Bringing the Railway to Daming

After a while, Zhu Biao, who had been in deep thought, also asked a question.

"Brother-in-law, what exactly is this artificial intelligence technology? Could you explain it to us as best you can?"

Obviously, through Liu Kuan's previous explanation of virtual reality, blockchain and other cutting-edge technologies of later generations, Zhu Biao also understood that some high-tech technologies of later generations would be difficult for Liu Kuan to explain to them clearly, so he asked so politely.

However, because artificial intelligence was already a hot topic before Liu Kuan traveled through time, he actually had a better and deeper understanding of this aspect.

He said, "Your Highness, artificial intelligence is a technical science based on computer science and programming, integrating various technologies from later generations, such as speech recognition, image recognition, natural language processing, expert systems, machine learning, computer vision, and deep learning."

After Liu Kuan finished speaking, Zhu Biao and the others were unsurprisingly confused.

Liu Kuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's put it this way. It's like how the Ming Dynasty has already used steam engines to manufacture machines like trains, steam looms, and looms."

"Although these machines no longer require human, animal, or water power, and are instead powered by steam, they still require human operators to produce our products."

"Artificial intelligence goes a step further, allowing these machines to produce and work on their own, no longer requiring human operation. All they need to do is give them a command."

"In fact, this can be imagined from the four words 'artificial intelligence' - that is, giving machines and programs created by humans the same intelligence and even abilities as humans."

Upon hearing this, Prince Tan Zhu Zi couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, isn't that similar to the Yellow Turban Warriors of some high-ranking Taoists and immortals in mythological novels, or the soldiers and horses made by the bean-casting technique, or some evil paper figurines?"

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but frown when he heard Zhu Zi using the metaphors from the mythical novels again. He said, "Old Eight, stop reading those novels all day long—everything can be related to novels. Is it true that the only things in your mind right now are the things from novels?"

Zhu Zi was born timid. Although Old Zhu's tone did not sound harsh to others and was just ordinary criticism, Zhu Zi was still so scared that he stood up suddenly and almost knocked over the stool.

"Son, I know I was wrong," he said, his face pale and a little stuttering, "I will never watch it again."

Seeing this, Liu Kuan couldn't help but recall the tragic ending of this son in the original history who was frightened into self-immolation by an order from Zhu Yuanzhang.

He told Zhu Yuanzhang about this, but Zhu Yuanzhang obviously did not take care of this son - after all, Zhu Yuanzhang had more than twenty sons, and it was difficult to treat them all equally.

Not to mention, a son like Zhu Zi, who has no ambition, no achievements, and is very timid, is probably the type he dislikes the most.

But in Liu Kuan's opinion, Zhu Zi had no other problems except being a little timid. At least he was not as cruel to his servants as Zhu Chong.

He immediately said, "Your Majesty, although His Royal Highness Prince Tan is referring to something from a novel, his metaphor is indeed apt—artificial intelligence in later generations is indeed similar to the Yellow Turban Warrior and the paper figurine."

"In fact, the year I arrived at the Ming Dynasty, the Xin Dynasty already had research institutes and companies that were combining artificial intelligence with robotics, and were about to develop intelligent robots and robot dogs that could replace humans in some tasks."

Zhu Yuanzhang had not forgotten that Zhu Zi was frightened to death in the original history, but he just didn't take it to heart. When Liu Kuan interrupted him and saw Zhu Zi's frightened look, he was both angry at him for not fighting back and couldn't bear it.

So he forced himself to soften his expression and said, "Old Eight, it's not that I forbid you from reading novels, but as a prince, you should at least do some serious work and achieve something. Do you understand?"

Zhu Zi's fear faded slightly, and he nodded, "Your son understands."

"Sit down."

Zhu Yuanzhang then said, "If you say so, won't there be robot soldiers in the future?"

Liu Kuan smiled. "Your Majesty, have you forgotten the robot dogs and drones you saw in the military training videos of later generations a few years ago? Aren't those the same as robot soldiers? They're just not humanoid."

Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly realized.

Zhu Biao then lamented, "Virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robots... it's hard to imagine what the future will look like in a hundred years."

Liu Kuan sighed after hearing this, "It's hard for me to imagine."

Afterwards, everyone talked about topics related to artificial intelligence for a while, and then Liu Kuan, at Zhu Yuanzhang's signal, played the prepared movie on the tablet.

However, before the movie started, Liu Kuan gave a brief introduction.

"Your Majesty, this film, 'Ready Player One,' is about virtual reality technology. If there's anything you didn't understand about what I explained earlier, I believe you'll have a clearer understanding after watching this film."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said, "That's great, play it."

"Yes."

Liu Kuan responded, touched the screen, and the movie "Ready Player One" began playing.

After the opening credits, a city in near ruins appeared on the screen, with background music that sounded noisy but had a strong rhythm to the Zhu family.

The camera then follows the protagonist Wade's movements, further revealing the ruined city's container housing district, and glimpsing the depravity of people's addiction to virtual worlds and games as real society nears collapse. In this extended shot, Old Zhu, Zhu Biao, and the others also witness drones delivering packages in the future, as well as the various VR devices previously mentioned by Liu Kuan.

"I was born in 2027, and then there were the crop failures and the internet jams. People stopped trying to solve the problem, they just wanted to hang on and keep surviving."

“My parents didn’t make it, so I live with my Aunt Alice in Columbus, Ohio.”

"In 2045, Columbus is the fastest-growing city on Earth, where James Halliday and Morrow build a virtual social network..."

The movie briefly introduces the world background in the voice of the protagonist Wade, and then sees Wade standing on an all-round pressure treadmill. After putting on glasses, gloves and other VR equipment, the world on the screen changes drastically, as if Wade's consciousness has entered another grand and fantasy world that is completely different from the ruined reality.

After seeing this, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao and others finally understood what kind of virtual reality technology Liu Kuan had introduced before and how it could be used.

In the past ten years, the Zhu family has seen quite a few blockbuster movies. In terms of grand scenes and shocking scenes, "Ready Player One" is definitely not ranked first.

But in terms of wonder, fancy, and novelty, this movie is almost number one.

Therefore, everyone watched without blinking, with great concentration.

The film is two hours and fourteen minutes long and tells the story of a world in 2045 where virtual technology is highly developed and cities are almost reduced to ruins due to various reasons. Disappointed, people immerse themselves in a virtual game (world) called "Oasis".

On his deathbed, the game's creator, Halliday, announced that he would leave his huge fortune and ownership of "Oasis" to the first person who solved three puzzles and found the Easter eggs he had hidden in the game.

This triggered a competition among everyone in the world to play the game.

The story of 18-year-old Wade Watts and his friends he met on the Internet, overcoming numerous levels and disasters from the game to reality, and finally secretly finding the Easter eggs hidden by Halliday in the game and becoming the heir of Oasis.

Perhaps it was because the movie was not as shocking as "The Wandering Earth" and other films that the Zhu family had seen before, and the plot was relatively monotonous, so after the movie was over, the Zhu family all turned their eyes away from the screen.

Then they couldn't help but whisper about the content of the movie.

"In this movie, the virtual reality game allows you to transform into anything you want. Men can become women, and even animals, or even monsters that don't exist in reality. It's so interesting!"

"It's such a fun game, no wonder those people in the movie were so immersed in it that their real lives became a mess."

"Such a world can be described as a grand illusion, which is indeed true, but unfortunately it has no practical benefit."

"However, if we can use this virtual world to communicate, it would be much more convenient than using the telegraph."

"···"

After listening to the others' whispers, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Liu Kuan, this movie describes the world in 2045. It should be 2035 now, right? Isn't it not far off to have virtual reality equipment like in the movie?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, in fact, before I came to the Ming Dynasty, virtual reality equipment in later generations was not much different from those in movies. Otherwise, no one would have proposed the concept of the 'metaverse'."

Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Indeed, the Metaverse is very similar to the 'Oasis' in the movie. If that's the case, why did you say that no one was interested in the 'Metaverse' in the end?"

Liu Kuan said: "First, due to technical and cost reasons, the Metaverse could not be built as exquisitely and grandly as in the movies."

"Also, at the time, many consortiums around the world were building their own virtual worlds similar to the 'Metaverse,' which fragmented the flow of people, making it difficult for the Metaverse to achieve the kind of popularity seen in the movie."

"Furthermore, to experience the Metaverse, you still need a sufficiently good set of virtual reality equipment. Although good equipment was available at the time, it was quite expensive, and most people were unwilling to buy it."

"Thirdly, the afterlife doesn't experience the same disasters as in the movie. People don't need to escape reality, but should focus on reality."

"So that's how it is." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded, and then seemed to be thinking about something.

At this time, Zhu Biao asked, "Brother-in-law, if the price of virtual reality equipment drops in the future, and if exciting virtual game worlds like those in the movies emerge, won't many people with weak minds also become addicted to them?"

"If that's the case, when virtual reality devices and games become popular in the future and more people become addicted to them, I'm afraid it will affect the development of the real world, right?"

Liu Kuan didn't expect that the questions Zhu Biao asked were so profound.

After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Your Highness, if virtual reality devices and games truly become popular, they will definitely have a certain impact on the real world."

"But it's not necessarily true that many people are so addicted to the world of virtual games that they neglect real life."

Zhu Biao was slightly surprised, "Why did my brother-in-law say that?" (End of this chapter)