Chapter 47

TheOperationsRoomatTheMansionwaspuncturedbylightfromHYDRAscreensaverscyclingindarkness.CaldwellwasaloneandloggedintotheTsinghuaUniversitymirrorserverinBeijing,theserveronwhichhehadgavehimselfanadministrativeaccountearlierintheafternoon.Hecalledupanetworkschema.ThemachinehewasloggedintowasastandaloneserverbutitmunicatedwiththemainTsinghuaserversatthirty-secondintervals.CaldwellcheckedthelogsandtheuseraccountsandgainedaccesstooneofthemainpublicserversatTsinghua.Therewereonehundredandtwenty-threestudentsonlineatthatverymoment.Caldwellscannedtheirlocaldirectoriesforanythinginteresting.Eachstudentwasallocatedadepartmentcode.Agoodnumberofthembelongedtoanodecalledp_sci.Caldwellchooseoneaccountatrandomandcallupamapofthep_scidirectorystructure.Therewereaboutfiftysub-directories.Mostofthemlookeduninteresting.

CaldwelljumpedtoasubdirectorylabeledSKL_ITS.Hehadnoideawhatthelettersmeant.Therewereevenmorefoldersinthisdirectory.OnecalledSpecial_Projectslookedinteresting.Hetriedtogainaccess.ACCESSDENIED.SPECIALPRIVILEGESREQUIRED.Hedidn’tevenbothersendinginoneofhispasswordbots.TheIDEswouldbetoopowerfulandhedidn’thavetimetowriteanewonethatcouldgainaccess.Heneededtofindanauthenticateduser.

Caldwellnavigatedallthewaybacktothetopofthenetworkanddrilleddownintothecyberspacetrafficlogs.Hetrawledthroughthousandsofremotecallstocyberspacesites,requestsforfilesandauthenticatedloginstovariousuniversitymicrosites.Everythinglookedfineexceptforoneentryjustafewdaysago.Itwasamassivedatadumpfromcyberspaceamountingtoseveraltrillionbytes.Thedatawasingfromallover,theUnitedStates,theUnion,Russia,Japan.ThiscouldbewhatFoulerhadbeentalkingabout,partofthehugedatatraffichehadseenloggedatNEXTTower.

Hecheckedthelogsforawholemonthprior.Thesamethinghadbeengoingonforweeks,massiveamountsofdatabeingreplicatedfromcyberspaceintosomeinternaldatabaseatTsinghua.Itwasasthoughcyberspacewasbeingsystematicallyduplicated.However,thesourceofthedataseemedentirelyrandom.Caldwelldonnedtheconsole’sVRgogglesandgloves.Thecyberspaceaccesslogsappearedinfrontofhimintextform.

“EnterVisualMode,”hesaidintothemicrophoneembeddedinthegoggles.Thelogsweretransformedfromlinesoftexttoagraythree-dimensionaltuberunningdiagonallyfromthebottomleftofhisfieldofvisiontothetopright.Theedgesofthetubefadedoffintothedistance.Thetubewasatimelineoftheuniversity’sdatatraffic.

“Showallcyberspacedatarequestsgreaterthanoneterabyte.”

Thetubeflickeredandchangedcolor.Thegraywasnowinterspersedwithequally-spacedcolorbandsindicatingalldatadumpslargerthanoneterabyte.Thecoloredringsexpandedasfarashecouldsee.Usingthegloveshesnappedthebandinhalftolookatacross-section.

“Createpiechartbydatatype,”hemandedtheconsole.Thecross-sectionwastransformedintoathree-dimensionalpiechart.Thechartdepicteddatadownloadedbydatatype.Mostofthedatawasintheformofdocumentsandchunksofputingcode.

“Drilldownintopiechart,slicebydocument.”

Thelargestpieceofthepiechartslidout,rotatedanddisappearedinaswirlofpixels.Itwasreplacedwithalistofdocumenttitles.Thenumberofdocumentswasdisplayedatthebottomofthescreen:1,235,312.SomebodyaccessedoveramilliondocumentsontheinnerworkingsoftheUnitedStatesgovernmentononesingleday.Mostofthedocumentswerefromgovernmentdepartments,theFederalReserve,militaryinstallations,scientificinstitutions,NASA.SomebodywassystematicallysuckingintheentirebodyofUSknowledgeintoNewChina.Itdidn’tmakeanysenseatall.Nohumanmindcoulddigestallthatdata.

Theinformationjustseemedtohavedisappearedintoablackhole.EveniftheUnitedStatesrealizedthatthedatawasgoingout,whichtheymostlikelydid,theyhadnoreasontobealarmedbyit.Alltheinformationbeingappropriatedwasinthepublicdomain.TheChinesewereprobablyjustmirroringthedatasotheauthoritiescouldsensorit.Itwasjustthatthesheervolumeofdatabeingcopiedsuggestedsomeulteriormotiveatwork.Therewastoomuchdataforthistobesomemajorcensorshipdrive.SinceCaldwellwasinsidetheTsinghuanetwork,hefiguredhemightbeabletoseewhereallthedatahadgone.

“Showdatadestination.”

Ananimationofaplexnetworkpoppedupshowingthepathofthedata.Thedatadidseveralloopsthroughvariousnetworksandendedupinadedicatedstorageareanetworkwithamind-bogglingamountofstoragespace.ConnectedtothestorageareanetworkbutnottoTsinghua’smainnetworkwasalonemachineatthefartopcornerofthenetworkdiagram.Hetappedthemachine’siconwiththegloves.ACCESSDENIED.

“Showallrelatednetworks.”

Norelatednetworksfound.

Whywouldastandaloneputerwithnoconnectiontothenetworkbesystematicallyaccessinghugeamountsofdatafromcyberspace?Whywoulditneeditsowndedicatedstoragenetwork?

“Showallrelateddepartments.”

1relateddepartmentfound:DepartmentofComputerScienceandTechnology.

“Searchkeyword:AIorSKL_ITS”

SKL_ITS/Special_Projects.

“Showallrelatedusers.”

3usersfound:YaoGuoChuen(Professor),WangLin(Student),LiJin(Student)

“LaunchTsinghuaUniversityPublicNetwork.”

TheTsinghuauniversitypublicnetworkwasrenderedasaspinningthree-dimensionalshapewithmultiplelabeledfacets.CaldwelltappedtheFacultiessideofthecubewiththegloves.Itexpandedintofourneattriangles.HedrilleddownintoevensmallertrianglesuntilhereachedtheComputerScienceandTechnologymicrosite.HeopenedupalinkcalledFacultyMembers.Alistofaboutonehundredfacultymemberspoppedup.RightatthetopwasaProfessorYaoGuoChuen.

ProfessorYaoGuoChuenwasheadoftheinternationallyrenownedDepartmentofComputerScienceandTechnology,partoftheSchoolofInformationScienceandTechnologyofTsinghuaUniversity.ProfessorYao’sresponsibilitiescoveredtherunningoffourprestigiousinstitutes:TheInstituteofHighPerformanceComputing;TheInstituteofComputerNetworks;TheInstituteofComputerSoftwareandTheInstituteofHuman-puterInteractionandMediaIntegration.HewasalsoinchargeofTheStateKeyLaboratoryofIntelligentTechnologyandSystems,whichconductedresearchjointlywithorgansofthePeople’sLiberationArmy.ProfessorYaowastherecipientofnumerousprestigiousawardsofexcellenceforresearchintheareasofparallelanddistributedputing,highperformanceputersystems,knowledgeengineering,distributeddatabases,artificialintelligenceandvisualizationtechnologiesincludingvirtualreality.ProfessorYaowasalsorenownedforhisworkdevelopingvirtualrealityapplicationsforthePeople’sLiberationArmy.

“Veryinteresting,”Caldwellsaidtonooneinparticular.

HecalledupaninformationpageforthestudentLiJin.Thesimplepagejustsaidhewastwenty-fouryearsold,astraight-ApostgraduatestudentintheDepartmentofComputerScienceandTechnologyandaresearchassistanttoProfessorYao.CaldwellcheckedtheTsinghuadirectoryserveronawhimtoseeifLiJinwasloggedintoanythingatthemoment.LiJin’saccounthadbeendisabled.HecheckedProfessorYao’saccount.Thathadalsobeendisabled.Justtobethorough,hecheckedtheotherstudentWangLin’saccount.Heexpectedittobedisabledtoo.But,itwasn’t.WangLinwascurrentlyloggedonthestudentBBSsystem.CaldwellconductedasearchforresearchpapersordocumentsonwhichWangLinhadbeenacontributor.

12researchpapersfound:

1. Modeling&RenderingofComplexVRScenesContainingaHugeAmountofPrimitives

2. IntelligentAgentSystemsandTheirApplication

3. RecognitionandKnowledgeDiscoveryinDatabaseonMicroEconomy

4. KeyTechnologiesforParallelProgrammingEnvironments

5. MolecularBiologyasaFoundationforTrueArtificialIntelligence

Caldwelldidn’tbotherreadingtherest.CoulditbethatProfessorYaoandhistwostudentprotégéswereworkingonaresearchprojectthatinvolvedfeedingvastamountsofdatatoamachineforthepurposeofgrantingitintelligence?WasitpossiblethatthiswasallrelatedtothebigbreakthroughthatAnthonyMaandVictorChenghadtalkedabout?Itallseemedharmlessenough,exceptforthenatureandsizeofthedata.Thiswasnotjustgeneralknowledgethatwasbeingsuckedinfromcyberspace.Thiswasterabytesofrecentlyunclassifiedintelligence,whichwhileitmaybepublicdomainanduselesstoahumanthroughthesheervolumeofit,couldbeusedtoinflictsomeseriousAI-instigatedcarnageincyberspace.Whatwouldhappenifyougaveallthepublicinformationoneconomics,science,financeandsociologytoavastlyintelligentheuristicputer?Aputerwiththeabilitytolearn?

CaldwellknewthatheneededaccesstothatloneputerontheTsinghuaNetworkthatwasactingasamagnetforallthatinformation.Theonlywaytogettoitwasthroughtheprofessororoneofhisprotégés.Ifthissystemwasassinisterashewasconjecturing,theprofessorwouldbeparticularlyguarded.Theprofessor’syoungassistantsontheotherhandcouldbecajoledintolettingthecatoutofthebag.Infact,anideawasforminginCaldwell’smind.Itwasatwistonsocialengineering,theartofretrievingauser’spasswordoverthephone.HewouldgetWangLintorevealhissecrets.

CaldwellcalledupalistofallthefemalestudentsintheDepartmentofComputerScienceandTechnology.Theymadeupjustoverthirtypercentofallstudentsinthedepartment.Thatwasgoodnews.Anumberofthemhadpersonaldepartmentalpageswheretheypostedresumes,researchpapers,digitalphotosandotherelectronicmedia.Caldwellbrowsedthroughthesepagesofpost-teenagefemaleangstuntilhefoundonethatstokedhisinterest.ItwasthepersonalsiteofagirlcalledVickyZhao.HerChinesenamewasZhaoWei.Shewastwentyyearsoldand,fromherphotographatleast,cuteasabuttonwithJapanesemangacartooneyesandstraightlonghair.Therewasagoodchancethathalfthedepartmentwouldbemadlyinlovewithher.HercyberspacepagealsoinformedCaldwellthatshewasfromShanghai.

VickyZhaoWeiwasalsoamemberofthestudentBBSsystem.CaldwelldoublecheckedtheBBSlogstobesure.ThelogsindicatedthatshewasanoccasionaluseroftheBBS.Mostofherpostsweremundaneassignment-relatedquestions.AndasCaldwellhadfiguredatleastoneofProfessorYao’sbrilliantadviserswouldbeamongthemanymalestudentswhorushedtoanswerherquestions.VickyZhaoWei,byreasonofherlooks,neverhadtowaitlongforherqueriestobeanswered.VickyZhaoWeiwasaveritableBBSmagnet.Caldwell,forgettingthathewaswearingtheconsolegloves,punchedbotharmsintheair.

GettingVicky’susernameandpasswordwasapieceofcake.Shehadthelowestlevelofaccessinthedepartmentalsystemasdidmostofthestudents.WangLinwasoneofthechosenfew.CaldwellloggedintotheBBSasVickyandheadedstraightforthelivechatVRsection.Heselectedabuilt-inavatarfromtherepository,abeautifulManchuprincessinshinygoldandsilverrobewithstorksdancingonthebanksofariverembroideredontheshimmeringsilk.Theavatarwascarryingaricepaperandbambooparasol,alsowithstorkmotifs.Thestorksappearedtotakeflightasheusedtheglovestospintheparasol.

TherewereabouttwentyusersoravatarsontheBBS.SomeofthemweredressedinancientChinesegarb.Caldwellspottedatleasttwoemperors,afeweunuchsanddowagersallinbeautifullyrenderedChinesecostume.Theconsole’sgraphicsenginewasunlikeanythinghehadeverseen.Theimageswereextremelyrealistic.TherewasnolagasCaldwellfloatedacrosstheparchedearthoftheBBS’mainarea.Individualsunrayswererenderedinalltheirfierydetail.

WangLinwasstillloggedintotheBBS.HewasaChinesescholarinsimplegrayrobescarryinganancientsatchelmadeofwoodandtwiningonhisback.Hewaschattingtoadowagerandaeunuch.Caldwelldecidedagainstwalkinguptothem.Therewasadroopywillowtreenearby.Caldwellmaneuveredhisavataruptothetreeandtookrefugeinitsshade.Thedetailofthescenewasbreathtaking.HedecidedtomessageWangLinprivately.

WeiWei:ReadyourpaperonMolecularBiologyasaFoundationforTrueArtificialIntelligence.Soundsabitfar-fetched.

Theimperialscholarlookedupinhisdirection.Caldwellwaited.Thestudentcontinuedtalkingtothedowagerandtheeunuch.Caldwell’sManchuprincesselegantlyremovedapaperfanwithafloralpatternfromthedepthsofoneofhersleevesandslowlyfannedherself.Helookedupthroughthegoggles.WangLin’sscholarwasglidingpurposefullytowardshim.

WangLin:HeyWeiWei.Don’tseeyouhereveryoftenandyouneverchoosethatpersona.

WeiWei:Alwaysbusywithassignments.Usuallyhavesometimeontheweekendsthough.

WangLin:Soyoureadmypaper?

WeiWei:Yeah.I’vebeenbeatingmyheadagainstastonetryingtofigureoutwhattowriteformynextassignment.Wasjustlookingaroundthelibrary,sawyourpaperandstartedreading.

WangLin:Ohreally.Sowhichpartdoyouthinkisfar-fetched?

WeiWei:Thewholeideaofusingbiologicalmatterorbraincellsasaputerchip.ThetheoryaboutbacteriawithalteredDNAbeinglogicgatessurelyissciencefiction.

WangLin:WhatifItoldyouthatthereissuchachipworkingtoday?

WeiWei:Iwouldn’tbelieveyou.EventheAmericanscan’tdoit.

WangLin:TheAmericansarefarbehind.It’shereinNewChinathatthelatestinnovationsaretakingplace.

WeiWei:Yeah,butnothinglikewhatyousuggestinthepaper,right?

WangLin:Let’sjustsaythestuffinthereisnotasfar-fetchedasitsounds.

WeiWei:Seriously?

WangLin:OnedayImightevenshowyousomething.

WeiWei:TothinkNewChinaissoadvanced?Ifonlythatwerepossible?

WangLin:IfonlyIcanshowyouwhatI’veseen.

WeiWei:Whynot?

WangLin:Idon’tknow.Thisistop-secretstuff.

WeiWei:Wellifyoudon’ttrustmethat’sOK

WangLin:OfcourseItrustyou.Eventhoughwedon’tknoweachotherthatwell.

WeiWei:Butobviouslyyoudon’ttrustmeenough.That’sfine.Iunderstand.

WangLin:OK.Betweenyouandme.Thisdoesnotgobeyondhereunderstand.Followme.IhaveanencryptedprivateBBSroom.

Thescholaropenedupafissureinthegroundanddisappearedintoit.Caldwellstoodoverthefissurewhichhadmoltenlavabubblingjustafewfeetbelow.Hedisappearedintothesearingmagmaandemergedunscathedinalandscapeofjaggedrocksabovewispywhiteclouds.Cranesflewgracefullyacrossafadingorangesunset.Thescholarwassittingonarock.Caldwellstoodoppositehimwithhisparasolclosed.

WangLin:Ieheretorelaxandcontemplatetheworld.

WeiWei:It’sbeautiful.

WangLin:AllrenderedonmyGreatWallComputronicsconsolehereinthedormitory.

WeiWei:Cool.

WangLin:It’sallinthealgorithms.IlearntathingortwofromProfessorYaobeforehedecidedtotakethatfarmer’sboyunderhiswing.Hardwareisneverthelimitingfactor.Humansarejustreallyterribleatcreatingsoftware.Theironyisthatputers,whichneedsoftwaretooperate,areactuallybetteratcreatingsoftware.

WeiWei:Sothekeyistogetputerstodesigntheirownsoftware?

WangLin:That’sjustapartofit.Heuristicshasbeenaroundforalongtime.Manypanieshavemercializedtheideaofself-healing,self-improvingsoftware.Theproblemisthatthesoftwareisstilltoostupidtodoanythinguseful,evenwiththebestheuristicstechnology.

WeiWei:Usefulasinwhat?

WangLin:Well,passtheTuringtestforonething.

WeiWei:Butthat’salreadybeendone.Iftheusercannotdistinguishbetweentheresponsesoftheputerandanotherhumanthentheputerpasses.OurAIsystemsinthedepartmenthaveallpassedtheTuringtest.

WangLin:Notheyhaven’t.Itisahack.Theputersarefoolingthehumanuserintobelievingtheyarehumanmostofthetimebuttheywilleventuallyfailifyouaskenoughquestions.Theyarenotintelligentinthehumansense.Onlybyusingquantumputingandneuralnetworkswithheuristicsoftwarecanwegethuman-likeintelligence.Onlybymodelingtheprocessoronarealbrain,withplexinterconnectionsbetweenneurons,canwesucceed.

WeiWei:Andyou’vedonethat?

WangLin:Iguess,butstilltesting.Butthisisunlikeanythingwe’veeverseen.It’samachinemoreintelligentthanwecouldeverhopetobe.It’samachinewithaconscience.Andit’sallinthesoftware.

WeiWei:Buthowisthatpossible?

WangLin:Akillerbinationofheuristics,neuralnetworks,quantumputingandnanotechnology.

WeiWei:Nanotechnology?

WangLin:Yeah,theAIusesittobuildathree-dimensionalquantumdotarray.Wehaveaquantumputerprototypewithonebillionqubits.Thefastestputereverbuilt.

WeiWei:OK,butwhatmakestheAIsointelligent?

WangLin:Deceptivelysimple.Wearegivingittheentirebodyofhumanknowledgebytebybyte.Italreadyhasthecoretenetsofcognitivesciencebuilt-in.Italreadyknowsmoreeconomicsthantheentirehumanraceknowsandwilleverknow.Ithaseupwithneweconomictheoriesinidleconversation.WesentoneofthetheoriestotheMinistryofFinancehereinBeijing.Theywereflabbergastedbytheresults.TheymakeAdamSmith,MiltonKeynes,Friedmanandallthoseotheridiotslooklikekidsplayingwiththeirhomework.

WeiWei:Thatmakesthissystemdangerous.

WangLin:Itdepends.Toourenemies,yes.ThebuildingblocksofthesystemhavebeendesignedsoastoconvincethesoftwarethatitisChinese.

WeiWei:What?

WangLin:IthasChinesesensibilities.ItwilldonothingtoharmNewChina.It’sbeliefsystem,baselanguage,everythingisbuiltonasenseofbeingChinese.ItbelievesinTaoist,ConfucianandBuddhistideals,yethasastrongsenseofChinesehistory.It’saweaponlikesomethingtheworldhasneverseen.

WeiWei:Butwhatwillyoudowithit?

WangLin:ThatIcannottellyou.IhavespokentoomuchalreadybutIknowyou,likeme,areonehundredpercentpatriotic.Besides,thereisnothinganybodycandotoalterthecourseofNewChina’sdestinynow.Let’sjustsaythatShanghaiasusualwillbethetrailblazer.

WeiWei:Shanghai?Aretheremanyputerswiththisquantumchip?

WangLin:Therewillbe.Fornowthereisonlyoneduetothecostandthetouch-and-goiterativeprocessofproducingit.Basically,theAIbuiltthefirstonebytrialanderror.Nowthatit’sworkingintherealworldwecansimplyreplicatetheAI’sprocessordesign.Anyway,thequantumprocessorisnotimportant.It’sjustthecatalystforsomethingmuchbigger.Thinkofitasalaunchingpad.

TherewassomethingtappingonCaldwell’sshoulder.Thetactilesensationwassorealisticthathisavatardroppeditsparasol.Waitaminute.HewasnotwearingaVRbodysuitsohowcouldhefeelthehandonhisshoulder.CaldwellflippedoutofvirtualrealityandtheoperationsroominHongKongmaterializedinfrontofhim.MeiLinwasstandingtherestaringattheconsole,whichhadsomehowmorphedintoasmoothblackpyramid.

“Whatthehell?Hangon.”

CaldwellflippedbacktoWangLin’srocksabovetheclouds.Thescholaravatarhaddisappeared.Caldwelllookedoutacrosstheexpanseofweather-sculpturedrocks.Therewasarustlingsoundbehindhim.Heturnedroundtoseethescholarglaringathimthroughdarkdisapprovingeyes.

WangLin:YouarenotWeiWei.WeiWeijustloggedintotheBBS.Whothehellareyou?

WangLin’sscholargrabbedhimbytheneck.Hecouldn’tfeeltheavatar’shandsonhisnecksoitwasimpossibletoshakethestudentoff.CaldwelltriedtograbWangLin’smakeshiftschoolbag.Sincehewaswearingthegloveshewouldbeabletofeelhiswayoutofthescholar’sgrip.Thebagcameawayinhishandsliketermite-infestedwoodwork.Thefragmentsfellawayanddisappearedintothecloudsbelow.Caldwellrealizedthathewasveryclosetotheedgeoftherocksandasteepravine.Belowthecloudstherewasonlydarkness.WangLin’savatarletgoofhisneckandshovedathischest.Caldwellcouldnotfeelathingbuthesawhimselftotteronthebrinkoftheravineandplungedownintothedepthsbelow.Hisanguishedscreamsechoedloudlyinthesurroundingmountains.