Algorithm system

ClearLin Yuan continued his explanation, ”Heaven’s timing, Earth’s advantage, and Human harmony are my summaries of the parameters for the Feng Shui AI model.”

”I categorize all Feng Shui parameters into these three major types.

Heaven’s timing can be further subdivided into: hour, climate, and weather. Climate refers to the perennial climatic conditions of a place, while weather refers to the current weather situation. These three elements also involve the Five Elements. For example: the Five Elements of Shenshi (3-5 PM) is ’Metal’, and the Five Elements of spring is ’Wood thriving, Fire flourishing, Earth dying, Metal imprisoned, Water resting’.”

”Next, Earth’s advantage. Earth’s advantage can be further subdivided into: size, type, texture, orientation, longitude and latitude of the shop, the business it operates, and its operating hours. These factors also involve the Five Elements.”

”As for Human harmony. My original intention was to collect the birthdates and times of the business owners and employees, but this involves personal privacy. So, I collected the local average wages and economic development status, and then combined them with the reference values of merchant profit margins and profitability indexes from Good Group’s backend data to approximate and evaluate the psychological state of relevant practitioners from these economic indicators.”

”Finally, I introduced a set of AI model parameters based on the traditional food delivery algorithm. The trial results so far have been quite good.”

Professor Zhang was already listening as if to an incomprehensible book, ”Did you really do it this way?”

Lin Yuan felt a little guilty but still feigned composure, ”Yes, I even have the source code.” To make his story consistent, Lin Yuan had prepared not only documents but also the corresponding source code.

However, Professor Zhang had no intention of looking at the source code; instead, he paced back and forth, murmuring to himself.

”Feng Shui... the interaction between humans and the natural environment... mutual influence? Like electromagnetism often appearing in pairs?”

”Yes,” Lin Yuan immediately responded, ”Electricity generates magnetism, magnetism generates electricity; electromagnetism coexists and accompanies each other, just like humans and the natural environment.” Lin Yuan quickly stepped on the accelerator to push his mentor’s almost derailed thoughts.

A moment later, Professor Zhang suddenly stopped by the window, standing with his hands behind his back.

”Ah~~, when I was young, I never believed in Feng Shui or fate. But as I get older, I can’t help but rethink those things. Perhaps the trajectory of a person’s life is already determined in the dark.

If I had to find a reasonable scientific explanation, it would be ’character determines destiny’.

But how is character formed?

Isn’t it from innate genetics and the people and things in the surrounding environment acquired later?

This indeed makes sense.

However, you are so young, how did you come up with such a novel perspective as Feng Shui?”

Lin Yuan immediately opened the personal introduction page of that quack professor from Xia Bei University, ”Earlier, when I was bored browsing the thesis library, I saw a paper discussing the relationship between AI and Feng Shui, written by this Professor Zhou from Xia Bei University. Inspired by him, I tried this path.”

”Zhou... what was his name again?”

”Professor Zhou Shuiyi.”

Professor Zhang tried hard to recall, ”I’ve never heard of him.”

According to Lin Yuan’s guess, if a charlatan like Professor Zhou Shuiyi had too much fame, he would have gotten into trouble long ago. Who knew how he managed to become a professor.

”Let me see his paper.”

Professor Zhang carefully examined it for more than ten minutes, ”Although I am getting further and further away from the front line of scientific research, I still understand the underlying principles of AI, and modern AI theories have no substantial new breakthroughs. But this paper... I just can’t understand it.

How exactly did he combine the book of changes, Feng Shui, and the AI model? He didn’t even define the model parameters. What you just mentioned, ’Heaven’s timing, Earth’s advantage, and Human harmony’, is not reflected in his paper.”

Lin Yuan certainly knew how unreliable Professor Zhou Shuiyi’s paper was, ”I was only inspired by him, but I didn’t use any ideas from his paper.”

”Then show me your technical documentation.”

Professor Zhang was relieved after reading Lin Yuan’s document, ”That’s right. This is what technical documentation should look like. Regardless of whether these parameters can be understood, you must first have parameters. Any theory must be able to be converted into mathematical symbols, otherwise, how can people understand it?”

Then he turned to Lin Yuan, ”So, you only borrowed his idea about Feng Shui, but you didn’t use any academic ideas from his paper.”

”Uh... yes. Actually, there aren’t any academic ideas in this paper at all.”

”Why didn’t you say so earlier? You made this old man anxious. In your young people’s words, I thought this old man was ’out’. I kept wondering why I couldn’t understand it at all.”

Then the master and apprentice looked at each other and burst into laughter.

”Introducing Feng Shui model parameters into AI training makes sense in theory, but it’s hard to explain with mathematical formulas.”

Lin Yuan responded, ”The concept of transformer used by ChatGPT is quite mysterious in itself, isn’t it? We also don’t know which specific features from which sample data the AI extracts information from when answering a certain question.”

”You’re right. Modern AI has completely entered the black box stage. The constraints of mathematical formulas on it are getting weaker and weaker. Some papers may list a lot of formulas, but the core idea is actually just one sentence. Those mathematical formulas serve to prove the results, rather than to summarize the AI training process.”

Lin Yuan deeply agreed, ”For example: Residual Network. The core idea is actually just one sentence: listen to the voices from the grassroots.”

”What?”

”The lower-level network not only receives the output of the upper-level network but also the output of the upper-upper level. Isn’t this like leaders not only listening to the opinions of department heads but sometimes also bypassing department heads to listen to the opinions of ordinary employees?”

Professor Zhang was stunned for a moment, then burst into another fit of laughter, ”You summarize it very well. I didn’t expect you to interpret the Residual Network in such a way. Although it sounds absurd, the primary purpose of the Residual Network is to solve the problem of vanishing gradients. It does have a similar effect to the process of grassroots opinion transmission.”

”Alright, alright. Your young people’s thinking is just so divergent; I’m really getting old. It’s still the same old saying: although I don’t agree with you taking this crooked path of Feng Shui, just as I didn’t agree with you touching the food delivery algorithm back then. But your teacher still supports you.

It’s normal for older people to misjudge; otherwise, this world wouldn’t innovate.

Just go ahead and do it.”

”Okay, thank you, teacher.” Lin Yuan saw that he had basically passed the mentor’s hurdle.

”Oh, by the way, your model combining Feng Shui and AI could be used to publish a paper. After all, you have the factual results of Good Group’s Hexi District food delivery algorithm test as a basis. Although your theory is groundbreaking, the AI field still values results the most.”

”An SCI paper?”

”Yes. Your novel view, coupled with sufficiently detailed factual basis, and then packaged, publishing it in a top-tier SCI journal is almost a sure thing.”

Lin Yuan was secretly delighted for a moment. Gu Xuan had put so much effort into publishing a top-tier SCI journal, and he could do it with such ease?

However, he quickly realized a problem – the first rule of the ’Cheater’s Survival Guide’ is to lie low!

He had already gone to great lengths to concoct this Feng Shui model parameter just to cover up the food delivery algorithm, so how could he publish a paper and cause more trouble for himself?

Therefore, adhering to the principle of ”lying low is supreme,” Lin Yuan would rather not complete the task of publishing an SCI paper required by the computing power system. He did not intend to mechanically execute the tasks given by the system.

”Teacher, I’d rather not publish the paper.”

”Ah? Why?”

”Because, this idea was, after all, thought of by someone else, although that person didn’t go as far as to refine it into mathematical formulas. But I still don’t want to be suspected of stealing others’ achievements.”

”This is not stealing achievements at all. His paper doesn’t even have a decent formula; it doesn’t meet the academic community’s criteria for recognizing theoretical hypotheses. You should boldly publish the paper.”

Lin Yuan looked a bit troubled, ”Still, no, thank you. Without his spark, I wouldn’t have thought of so much. Moreover, if my paper were to use Good Group’s food delivery data, it would involve confidentiality agreements, which would also be troublesome. Let’s just forget it.”

Professor Zhang thought for a moment, ”You, you’re just too simple, like a country kid. If it were Gu Xuan... never mind, I respect your opinion.”

Only Lin Yuan himself knew that it wasn’t about being simple...