Chapter 333 - 257: Speculations and Summary About [Automatic Learning]

Chapter 333: Chapter 257: Speculations and Summary About [Automatic Learning]

8:30 PM.

Chen Lin returned to his rented apartment, carrying a heavy stack of books.

Well, "carrying" might be an overstatement.

With his Little Champion ability, the dozen or so pounds of books felt like nothing to him.

HUFF—

Chen Lin dropped the books on the desk, then plopped down into his chair.

His body wasn’t tired, but he was still a bit mentally exhausted.

To be honest, the "passive learning" experience for over two hours that afternoon had been pretty torturous.

He had been fully conscious yet completely unable to control his own body.

He had definitely learned things, but the process itself was deeply unsettling.

’But...’

Chen Lin’s gaze flickered as he looked at the stack of books on his desk.

The results were truly amazing.

There was no denying that.

He could now recite the content of the first eight Chapters of *Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis* with his eyes closed.

And it wasn’t rote memorization, but a comprehensive understanding born from true comprehension.

Binary trees, red-black trees, AVL trees...

Heapsort, quicksort, mergesort...

Hash tables, graph theory, shortest path algorithms...

All these concepts were crystal clear in his mind now, ready to be retrieved whenever he needed them.

This level of learning efficiency was something he wouldn’t have even dared to dream of before.

’Might as well give it a try.’

Chen Lin took a deep breath. With a thought, he opened the system panel again.

[Automatic Learning]

[Select Subject] [Select Duration] [One-Click Study]

This time, Chen Lin was smarter.

He didn’t choose that blasted [Temporary Study - Intelligent Duration] again.

This time, Chen Lin directly selected the [One Hour] duration.

He still chose [Computer Science] as the subject.

After all, he hadn’t finished *Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis*. With a little over two Chapters left, it was best to strike while the iron was hot.

’Alright, let’s begin.’

Chen Lin took a deep breath and clicked [One-Click Study].

DING!

[One-click activation, intelligent learning!]

[During the Automatic Learning period, the host will lose control of their body. Please do not panic!]

[Detecting host’s current computer science knowledge level...]

[Detection complete!]

[Host’s current computer science level assessment: Entry-Level (Equivalent to a computer science major at the end of their freshman year.)]

[Matching optimal learning path...]

[Match complete!]

[Searching for study materials...]

[Textbook found. Commencing study session!]

The familiar sense of losing control washed over him again.

Chen Lin’s body automatically stood up, walked to the desk, and precisely pulled out the "little yellow book" from the stack.

Then, he sat back down in the chair, opened the book, and began to read.

Chapter Eight: The Disjoint Set ADT.

That’s right—it was picking up right where he had left off that afternoon.

「An hour later.」

DING!

[One-hour duration reached!]

[This Automatic Learning session has ended!]

Chen Lin let out a long sigh of relief as the feeling of control returned to his body.

He stretched his neck, listening to the cracking sounds of his vertebrae, feeling quite pleased.

One hour.

He had finished the rest of Chapters eight, nine, and ten.

Although he had already gotten through most of Chapter eight in the afternoon, Chapter nine, "Graph Algorithms," and Chapter ten, "Algorithm Design Techniques," were some seriously tough material.

Especially Chapter ten, which covered greedy algorithms, divide and conquer algorithms, dynamic programming, backtracking algorithms, and branch and bound algorithms...

These were all core concepts in algorithm design.

If Chen Lin had tried to study them on his own, it would have taken him at least three to five days just to digest it all.

But now—

he had only spent an hour.

And he had truly mastered it, not just skimmed through it without understanding.

"Awesome."

Chen Lin exclaimed with genuine admiration.

This [Automatic Learning] function might need some improvements to the user experience, but its effectiveness was undeniable.

Next, Chen Lin didn’t rush to continue studying.

He leaned back in his chair and began to review his experiences from that afternoon and just now, trying to figure out some of the rules.

’First question...’

Chen Lin stroked his chin, lost in thought.

’Automatic Learning requires study materials.’

That much was certain.

When the system took over his body in the afternoon, the very first thing it did was go to the library to find books.

If he’d had the textbook on hand at the time, he probably wouldn’t have needed to make that trip.

At this thought, Chen Lin suddenly shuddered.

It was a good thing the co-working space was relatively close to the library.

’What if...’

’What if it had been closer to the School of Software’s academic building?’

’Would the system have just made him charge into a classroom during a lecture and snatch a textbook from some student’s hands?’

’Even more terrifying—’

’what if he had been closer to the women’s dormitory???’

An image instantly formed in Chen Lin’s mind:

His body charging toward the women’s dorm, kicking open a door, and amidst a chorus of screams, snatching a copy of *Data Structures* from some girl’s desk...

"Holy shit..."

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Chen Lin’s back.

’That’s too terrifying.’

’From now on, before using [Automatic Learning], I absolutely must have the textbooks ready beforehand.’

Chen Lin set an ironclad rule for himself.

’Second question...’

He continued his analysis.

’Reading speed.’

Based on his estimates, the [Automatic Learning] function’s reading speed was roughly between 200 and 300 characters per minute.

This speed was considerably faster than a normal person’s comprehension-based or study-focused reading (100 to 200 characters per minute).

And the most crucial part was—

the speed was constant.

It didn’t change based on the difficulty of the content.

Nor did it decrease due to fatigue.

It just kept going, steadily and continuously, page after page.

Even a regular person in peak condition would find it difficult to maintain several hours of high-intensity studying without getting distracted.

But the system could.

That was the difference.

’Third question...’

Chen Lin frowned.

’The interruption mechanism.’

Fu Yangqing had shaken his shoulder that afternoon, and [Automatic Learning] was forcibly terminated.

This indicated that physical contact could interrupt the learning process.

But the question was—

how much force was required?

Would a light tap work?

What about a touch through clothing?

What if someone accidentally kicked the leg of his chair?

Chen Lin had no answers to these questions for now.

Until he figured out this interruption mechanism, he decided—

not to choose the [Temporary Study - Intelligent Duration] option for the time being.

That thing was a ticking time bomb.

If no one came to interrupt him during a study session, he’d have to just watch helplessly as the system controlled him, studying until the end of time.

"One hour is pretty good."

Chen Lin muttered to himself.

"Controllable, safe, and the results are decent."

"That settles it."

After sorting out the usage issues with [Automatic Learning], Chen Lin began to consider another question—

what should he use this function to learn?

First, [Computer Science] was a must.

Working with Bai Qian and Pan Si these past few months, Chen Lin had come to a profound realization:

in the field of large AI models, being good at math alone wasn’t enough to get by.

Algorithm architecture was certainly important, but so were software development, system optimization, and hardware interaction.

No matter how incredible your algorithm was, it was useless without good engineering and implementation.

Chen Lin’s current computer science level was, at best, "Entry-Level."

Although he had finished *Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis* with the system’s help, that was just the tip of the iceberg of computer science.

As for the remaining nine books, *Computer Networks*, *Deep Understanding of Computer Systems*, *Principles of Compiler Design*...

Each one was a tough nut to crack.

But their difficulty was precisely what made them so valuable.

Once he had thoroughly digested all these books, his theoretical foundation in computer science would be approaching a "professional level."

Then, when discussing technical issues with Bai Qian and Pan Si, he would no longer have to listen with a completely baffled expression as they bombarded him with all sorts of professional jargon.

’Secondly...’

Chen Lin’s thoughts drifted in another direction.

Information security.

Fu Yangqing had said that State Security would monitor his communications and filter out suspicious information for him.

That was a good thing, of course.

But Chen Lin felt he should also possess a certain amount of knowledge about information security himself.

For one thing, if he could spot any anomalies right away, he could provide Fu Yangqing with more leads.

For another, what if State Security’s monitoring slipped up one day?

An extra layer of insurance could never hurt.

’Also...’

Chen Lin recalled his conversation with that old man in the antique-style building.

Using mathematics to quantify the social sciences, using AI to analyze the humanities and history.

He was still completely in the dark about that subject.

But now that he had the [Automatic Learning] function, he could take his time.

He could start by learning some basic sociology, then read some classic historical works...

Who knew? Maybe one day he’d find some inspiration.

There was no time limit, after all.

He could just treat it as broadening his horizons.

’As for those projects that came to me for consulting...’

Chen Lin pondered for a moment.

That would depend on the specific situation.

If it was like the solid-state battery project for the Science and Technology University and Yannan, where they gave him two weeks to study, he could definitely use the [Automatic Learning] function to cram the relevant background knowledge first.

But if it were a temporary consultation for something like a hypersonic vehicle or controlled nuclear fusion, and they required feedback in a short amount of time...

then there was nothing he could do.

He couldn’t just have the system suddenly take over his body during a video conference and then charge out to find books in front of a group of bigwigs, could he?

The mental image was too horrifying to contemplate.

In that kind of situation, he’d have to place his hopes on the large AI model that Yanhai would develop in the future.

Once the model was trained, he could have the AI help him "translate" those complex engineering problems.

At this thought, Chen Lin yawned.

It was getting late.

That was enough for today.

Starting tomorrow, he would follow this plan.

He would set aside a few hours every day to cram knowledge from various subjects using the [Automatic Learning] function.

The following days were very fulfilling for Chen Lin.

During the three-day New Year’s holiday and the week after he got back, he maintained almost the same rhythm every day—

going to work at the company during the day to handle various matters for Yanhai,

and returning to his rented apartment at night to "recharge" himself using the system’s [Automatic Learning] function.

[Computer Science], [Sociology], [Ancient Chinese History]...

He rotated between the three subjects.

Of the ten computer science textbooks he had borrowed from the library, he had already chewed through seven.

*Deep Understanding of Computer Systems*, *Computer Networks: A Top-Down Approach*, *Operating System Concepts*, *Database System Concepts*...

These "sacred texts," which had once made countless computer science students tear their hair out, were digested and absorbed by him one by one with the aid of [Automatic Learning].

Now, Chen Lin had a considerably deep understanding of the underlying principles of computer systems.

Processes, threads, memory management...

TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS...

Indexes, transactions, locking mechanisms...

These concepts were no longer indecipherable gibberish to him; they had transformed into a clear and distinct knowledge map in his mind.