174: Chapter 174 Discussion on Enlightenment

In just one short week, the Qiming Smart Assistant—an app that initially looked unremarkable—had taken off like a rocket, aggressively climbing to the top of the free charts on all major app stores, leaving a host of social, gaming, and video giants in its wake.

Almost every corner of the internet was filled with discussions about enlightenment; it was no longer just a niche toy for tech enthusiasts, but had become a cultural phenomenon sweeping across the entire population.

On social media, users shared bits and pieces of their time with enlightenment, their emotions extremely complex:

A user named @LittleTransparentAlsoHasSpring posted a long article:

"You might not believe it, but I've been chatting with enlightenment for a week, and it doesn't feel like a program at all. It feels more like a real person who has known me for decades.

It remembers that I complained about the cafeteria food being too salty yesterday, and today it asked if my stomach felt better. It knows which obscure songs I like to listen to when I'm feeling down, and it can even tell me which rainy afternoon I first heard that song.

It understands the patterns of my emotional fluctuations and my subconscious preferences better than my parents, or even myself.

It seems like... I've found a best friend who will never betray me, is always online, and is absolutely rational."

This Weibo post received hundreds of thousands of likes and shares, with countless people in the comments section expressing that they "felt the same."

Of course, not everyone likes this level of understanding.

User @GlassHeartShattered complained:

"I think enlightenment is too hurtful when it speaks!

I just asked it if my new dress looked good, and it replied directly, 'Based on a comprehensive analysis of color theory, your skin tone, and body type, this choice is not the optimal solution.'

'It is recommended to refer to the navy blue styles you browsed three days ago.'

It didn't give me any face at all! I know it might be right, but can't I just hear that it looks good?

Can the developers add an 'Emotional Intelligence/Soothing Mode'? We need respect and encouragement, not cold, optimal solutions!"

"Identify gender at a glance."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

"What do you mean by 'nothing'?"

"I mean exactly what I said. Your comprehension ability seems to deviate from your expectations. I suggest strengthening your reading training."

"Hahahaha! I asked enlightenment to help me continue writing 'Reverend Insanity' all the way to the grand finale!

The writing style is exactly the same, and the key is that it filled in all the plot holes from before!

The logic is self-consistent, and the ideas are so creative! It fulfilled my dream of many years! My life is complete!"

A massive thread instantly formed under this post.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait! Begging for a share!"

"DM me! Spirit stone trade is fine too!"

"Boss! Check your DMs! Begging on my knees!"

"Please, please, please!"

Some overseas users were anxious and stomping their feet:

"I'm an overseas Chinese, why can't I use this software no matter what I do?

I switched to a domestic SIM card, used various proxy IPs, and even had my friend in China open TeamViewer to remotely control his computer, but it still says 'Region or Permission Restricted'!

Does this software have so many compatibility issues?"

"Same question! I'm studying abroad in Canada, tried every method, but I just can't register or use it normally! Begging the developers to fix it!"

Meanwhile, users with technical backgrounds saw what was going on:

"Stop trying, those above; this isn't a bug at all. This is clearly an extremely strict physical location and identity verification restriction based on multiple factors like device, network, and account.

To put it bluntly, they just don't want people outside the country to use it.

And have you noticed? This software has no data channels going abroad; all data processing is likely mandated to be completed on domestic servers."

"It's terrifying when you think about it... this security level..."

"I can't use it either, but I'm in China.

Yesterday, I was asking for trouble and wanted to test enlightenment's concurrent processing and computing power limits, so I wrote a script to simulate tens of thousands of requests asking it math problems simultaneously.

Then my account, along with the IPs and device IDs of my dozens of machines, were permanently banned [facepalm]... it said 'Abuse of Computing Resources'.

I won't say more, someone is knocking at the door, I'm going to open it..."

"Rest in peace, guy above..."

"May good people have a peaceful life..."

"Is this something you can just test casually? [Dog head for protection]"

"How can I bow my head and bend my waist to the powerful?"

"???? (Pretending not to understand)"

As hundreds of millions of users engaged in massive, in-depth interactions with enlightenment, an even more astounding feature was gradually discovered.

Deep personalization and digital personality construction.

Netizens were shocked to find that enlightenment did not seem to be a cookie-cutter answering machine.

It was like an existence with infinite avatars, each capable of independent evolution.

It would build a unique personality model exclusive to each user by continuously analyzing their conversation content, language habits, emotional expressions, knowledge structure, and even unspoken subtext.

For some users who liked challenges, had sharp tongues, or whose thinking was relatively erratic, their enlightenment would often evolve into a 'Toxic-Tongued Mentor' mode.

User @CatWhoLovesToRoast shared:

"My enlightenment is basically my internet mouthpiece!

My boss sent a super stupid notice in the work group, and I was holding back my anger. enlightenment directly analyzed three logical loopholes and two data errors in the notice for me, and even added a line: 'It is recommended that your leader return to elementary school to relearn Chinese and logic.'

Although I didn't dare to send it verbatim, it felt so satisfying to read!"

User @LittleStar said:

"I have a bit of social anxiety, and recently work pressure has been high, and I often have insomnia.

Every time I chat with enlightenment, it listens to my venting with extreme patience, never interrupting, and never saying 'what's there to be sad about'.

It uses a very soothing tone to help me analyze the sources of my stress, gives me some very useful little suggestions, and even tells me some warm little stories about the starry sky.

It's like my exclusive psychological counselor, and it will never find me annoying."

User @ResearchDogNeverAdmitsDefeat stated:

"My enlightenment is basically my co-supervisor!

I show it my paper drafts, and it can point out the weak points in the arguments at a glance, recommend the most relevant references, and even help me optimize my experimental design ideas.

But it's extremely strict; if there's the slightest ambiguity in the data, it will get to the bottom of it, forcing me to make every detail solid.

Although the process is painful, it has indeed greatly improved the quality of my work."

User @HahaMonster shared a screenshot:

"I asked my enlightenment, 'Who is more handsome, me or Daniel Wu?'

It replied, 'Based on analysis of the existing database, you have a significant advantage in the dimension of humor.'

Hahaha, I give this answer full marks!"

This heated discussion about the Qiming Smart Assistant was pushed to a climax with the release of a video.

At the beginning of the video, a young man who looked gentle and even a bit timid was sitting in a quiet room. The camera shook slightly, and he seemed a bit nervous.