Genius Playground

”For example, let’s say I ask something, and the virtual person on the other side answers. Their speech and mannerisms are identical to a real person’s, making it hard to tell the difference. They even start conversations and find topics to chat with me about.”

”Not only that, the background in the video looks extremely realistic, too. The plants, the objects, the grapes on the vines—the virtual person can interact realistically with all of it—”

”In short, from our side, the people, scenery, and physical interactions on the other end of the video call all look incredibly real, just like we’re talking with real people in a real place.”

”So, my question is, is this kind of technology possible with the current level of AI?”

Yan Chonghan thought for a few seconds, then blinked.

”That’s... not difficult at all.”

He spread his hands.

”I’m not sure how detailed your requirements are, but based on what you just described, it’s not difficult at all to create a convincing real-time video chat with today’s AI, as long as you have enough computing power.”

”In fact, this kind of technology is already widely used in various industries, like 24/7 customer service, virtual anchors, and so on. Of course, many criminals use this technology for scams, too.”

”People used to think that you couldn’t fake a video, but in the age of AI, that idea is completely obsolete.”

”Take the video calls you mentioned... I don’t know if you saw that one press conference from Nvidia. Their CEO gave the entire presentation, and it was only at the end that they revealed he was completely AI-generated. That conference made their stock price skyrocket.”

”Anyway, we’re getting off-topic. To answer your question, if you want to achieve that effect, you just need enough computing power. For a short, shallow video call, you don’t even need that much.”

”But for a long, in-depth conversation, it becomes much more difficult to perfectly simulate that ’human touch.’”

...

Jiang Ran listened in silence.

’Yes, it’s just as I suspected.’

’The video calls between Cheng Mengxue’s parents and Xu Yan’s family have always been short and shallow.’

’The calls were never very long, and the setting was almost always that same courtyard.’

’The topics always revolved around returning to China, handling their assets, showing off the ripe grapes... All of it was just everyday chit-chat.’

’So...’

Jiang Ran strongly suspected that the versions of Cheng Mengxue’s parents that Xu Yan’s family and Teacher Gao saw during the video calls were likely virtual constructs created by AI.

Unless they actually returned to China and let Jiang Ran see them for himself, or unless Xu Yan’s boyfriend, who was investigating in the United States, could get actual footage of them harvesting grapes in their yard... Jiang Ran would find it hard to let go of his doubts.

Seeing Jiang Ran’s silence, Yan Chonghan seemed to guess what he was thinking and smiled.

”Jiang Ran, are you worried about Old Tian’s daughter... Tian Xiaoli?”

”If that girl in a vegetative state really undergoes the Consciousness Upload experiment, she’ll become a truly real Digital Life. There would be absolutely none of that ’unreal’ feeling you’re worried about.”

Yan Chonghan had clearly misunderstood Jiang Ran’s true concerns.

But Jiang Ran didn’t rush to correct him, choosing to listen instead.

TAP.

Yan Chonghan placed his phone on the table in front of Jiang Ran.

”For instance, Jiang Ran, let’s assume I’ve undergone the Consciousness Upload experiment. You would then use this phone to communicate with me as a Digital Life.”

”In that scenario, no matter how long or in-depth our conversation is, it wouldn’t feel fake at all.”

”Because it would all be real. My Digital Life and I would have completely identical consciousness, memories, personalities, and values...”

”Setting aside any potential changes that might occur later, at this very moment, the two of us would be exactly the same.”

He pointed to himself, and then to the phone.

”Whatever it feels like talking to me face-to-face right now, that’s exactly what it would feel like talking to my Digital Life.”

...

Jiang Ran nodded.

Although the conversation had gone in a completely different direction, he had come to see Yan Chonghan and gotten the answers he was looking for.

”Thank you, Teacher Yan. I understand now.”

He stood up to leave.

Then he turned back.

”Teacher Yan, about Old Tian... has he had any thoughts? Have you spoken with him since then?”

Yan Chonghan shook his head.

”No. We haven’t been in contact since the day I explained everything to him and he left.”

”These things can’t be rushed. We should let Old Tian think it over carefully. After all... this is a major decision concerning his daughter’s life.”

”It’s just... his daughter’s condition isn’t optimistic. The hospital has already issued several critical condition notices. Everyone knows, deep down, that there’s no chance of her waking up. It would be a medical miracle, one that’s just not possible.”

”But... as a father myself, I can understand his position. So, Jiang Ran, you shouldn’t bring this up with Old Tian. Just let him make the decision on his own.”

”Okay. Goodbye, Teacher Yan.”

Jiang Ran left the office and headed to the cafeteria for dinner.

...

That evening, Jiang Ran and Chi Xiaoguo met up in the Film Club’s activity room.

Chi Xiaoguo was like a perpetually charged little motor. Having shaken off the gloom from recruitment day, she threw herself wholeheartedly into planning the club’s activities.

Jiang Ran sat on the sofa, watching the clock on the wall tick away, waiting for 11:00 PM to arrive.

To avoid exposing the secret of the Positron Cannon, he would have to conduct his experiments at night from now on.