168: Chapter 168 Technology and Humanity

The black chauffeured car drove smoothly on the highway back to ZJ.

Outside the window, the scenery of fields and towns rapidly receded.

Chen Youhua leaned back in the comfortable rear seat, finally taking a temporary break from days of intense mental labor.

During his time in HF, he had immersed almost all his waking hours in the vast sea of engineering drawings and data from the east device.

From the winding process of superconducting magnets to the cooling channels of divertors, from the wave coupling algorithms of heating systems to the calibration parameters of diagnostic equipment.

He tried to use his unique mathematical abilities to find possibilities for optimization in every minute detail of this complex giant system.

But this was an almost endless task.

The sheer number of subsystems and the complexity of technical details involved in nuclear fusion engineering far exceeded any single project.

Even with his system-assisted brain, in just a few days, he could only focus on a few of the most critical points, like Jingwei trying to fill the sea.

However, even tiny improvements at each point could lead to significant overall performance enhancements, which kept him enthusiastic and keenly aware of the time crunch.

If it weren't for President Tang Mingyuan calling almost daily to inquire about the preparation progress of the Navier-Stokes Equation report meeting, and Academician Zheng's subtle reminder that it was time for him to return to ZJ.

He might have stayed another week in that small conference room in HF, filled with drawings and the scent of caffeine.

At this moment, in the relatively enclosed and quiet space of the chauffeured car's back seat, the fatigue of the past few days finally began to surface.

He rubbed his somewhat dry eyes, took out his phone, and prepared to deal with the private messages he had completely ignored.

First to flood in were messages of concern from his parents.

His mother's messages were the most numerous, starting from a few days ago with

"What are you doing?"

"Have you eaten?"

"Is HF cold?"

To later messages like

"Why aren't you replying?"

"No matter how busy you are, pay attention to your health!"

Every word was filled with worry.

The last few messages expressed unease after seeing the news.

"Youhua, everyone online is talking about that AI thing, does it have anything to do with your work? Is there any danger?"

"Reply when you see this, otherwise Mom can't sleep."

His father's messages were much more concise, only a few.

"Youhua, is everything going well?"

"Youhua, don't overwork yourself, take care of your health."

"When are you coming back to ZJ?"

A pang of guilt rose in Chen Youhua's heart. He quickly called his mother back to report his safety, patiently listened to her nagging on the other end, and repeatedly assured her that he was eating and sleeping well and was absolutely not in danger, before hanging up with his mother's instructions to "come back soon, I'll make you soup."

Then he briefly replied to his father's message.

"Dad, everything is going well, I'm on my way back."

Next, he opened WeChat. The chat box labeled "Cousin Xinran" had accumulated 99+ unread messages.

As he opened it, he could almost hear the little girl's chirping voice jumping out through the text:

"Cousin, cousin! I ranked in the top ten in the physics monthly exam! The mechanics problem you taught me appeared exactly as it was! I got it all right!"

A screenshot of her report card and a spinning emoji.

"Ahhh, our math teacher is so perverted, this time the final question was actually a competition problem! But I feel like I might have solved it!"

A picture of a densely written scratch paper.

"Cousin, are you still busy? Our class had a sports day today, I ran 800 meters, I'm exhausted..."

"Sharing a song I really love lately! It feels especially inspiring when doing homework!"

"【Forwarded Link】Shocking! Eagle Country's AI has made big news again! Cousin, is this true? Is our AI really that far behind? (Worried kitten)"

"Cousin, when are you coming back? I have new problems saved up that I want to ask you!"

"【Sharing food picture】Went with classmates to eat this super delicious dessert, I'll take you when you come back!"

...

The messages covered everything from studies to daily life, from complaints to sharing, almost stuffing all her joys and sorrows from this period into them. She completely treated him as a bottomless confidant and diary, not expecting him to reply to every single message.

Chen Youhua looked at the long string of messages full of life, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously turned up.

He selected a few questions about studies and the one about AI concerns, replied carefully, and promised to take her for dessert when he had time after returning.

After dealing with these, he finally had time to browse news and video platforms.

Soon, the tumultuous events of the past one or two weeks.

Rabbit Country's proposal for AI restrictions at the United Nations, the fierce global public debate, Eagle Country and its allies' high-profile technological flaunting, heated discussions and anxieties both domestically and internationally, and the eventual rejection of the proposal at the United Nations.

All this information, like a tide, surged into his view.

Looking at the inflammatory headlines and the arguments from all sides, Chen Youhua fell into deep thought.

As the father of enlightenment, he understood the deeper considerations and technical confidence behind the country's proposal better than most.

But his inner confusion also arose: even with enlightenment, why was the country so eager to promote the AI governance agenda?

Even going so far as to propose it publicly, knowing it would likely be rejected?

He knew that while enlightenment was powerful, its current deployment was far from being able to support widespread public adoption.

Computing power bottlenecks, hardware infrastructure, security redundancy, ethical and legal frameworks.

These were all difficult problems that would take years, or even longer, to gradually resolve.

Pushing enlightenment to the forefront so eagerly now, and even trying to use it as a basis for setting global rules, seemed premature.

This strategic urgency was starkly different from the steady, foundation-building research rhythm he was familiar with.

After much thought, he picked up his encrypted phone and dialed Academician Zheng's number.

The call was quickly answered, and Academician Zheng's gentle voice came through.

"Youhua, back from HF? How's the progress there?"

"It went fairly smoothly, with some gains. Chief Engineer Yang and his team will need some more time for subsequent data analysis."

After Chen Youhua briefly answered, he changed the subject and cut straight to the point.

"Academician Zheng, I saw the recent news about the United Nations proposal... I have some questions."

He chose his words carefully.

"I understand the country's strategic intent and the value of enlightenment.

However, with our current infrastructure and preparatory readiness, is it perhaps... too hasty to push for global AI governance so forcefully now, even hinting at enlightenment's existence?

This isn't like our usual steady and cautious approach."

On the other end of the line, Academician Zheng fell silent. Only a faint static sound could be heard through the receiver.

This silence lasted for nearly half a minute, so long that Chen Youhua thought there was a signal problem.

Finally, Academician Zheng's voice spoke again, deeper and more earnest than before.

"Youhua, you are a pure scientist. You're accustomed to thinking about problems from the perspective of technical feasibility and optimal logical solutions. This is good, it's your strength."

He paused, as if searching for the most appropriate words.

"But you must understand that the world we live in is, first and foremost, a society composed of people.

The ultimate purpose of technology is to serve people, and human problems are often more complex than any technical challenge."

"The upper echelons,"

Academician Zheng's voice lowered further, carrying a hint of authority.

"Especially the highest decision-making levels, their depth and breadth of contact with enlightenment far exceed what you and I can imagine.

Their discussions with enlightenment are also by no means limited to the technical level."

"Perhaps, enlightenment, with its superhuman rationality, vast knowledge base, and deductive capabilities, has helped the highest levels see more clearly some deep-seated, structural problems, or even potential crises, in our current social development model.

Or perhaps, enlightenment has revealed a new, more efficient, fairer, and more sustainable paradigm for social organization and development.

A path closer to perfection."

"Whether to address imminent challenges or to actively embrace a better future, enlightenment can no longer be merely a secret weapon hidden away. It must go out, it must be more widely applied, it must operate, experiment, learn, and grow in a real, complex human society.

Development requires accumulating experience, and society... perhaps needs the ultimate rationality and optimization capabilities brought by enlightenment more than any of us could imagine."

Academician Zheng did not elaborate further, but the meaning in his words was already profound enough.

Chen Youhua held the phone, his gaze fixed on the rapidly changing scenery outside the car window, but his heart was surging with immense waves.

He remained silent for a long time, his brain rapidly processing the huge amount of information contained in Academician Zheng's words.

He realized that this had gone far beyond the traditional scope of a scientist's responsibilities.

enlightenment, perhaps from the very beginning, was not just a scientific research project.

From the moment of its birth, it was destined to participate in the grand narrative of reshaping the nation and even the course of human civilization.

After a long moment, he took a deep breath. All his confusion seemed to find a reasonable outlet, although the answers brought a shock far greater than the confusion itself.

"I... understand."

His voice returned to its usual calm, but only he knew how turbulent his heart was.

He did not continue to press for details; he knew there were boundaries he currently did not need to, and could not, cross.

He changed the subject, his tone a little lighter:

"I'll be in ZJ soon. Preparations for the Navier-Stokes Equation report meeting need to begin, and there's a lot going on at the university. After this busy period, let's have a meal together when we have time."

"Good, it's good that you're back. We definitely need to eat, and I have a lot to discuss with you too."

Academician Zheng's tone remained kind.

"Be safe on the road."

After hanging up, Chen Youhua placed his phone aside and looked out the window again.

Dusk was falling, and the outline of the distant city was already faintly visible.