Chapter 216: Artificial Intelligence Will Inevitably Replace Humanity

Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Artificial Intelligence Will Inevitably Replace Humanity

Past the main hall, there was surprisingly a conference room off to the side.

But this conference room wasn’t so formal.

It was more like a coffee shop.

It had been divided into several sections.

Everyone sat down casually, with Li Zhe taking the central seat.

Su Ruoxi and Lin Feng exchanged a glance.

’So this is a real, honest-to-goodness discussion group.’

’Maybe this is what business elites do for fun?’

Lin Feng had a vague feeling that this gathering was a bit strange.

Li Zhe had proposed this topic, so he was leading the discussion.

After a brief introduction, Li Zhe suddenly tossed the topic to Lin Feng. "Xiaofeng, how ’intelligent’ do you think artificial intelligence can become?"

Lin Feng was caught completely off guard.

However, Lin Feng wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

Even with everyone’s eyes focused on him.

Lin Feng still calmly set down his coffee cup before speaking. "Intelligent enough to replace humanity."

As soon as he said this, the others smiled faintly.

Many people would choose this angle.

Ever since the birth of artificial intelligence,

many people have worried about the future of AI, wondering if it would one day replace the human brain.

This question had always existed, and countless people had explored it.

To be honest, when Lin Feng chose an angle that seemed to have been beaten to death,

Li Zhe and Fang Yurou were somewhat disappointed in their hearts.

’Lin Feng is still young. He’ll be fine after a few more years of experience. No need to be so demanding.’

’An angle like this is acceptable. He’s a young man, after all. He just needs a bit more polishing.’

’He’s still a little green.’

Nearly everyone present was thinking along these lines.

They all felt that since Lin Feng was still young, such a superficial idea was understandable.

After all, Lin Feng was only eighteen.

The oldest Yang City University graduate in the room was already over forty.

So almost everyone was looking at Lin Feng as if he were a junior.

Lin Feng could vaguely sense this as well.

When he said that artificial intelligence would become smart enough to replace humanity,

Lin Feng could clearly feel that after a moment of silence from the crowd,

everyone exchanged a meaningful glance before slowly turning their gazes back to him.

Lin Feng knew exactly what they were thinking, but he didn’t refute it outright.

After the atmosphere turned a bit cold,

Li Zhe quickly took control of the situation, asking Lin Feng with a smile as if nothing was wrong, "Could you elaborate on your views?"

And just then, a familiar notification sound suddenly rang out in Lin Feng’s mind.

He never would have thought the system would announce a mission at a time like this.

[DING...]

[Congratulations, Host. You have triggered the hidden side quest: The Big Shots from School.]

[Would you like to accept the hidden mission: Earn Their Admiration?]

The mission was self-explanatory. It was simply about Lin Feng, in the coming discussion,

turning around the impression these big shots currently had of him.

Lin Feng accepted without a moment’s hesitation.

Compared to the side mission itself,

Lin Feng was more curious about what kind of reward he would get for completing it.

"Of course."

Lin Feng accepted the mission in his mind while speaking to Li Zhe.

Li Zhe smiled and sat down. Then, everyone else’s gazes fell upon Lin Feng.

Lin Feng smiled and scanned the room before slowly beginning to speak.

"First, I’d like everyone to think about this: for what purpose did industrialization initially emerge?"

Hearing Lin Feng’s question, everyone couldn’t help but be taken aback.

’Industrialization?’

That seemed pretty far removed from artificial intelligence.

However, Fang Yurou was kind enough to play along, smiling as she said, "Naturally, it was born from the goal of liberating the forces of production."

Lin Feng gave a slight nod. "Correct. It did indeed emerge to free up more labor, and even to increase efficiency."

"So, after productivity and efficiency were increased, why did artificial intelligence appear?"

Li Zhe said with a smile, "For greater convenience."

Lin Feng snapped his fingers, acknowledging it with a smile. "Exactly. For greater convenience. But in reality, the root cause is human laziness."

"Humans are too lazy to spend vast amounts of time on repetitive actions."

"That’s why we have artificial intelligence—to let chips and computers execute complex, singular instructions."

"And human desire is infinite."

At this point, Lin Feng paused deliberately.

From the initial question about industrialization to this point about human laziness,

Lin Feng had unknowingly captured most people’s attention.

And he was leading their train of thought along with his own rhythm.

When people like Li Zhe and Fang Yurou heard him say that human desire is infinite, they couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

One of them was in tech, the other in finance.

They frequently witnessed the deeper aspects of human nature.

And they knew better than anyone just how terrifying human desire could be.

"Precisely because human desire is infinite, people will only want to live lazier, better lives."

Lin Feng placed special emphasis on the word "lazier."

"In the beginning, perhaps we only wanted artificial intelligence to execute a few simple commands."

"But later on, won’t human laziness lead to AI replacing the human brain in every aspect of our lives?"

"The current development of AI is like slowly boiling humanity in lukewarm water."

"It’s causing humanity to grow increasingly accustomed to this gradually more intelligent way of life."

Upon hearing Lin Feng’s words,

Li Zhe and Fang Yurou looked at each other.

They both saw the shock in the other’s eyes.

Lin Feng hadn’t said anything wrong.

In fact, you could say he had seen past the glittering facade of the AI industry and straight to its very core.

The origin of artificial intelligence was, in fact, human laziness.

It was hard to imagine an eighteen-year-old boy,

who had supposedly never been involved in the AI industry,

could have such profound insight.

Most importantly, he was able to see through the surface phenomena to grasp the essence.

At that moment, Fang Yurou, Li Zhe, and the others all cast aside their previous prejudice about Lin Feng’s youth.

Though he was young, the depth of Lin Feng’s thinking had already reached a level that some people couldn’t attain in a lifetime.

Lin Feng already saw the system notification in his mind.

[DING...]

[Earn Their Admiration mission has reached 50% progress. Please continue your efforts, Host.]

After seeing the prompt, Lin Feng knew he was already halfway to success.

Clearly, some of his ideas had been accepted by these people, and had even surprised them.

"So, according to you, artificial intelligence shouldn’t be developed?"

Another man in his forties asked with a smile.

He was a very famous tycoon in the pharmaceutical industry.

His attitude was just as amiable as before, but the question he posed was exceptionally sharp.

Lin Feng shook his head. "For the average person, it’s like being a frog in boiling water."

"But for some people in the tech industry, or even the AI industry, they are the ones standing outside the pot."

"Their minds remain clear. They know AI will replace humans, and even the human brain."

"But they have always been, and will always be, a minority. The further we develop, the more the keys to wisdom and wealth will end up concentrated in the hands of a very small group."

Hearing Lin Feng say this, a satisfied smile spread across Li Zhe’s face, and he couldn’t help but start clapping. "Brilliant!"

The mission progress bar in his mind moved forward again.

Only twenty percent remained before Lin Feng would complete the mission.

That Mr. Chen from the pharmaceutical industry, however, wasn’t as excited as Li Zhe from the tech industry.

Instead, he continued to ask with a faint smile, "Doesn’t that mean they can already rule humanity? That the tech industry will be the future’s leaders?"

The question even carried a hint of provocation.

Yet Lin Feng was fearless, looking directly into this Mr. Chen’s eyes.

"Wrong. The future will maintain the current state of affairs."

"The tech industry will just be one among many. There won’t be any question of ruling or not ruling."

Hearing Lin Feng’s rebuttal, an expression of admiration actually appeared on Mr. Chen’s face.

And when Lin Feng saw the look on Mr. Chen’s face, he knew that Mr. Chen already understood his meaning.

But the puzzled expressions on the faces of the others told Lin Feng that he still needed to explain.

Lin Feng took a sip of his coffee before speaking. "First, when I mentioned the position of the ’clear-headed ones,’ I was referring only to tech researchers within the field of technology."

"Humans are social creatures. We can never live isolated from other groups."

"For example, if you get sick, you still need to take medicine. If you’re hungry, you still need to eat."

"They are only the ’clear-headed ones’ in the field of AI, but not in other fields."

"Furthermore, the future economy will inevitably converge. All industries will blend with one another."

"I believe that when we reach a certain point of extreme development in the future, all industries will still form a perfect balance based on the environment of that time."

Hearing this, the others who had been confused suddenly understood.

By now, the way they looked at Lin Feng was completely different from before.

This handsome young man before them had such deep insights at the age of eighteen.

You could even say he possessed a certain degree of foresight.

This was already an incredibly rare thing.

Fang Yurou strongly agreed with the future blueprint Lin Feng had described.

Although the tech industry was developing well now,

as someone always on the front lines of investment, Fang Yurou was very clear that other industries were also developing rapidly.

Therefore, Fang Yurou also firmly believed in Lin Feng’s prediction that a situation where the tech industry dominates alone would not occur.

After Lin Feng finished speaking, Li Zhe was lost in deep thought for a long time.

As someone in the red-hot tech industry,

Li Zhe had risen by riding the wave of the trend.

In recent years, he had developed a sense of pride and complacency.

But now, after hearing Lin Feng’s ideas, Li Zhe suddenly felt as if he had received a sharp wake-up call.

He couldn’t help but follow Lin Feng’s line of reasoning, thinking on and on.

It was as if someone had opened up a whole new way of thinking for him.

In an instant, a flood of new thoughts came to him.