165: Chapter 165 Questioning the Proposal

The Artificial Intelligence section was quickly flooded with related topics, becoming the frontline for international public opinion clashes.

A trending post that quickly climbed to the top of the section had a highly provocative title: "Why are certain countries eager to shackle Artificial Intelligence? It's simple: fear and backwardness."

The poster @TechRealist wrote in the body: "I just finished watching that farce at the United Nations.

The so-called Artificial Intelligence safety proposal put forward by a certain country is sugar-coated with concerns for all of humanity, but the core is nothing more than naked technological anxiety.

When you cannot surpass your opponent on the track, isn't the easiest way to try to change the rules of the game, or simply demand that everyone stop running?

But the wheels of history never stop turning because of the fears of the cowardly."

This post quickly received thousands of upvotes and numerous comments.

A top-rated reply came from @SiliconValleyInsider: "The original poster's words are rough but true.

Facts speak louder than words; look at the multimodal understanding of GPT-5 and the scientific reasoning capabilities of Gemini Ultra, and then compare them with the Artificial Intelligence levels currently publicly displayed by other countries—the gap is not small at all.

Setting rules requires the backing of strength; otherwise, it sounds like the wailing of the weak."

@EuropeanTechie replied: "That view is too one-sided.

Europe has made huge contributions to basic Artificial Intelligence research and ethical frameworks; it's just that we aren't as obsessed with capital-driven, fanatical marketing as the United States."

But it was immediately refuted by @SiliconValleyInsider: "Give me a break.

Academic papers and products that can actually be deployed are two different things.

The reality is that developers and companies around the world are using our APIs and models; this is the result of voting with their feet."

Amidst the chorus of agreement, there were also dissenting voices.

@SkepticalScientist commented: "I believe it is necessary to remain cautious about the development of Artificial Intelligence; at the very least, this gives us time to discuss its huge ethical and social impacts, such as mass unemployment and algorithmic bias."

This comment was quickly retorted by @ProgressAdvocate: "Caution does not mean giving up eating for fear of choking!

Leading companies in Eagle Country have strict internal supervision and ethical reviews, and they actively cooperate with the government to ensure safety.

Stagnating out of fear is the biggest risk!"

...

In the Chinese internet world, this storm was equally fierce.

On Weibo, the topic #GPT-5 Experience Report# instantly surged to the top of the trending search list.

Well-known tech blogger @TechWorldOldWang posted a long Weibo: "I got access this afternoon and deeply experienced GPT-5 for three hours.

My mood is complicated.

I had it imitate a Du Fu regulated verse; the meter was neat, and the imagery actually had a bit of charm.

I had it analyze several stocks I hold; it not only sorted out the key points of the financial reports but also combined recent news to provide risk assessments and logical chains.

Finally, I had it help me write a Python script to process complex Excel data; it was done in ten minutes, complete with detailed comments and instructions...

Honestly, beyond the shock, there is deep anxiety.

How much of the advantages we are proud of are left in the face of such a generation-gap tool? #AI Gap#"

This Weibo post instantly ignited the comment section:

@ProgrammerXiaoLi: "Same here... I used it to refactor a piece of legacy spaghetti code; not only is it clear and understandable, but it also pointed out potential performance bottlenecks.

I feel like all the time I spent debugging in the past was for nothing. [Kneeling]"

@CopywriterXiaoZhang: "I had it generate a few sets of holiday marketing slogans and poster copy; it's much better than the fresh graduate intern in our group, and the key is that it produces them instantly!

The look my boss gave me wasn't right... [Bitter]"

@CollegeStudentXiaoWang: "Help!

I used it to assist with reading papers; summarizing, translating, and asking questions all in one go—it's much faster than my advisor replying to emails!

I'm just afraid of becoming dependent on it... [Sigh]"

@RationalAnalyst: "Everyone calm down!

No matter how strong Artificial Intelligence is, it is still a tool; its creativity, deep thinking, and understanding of human nature still have limitations.

Our market advantages and innovation in application scenarios are irreplaceable."

@Realist immediately replied to @RationalAnalyst: "Teacher, stop chanting scriptures!

Can market advantages buy high-end GPUs?

Can application innovation solve the generation gap in underlying algorithms and models?

Wake up!"

On Zhihu, a sharp question attracted tens of thousands of followers: "How to objectively evaluate the latest breakthroughs in Eagle Country's Artificial Intelligence technology?

How big is the gap between us, really?"

The highest-rated answer came from an anonymous user whose verified information is a Researcher at an Artificial Intelligence Lab of a major tech company: "Thanks for the invite.

Conflict of interest, so I'm staying anonymous.

The truth is always harsh; the gap is comprehensive and even larger than the public perceives.

This is not just a gap in model parameters, but a gap in the entire industrial chain, from chips, framework ecosystems, data quality, and engineering capabilities, to the concentration of top talent and the closed loop of commercial monetization.

We have advantages in some vertical fields and application scenarios, but in the competition for general Artificial Intelligence foundation platforms that determine the heights of the future, the other side has already formed a moat that is difficult to overcome in the short term.

The United Nations proposal, to some extent, indeed reflects this deep anxiety."

The comment section below the answer was a massive breakdown scene: "The truth hurts...

The scariest thing is the talent siphon effect; the best seniors in my group all went to the West Coast after graduation."

"If theoretical breakthroughs cannot be converted into productivity, their significance will be greatly reduced."

"Besides catching up, what else can we do?

Lie flat?"

"Isn't there any good news?

I thought the Navier-Stokes Equation and 'enlightenment' were quite impressive before?"

Reply to the above: "That is more like a cutting-edge breakthrough by the national team in a specific field, which is not the same thing as this kind of comprehensive commercialized and popularized technological diffusion."

Another highly rated answer had an even sharper perspective: "This is just like a running race.

You find you can't outrun your opponent, so you shout, 'This track is not safe!

We need to redefine the rules!'

As a result, the opponent not only didn't stop but instantly accelerated and rushed even further, telling you with absolute speed that only the weak talk about rules.

The proposal itself is not wrong, but proposing it at the wrong time and in a way that lacks strength has instead become a backdrop that sets off the opponent's strength."

On Bilibili, a tech-sector content creator with millions of followers, "Hardcore Digital King," urgently released a video.

"Deep Experience of GPT-5: Should We Panic? Or Should We Wake Up?"

At the beginning of the video, the creator sat solemnly in front of a desk piled with tech products: "Brothers, this video might be the heaviest one I've ever made.

I'm not doing this to chase clout; I just want to share my most real experience and concerns with you all."

He demonstrated GPT-5's capabilities in code generation, academic translation, market analysis, creative writing, and many other aspects, with a very intuitive demonstration process.

"Is it scary?

It's really scary.

It's not a cold machine; its comprehension, logic, and generalization abilities are already so strong that it makes people feel like it has thoughts."

A flood of bullet comments scrolled by: "Don't boost their morale, creator!" "Is it really that serious?

Is it that exaggerated?" "It's over, I feel like there's no future in learning programming..." "Calm down, it's just a tool!"

In the second half of the video, the creator changed his tone.

"However, panic cannot solve any problems.

Its power acts as a mirror for us, reflecting the gap we least want to see.

Admitting the gap and turning shame into courage is the right path.

What we need most right now is not sour grapes, nor blind self-confidence, but clarity!

Recognizing where the gap is, and then working steadily to make up for it—this requires time, and even more, requires determination and investment."

This tsunami of public opinion quickly spread from online to offline.

In Shanghai, at a trendy coffee shop near the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, it was still full of young tech workers on a weekend afternoon.

The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and an indescribable sense of anxiety.

"Have you all tried GPT-5 yet?" Li Ming, wearing the standard gray hoodie of a programmer, put down his phone, rubbed his temples, and broke the silence at the table.

"I tried it." Wang Lei, who was sitting opposite and was the technical lead of a startup company, smiled bitterly while stirring the latte in front of him.

"I had it optimize an image recognition algorithm module we had been working on for two months; not only did it rewrite it, but it also provided three optimization plans, and the benchmark results were thirty percent faster than our original version.

At that moment... I was really a bit dazed."

Zhang Qian, who was doing front-end development nearby, sighed heavily and showed the phone screen to everyone.

"Don't even get me started.

I worked overtime until 3 AM yesterday to rush an event page, and just now, on a whim, I had it try it out.

The color scheme, layout, interactive code... generated in ten minutes, and the effect is even better than what I did...

I'm now questioning the meaning of life."

Wang Lei added, lowering his voice a bit.

"What's more realistic is that the bosses aren't stupid.

Our CTO has already called a meeting to discuss how to make good use of Artificial Intelligence tools to improve efficiency.

Translated into plain language, it means that for the same work, we might need fewer people in the future."

Chen Hao, who had been listening quietly and writing on a notebook, was the only one at the table who looked relatively calm.

He was an algorithm engineer on the team.

"It's a good thing that tools are powerful; it can liberate us from low-to-mid-end repetitive labor." He pushed up his glasses.

"But the key is whether we can invest the liberated time and energy into higher-value creation.

No matter how strong Artificial Intelligence is, it currently still needs humans to define problems, evaluate results, and grasp the direction."

"Old Chen, don't be so idealistic." Li Ming interrupted him.

"Now, many requirements can be redefined and mined by Artificial Intelligence itself.

I tried having it do a product plan, from market analysis to functional design, and then to the technical implementation path; it was terrifyingly clear and logical.

I feel... the speed at which we are being replaced might be faster than we imagined."

Zhang Qian opened a video on her phone.

"Look at this; there are already startups in Silicon Valley starting to try using Artificial Intelligence for full-process development, where human product managers only need to provide a vague idea...

Following this trend..."

The table fell into silence again, leaving only the hissing sound of the coffee machine's steam and sporadic fragments of discussions about Artificial Intelligence from the people around.