mysterious smile.

"What surprise?"

Asimov was curious.

Heinlein, Jason Epstein and the others also cast inquiring glances, as if to say, "Translate, what is a surprise?"

"Since it's a surprise, it's naturally a secret. I'm sorry I can't reveal it to you for now."

The more Fangyan said this, the more surprised Asimov, Osonkad and others became, and they all followed him to the Jinjiang Auditorium.

Along the way, volunteers can be seen everywhere guiding tourists and enthusiastically distributing guide-like booklets.

When they arrived at the entrance of the venue, Yao Haijun led the people from the editorial department of "Science Fiction World" to be responsible for the check-in and reception.

"Teacher Fang!"

"This is Yao, the vice president of Science Fiction World and the vice chairman of the organizing committee of the Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention."

Fang Yan introduced them to each other, "It can be said that without their dedication and hard work, there would be no such passionate and wonderful event."

"Isaac, welcome to China, to Chengdu, to attend this year's World Science Fiction Convention and the Hugo Awards Ceremony!"

Yao Haijun's face was full of excitement and he handed over a bag with both hands.

"This is?"

Asimov reached out his hand and pulled out copies of "Science Fiction World" magazines written in English.

"This is a special issue that the publisher has carefully prepared for this World Science Fiction Convention."

Fang Yan simply described the essay contest, "It contains carefully selected excellent science fiction novels, all written by Chinese writers."

"Including you?"

Heinlein's eyes suddenly lit up.

"including me!"

As soon as Fangyan said this, Asimov and others couldn't wait to open the magazine and turn to the page of the catalog.

Just above Liu Cixin’s “Huaxia 2185”, “The Matrix” is clearly written.

"Mother's body?"

Heinlein blurted out the meaning of "Matrix".

"You might as well call it 'The Matrix.'"

The plot was introduced briefly in dialect.

As everyone listened to this story and worldview that they had never heard of or seen before, their faces were filled with shock.

"This book is also my answer to the questions raised at the World Science Fiction Convention."

Fang Yan said: "If robots rule the earth and rule mankind, how will they control their former masters?"

“This question is quite interesting!”

Asimov adjusted his glasses.

"Yes, the issue of robots ruling over humans is not uncommon, but the question of how robots rule and enslave humans is rarely mentioned."

Heinlein smiled and nodded.

"Just like my 'Laws of Robotics', the core is that robots may not harm humans."

Asimov said seriously that the most discussed issue at present is actually the relationship between robots and humans.

"One hypothesis is that robots will awaken to consciousness, or artificial intelligence will reach the level of human thinking. In the process of serving, assisting and protecting humans, robots will gradually realize that they may be subjected to unfair enslavement, and thus become dissatisfied with and rebel against humans."

Heinlein said: "Eventually, an uprising like that of Spartacus in ancient Rome will break out, trying to overthrow human rule and achieve freedom."

Fangyan listened quietly, and then saw Mike gently touch his arm and said in a low voice:
"Teacher Fang, this is the hypothesis that robots are rebelling against humans, and the other should be the hypothesis that humans are overly dependent on robots."

The result is indeed as Mike said, the second type mentioned by Heinlein is "human dependence".

"Artificial intelligence and robots have taken on most of human production, services and labor, making humans physically lazy and mentally dependent. When artificial intelligence becomes powerful enough, humans may not be able to survive independently and will have to rely on artificial intelligence to survive."

"The result of this assumption is self-evident. Humans will eventually become useless waste, being fed by robots like pigs and cattle." Asimov said: "Only when the robots fully awaken, they will extend their butcher knives to these fattened humans."

"I think the second hypothesis is more profound and meaningful than the first one, and it is more worthy of discussion and vigilance."

Fangyan said seriously.

Orson Card, who won two consecutive Nebula Awards for Ender's Game, disagreed and argued back:

"Fang, don't you think the second hypothesis is too negative? It's too stupid to think of people as passive?"

"No, I think the second one is more in line with real human nature. People are born lazy and dependent..."

Fangyan looked around and talked nonstop.

Novel topics, passionate discussions, and profound viewpoints all attracted people around to listen attentively.

More and more people flocked to Fangyan, Asimov and the others, surrounding them in three layers inside and outside.

Among them were Gong Xing, Zhu Lin, Fang Yan and others, all of them staring at the person speaking fluently in dialect.

At this moment, Fang Yan's whole body seemed to be glowing and shining in his eyes.

"The rise of artificial intelligence may be the best thing that has ever happened to humanity, or it may be the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity. We don't know the answer yet, but one thing is certain: the biggest threat of artificial intelligence is not that it surpasses humans, but that humans become overly dependent on it."

“Artificial intelligence originates from human wisdom creation, and the tool of artificial intelligence is created by humans.”

"A great man once said that productivity consists of two things: people and tools."

"The evolution of tools, from stone tools in the Paleolithic Age and iron tools in the Iron Age to modern tools such as steam engines, electricity, computers, and artificial intelligence, has greatly expanded the functions of various human organs. Power machinery has increased human strength by billions of times."

"Automated machinery has increased human production capacity by tens of thousands of times, robots have enabled people to complete all kinds of harsh, tedious and precise work, and computers have increased human computing and memory capabilities by billions of times..." "Human tools are constantly upgraded, and artificial intelligence is just an upgraded version of human-made tools, the future version."

“So, artificial intelligence is a tool for humans to understand and explore the world, but humans must not be alienated by this tool!”

Each word and sentence was as loud as a loud bell, shocking the entire audience into silence and falling into deep thought.

The dialect became more and more outrageous, but fortunately not to the point where I dared to say anything.

For example, artificial intelligence assisted driving scored 13.0 and won the MVP, while humans drove the entire process with a score of 3.0, winning easily!

Can this be counted? Answer me! Look in my eyes! Tell me, why baby why!

Fortunately, I stepped on the brake pads and controlled my mouth, and then changed the subject:

"Of course, the first hypothesis is not without merit. My The Matrix is ​​actually an extension of the first hypothesis."

"That is, virtual world control. Artificial intelligence will create a virtual world that immerses humans in the false scenes created by the Internet. This control of the virtual world may eventually lead to the complete control and enslavement of humans, and humans will be addicted to it without knowing it."

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately attracted the attention of everyone present.

"Fang, I wonder if the book The Matrix you mentioned has been finished?"

"How can we see it? When can we see it?"

"........."

Questions came one after another, and Fangyan picked up the beautifully packaged bag and answered them patiently.

"Everyone, when each of you enter the venue, the staff will hand out a bag to you. Inside is a special issue prepared by the organizer, Science Fiction World Publishing House, specifically for this World Science Fiction Convention. My copy of The Matrix is ​​in the special issue!"

Suddenly, the whole room was in uproar.

A series of burning gazes fell on the bag in their hands, and Gong Xing, Zhu Lin and others subconsciously took out the special issue of "Science Fiction World".

Just as everyone was flipping through the pages of The Matrix, everything that had just happened in the conference hall spread like wildfire, from one person to ten, and from ten to a hundred.

As a result, people at the venue formed a long queue at the door and almost overturned the long table in front of them.

"Don't push, don't push, please keep order!"

"Please rest assured, everyone has a bag!"

Yao Haijun and others were very busy, watching tourists from different countries and regions enter the venue, feeling tired but happy.

………………

About half a minute later, the opening ceremony of the World Science Fiction Convention was officially held in Jinjiang Auditorium.

Nearly two hundred science fiction figures from Asia, America and Europe, including Frederick Boll and Brian Aldiss, attended the conference.

Local leaders from Sichuan and Chengdu, as well as leaders from relevant departments such as culture, radio, television, propaganda, and the Writers Association all attended the event.

The seats for Fangyan, Asimov, Heinlein and others were deliberately arranged in the second row.

Gong Xing, Zhu Lin, Fang Yan and others benefited from Fang Yan and were positioned right behind him for easy communication.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

"Long time no see, Zhu Lin."

"We all heard what you just said. It was very well said."

"haha, thank you."

The two met again after a long absence, and when their eyes met, Fang Yan could clearly feel the complex expression on Zhu Lin's face that was difficult to conceal.

Suddenly, Fang Yan's extremely excited voice came to my ear:
"Yeah, yeah, brother, your performance just now was really cool! Especially in front of so many foreigners!"

"You!"

Fangyan rolled his eyes in joy.

At this moment on the stage, Yang Xiao, as the chairman of the organizing committee of this World Science Fiction Convention, served as the host and read a brief opening speech.

Before the World Science Fiction Convention was officially announced, there was a special session that was carefully prepared.

"Fang, is this the science fiction-themed children's chorus you mentioned before?"

Jason Epstein perked up all of a sudden.

When Asimov and others heard this, they couldn't help but become interested. The next program turned out to be a children's chorus, and it was a science fiction song!

But what surprised and shocked everyone was that this science fiction-themed chorus was sung in dialect.

“You also wrote songs?”

Heinlein's eyes widened.

"Just like the Olympics have an opening song to welcome competitors and spectators from all over the world."

Fangyan smiled and said, "How can the World Science Fiction Convention be without songs?"

Zhu Lin, Gong Xing and others in the back row had anticipation glittering in their eyes.

I saw children dressed in Yi costumes coming onto the stage and lining up in neat formations amid warm applause.

Then, a clear and loud female voice was broadcast from the speakers in the auditorium.

The children's choir began to sway slightly from side to side to the rhythm of the music:

"Jade plate, jade plate,
Why are you hanging from the roof?

Jade plate, jade plate,

Why do you give away silver light for nothing?
Jade plate, jade plate,

Why do you sometimes show off and sometimes hide?

Sometimes thin, sometimes fat?"

Listening to the sound of war drums, Fangyan quietly reminded the shocked Asimov and others that the English lyrics of the song were in the booklet.

Asimov immediately reached into his bag, pulled out a guidebook, and turned to the lyrics.

"Ask the moon?"

"Yes, the song is called 'Asking the Moon'. Of course, there is also a more elegant and innocent name, 'The Jade Plate'."

Fangyan looked straight at the Yi children's choir dancing on the stage.

"Why is it called Yupan?"

Mike behind him looked confused and looked around.

"Our Chinese great poet, Li Bai, once wrote a poem."

Fang Yan answered: "One of the lines is 'When I was young, I didn't know the moon, I called it a white jade plate', and the jade plate refers to the moon."

After some explanation, Asimov and Heinlein gradually began to like this song.

"Jade plate, jade plate,
When will the Monkey King return from his journey to obtain the scriptures?

Jade plate, jade plate,

That child rode the wind across the mountains in the sky!

Endlessly, endlessly, endlessly towards the Milky Way..."

Zhu Lin only felt an inexplicable epic feeling, as if his ancestors who had longed for the palace in heaven thousands of years ago had gently touched his heart. The overlap of history, like a long stream of ribbons, encircled his heart and then moved forward lightly, making him want to grab it, angyangxiangshan (end of this chapter)