Chapter 103 - 99: Autonomous Driving_1

Lin Ju: "Can you independently pilot this spacecraft to complete the landing process?"

SC09: "I will make a comprehensive judgment and plan the flight path based on my own power level and the telemetry information. If you need, you can entrust me with piloting. I have a rich aerodynamics database and am more accurate than human pilots."

Lin Ju: "As you have guessed, you are now controlling a flight simulation cabin, but I require you to undergo a flight assessment just like a human pilot and to be scored according to the same criteria."

SC09: "Command confirmed. For the sake of command accuracy, I suggest you append ’confirm command’ after issuing instructions to me. I will record your voiceprint and other characteristics obtained from sensors, to avoid misexecution of commands. You may also agree on other methods or disregard this."

After SC09 responded, Lin Ju and the group of engineers all expressed an incredulous look.

It was very intelligent, even knowing how to guide operators to use it in customary ways, a truly mature artificial intelligence with clear logic and stable state, worthy of being a billion-dollar artificial intelligence.

Immediately thereafter, Lin Ju issued assessment instructions to SC09, asking it to take the test according to simulation standards.

On the large status screen outside the simulator, the Progress in simulation mode was operating in low Earth orbit. After the assessment began, SC09 immediately used the RCS to change direction, starting the deceleration and orbit descent.

At the same time, it continued to communicate with Lin Ju and the others:

"Since this is a simulated manned state, I will choose the landing path and flight style by synthesizing different criteria such as fuel, acceleration, and the state of the aircraft. The approach I’m using this time is: time-saving. If needed, I can switch any time."

"The vehicle is experiencing localized high temperatures. I will adjust the attitude to balance the thermal insulation tiles’ lifespan."

"Ground guidance received; I will enter the final approach at the speed of 345 kilometers per hour."

"..."

In just over 20 minutes, the simulated Progress smoothly decelerated, took a water-skimming trajectory to slow down, glided onto the landing path, and finally landed perfectly.

The simulator’s scoring mechanism would score each link in the background, and when the simulation ended with Progress coming to a stop, the final result was a standard perfect score of 100.

The simulator was not intelligent enough, and many of the scoring aspects were based on optimal indicators for individual links, which would vary under different simulation conditions. Theoretically, a perfect score is only a possibility. Deng Lei had flown only once and achieved a high score of 94, which was the record. SC09, however, tailored its performance to the scoring conditions, achieving a perfect score.

It even thoughtfully explained the reasons for each of its actions, as if it knew this was a deliberate demonstration.

Next, Lin Ju engaged in further dialogue with SC09 and found out that it also possessed an internal chat function. It could connect to a dialogue database or the internet for crawling and learning, communicating with astronauts to alleviate loneliness. Its current functionalities were only limited by the single-function platform.

Even when Lin Ju asked if it could drive a car, SC09 made a little joke:

"Controlling a spacecraft is like making a bullet turn a corner; driving a car is just using your hand to push a pebble."

He turned to the engineer: "My car is parked just outside the factory. Go bring it in; let’s retrofit it right away."

But the New Yuan engineers were somewhat troubled:

"Boss, although cars now are also electronically controlled, we aren’t the manufacturers. We can’t change the vehicle’s system. If you want to try, please get an electric car from Xin’an."

"This..." Lin Ju was about to agree when SC09’s voice chimed in again:

"If you authorize it, I can perform online hacking. Whether artificial intelligence driving is feasible needs to be assessed based on whether the hardware pathways are viable."

Lin Ju: "You can perform hacking?"

SC09: "I have not found legal provisions restricting it in the internal system. If necessary, I can proceed with the setting; the program has reserved a dedicated interface for this purpose."

"..."

Lin Ju clapped his hands in applause; a system’s work is steadfast indeed, and it was so considerate.

The engineers promptly brought in Lin Ju’s CS75 from outside the factory. Since he decided to experiment with it and allowed for arbitrary retrofitting, they simply went ahead and removed the control panel wiring. They then linked it to SC09’s motherboard using a handcrafted adapter card.

Then he directly pulled out an Ethernet cable to connect, gaining limited access to the internet through the company’s intranet.

As it was for development and testing, the motherboard had a rich array of reserved interfaces which, with the addition of common driver chips, could support various protocols—consideration was quite thorough.

On SC09’s screen, a prompt saying "Please wait" appeared, and after a while, SC09 indicated:

"Evaluation complete. The vehicle is equipped with features like ’hill-start assist’, lane-keeping, automatic transmission, and more. These can be unlocked to achieve full control takeover. Please confirm if needed."

"Unlock, confirm command."

"Unlock successful."

Lin Ju: ...

The transition was seamless—no sooner had Lin Ju spoken than SC09 reported successful hacking.

The engineers were also puzzled, surely the computing power of the eight X32035s wasn’t that terrifying?

Lin Ju asked SC09 how it managed the hack and the answer was surprising.

"I located several network drives and passwords that contained the firmware-flashing programs by searching the chat logs of Taobao’s remote flashing service vendors through keyword searching. After downloading the firmware-flashing program, I parsed and unlocked it, a process that was completed while analyzing the vehicle’s system."

"..."

False artificial intelligence: relies on brute-force computing power to crack codes; searches dictionaries for hacking methods.

True artificial intelligence: discreetly lifts firmware-flashing programs leaked from car factories online.

The always well-mannered Lin Ju let slip an impressed "Damn," his view of the formidable AI, unlike anything he’d ever seen in his past life, now fully formed.

It was too powerful—its logical thinking was definitely full marks, ruthlessly achieving the goal by any means necessary, maximizing the savings of computing power. Compared to this, those chatbots couldn’t even be considered artificial intelligence.

Of course, SC09 still didn’t have cognition; it relied on its database for judgments, dedicated to spacecraft, and it was only by virtue of artificial intelligence that it possessed the compatibility and plasticity to operate in other domains.

"Can you drive this car now?"

SC09: "I can commence the most basic form of autonomous car driving once you confirm the installation of my main body into the vehicle, along with the basic visual and audio sensors, wind direction meters, and LIDAR."

The engineers immediately got to work, as such gadgets were readily available for an aerospace enterprise—they soon fitted various off-the-shelf sensors to the vehicle, and since they were made for spacecraft, the cost of these sensors peppered around the body of the vehicle was already several times that of the car itself.

However, after completing these modifications, the original SUV was barely recognizable.

The passenger seat was removed to mount SC09’s mainboard on a welded bracket, while dozens of fans tasked with cooling the components whirred loudly—the already complex harness became even more dense with adaptors.

There were several cameras on the roof and body of the car, both standard and infrared, and the rotating LIDAR that peered from windows or had been wired through drilled holes. Aside from the driver’s seat and the backseat that could fit two people, the interior was now in the utmost state of disarray.

Lin Ju and two system engineers squeezed into the car, and SC09 voluntarily spoke up:

"The vehicle meets the requirements for autonomous driving. You can set a destination or give me other instructions."

Lin Ju looked outside, his hand on the door handle speaking loudly to cover the noise of the cooling fans:

"Let’s go for two laps around the base airport."

SC09: "Instruction received. The route is provided by satellite navigation. Buildings in this area may not be recorded. I will automatically determine the destination point and the route to take.

Please engage drive mode D, do not touch any controls on the driver’s seat that may affect the progress of the vehicle, fasten your seatbelt, we are about to depart."

To Lin Ju’s anticipation, the motor started, the flywheel spun for the ignition, and as the engine began vibrating, the unrecognizable SUV rolled out of the factory, travelling at a velocity of 30KM/H within the base.