Earth Era

When Xiao Yun said the word "deception", the piece of information he had obtained from the Martian's mind suddenly flashed in Dink's mind.

Robots are stupid.

Since you are stupid, then go ahead and deceive them.

It was not that Dink had not thought about this issue, but after thinking for a long time, Dink finally gave up the idea. Because Dink faced an insurmountable obstacle. So at this moment, when Xiao Yun said this word, Dink almost subconsciously retorted: "This is not feasible."

"Oh? Why isn't it possible?" Xiao Yun asked with a smile.

"Are you talking about using deception to make those robots that survived the "separate risk avoidance" strategy give up self-replication? This is absolutely not feasible." Dink murmured, "This involves the logical judgment mechanism inside the robot, and we ...There is no ability to change the robot's logical judgment mechanism. We cannot make the robot believe that "it is best for itself to only copy 10,000 robots", or "it is best to maintain the current situation and not copy itself." This kind of lie conflicts with the logical judgment mechanism of robots. Also, how to destroy most robots through deception? Is it possible to make them think that burning the engine, burning the chip, or launching an attack on their own kind is more effective? Conducive to survival and reproduction? This is also unreasonable."

"No, this is very reasonable." Xiao Yun sighed, "Robots have something in common with us humans, that is, the acquisition of all information from the outside world is based on certain organs or certain instruments. So Dink, let me ask you , how are you sure that I am real? How are you sure that my existence is not the result of stimulation of certain parts of your head? Imagine, maybe I don’t exist at all, it’s just that your organs responsible for vision and hearing receive certain Only by controlling the radio waves sent by these instruments, you will mistakenly believe that I exist...Isn't this also very reasonable?"

Dink was startled and then said: "Brain in a vat? This makes no sense."

The so-called brain in a vat is an idea. Suppose a person only has one brain. This brain is placed in a large tank filled with nutrient solution. There are many electrodes connected to the brain, which send different current signals to stimulate parts of the brain such as those responsible for hearing. , responsible for vision, responsible for touch, responsible for taste and other parts, because these current stimulations are no different from the bioelectric currents or nerve signals naturally produced in the human body, then the brain in this big vat can still feel everything in the world. The difference is that everything this brain feels is artificially controlled - but as the brain itself, it has no way of distinguishing this.

Then a very scary point can be derived from this, that is, as a living person in the real world, how can you be sure that you really exist and are not just a particle that exists in a big vat? brain?

This question is actually unanswerable, because any evidence in the real world, whether it is what you see or hear, everything you come into contact with, the occasional coolness you feel on your skin, the way you touch your lover The warm touch... none of this can be used as evidence to deny the brain in the vat, because all of this may be the product of current stimulation.

But from a philosophical perspective, this problem can be easily solved. The basis for solving this problem is Occam's razor. Occam's razor states a principle for thinking about things, that is, do not add entities unless necessary. Applying Occam's razor to the brain in the vat means that if we assume that each of us is not an entity, but is just a brain in a vat, then we also need to assume many, many things, such as assuming a certain The big forces have the power to create a brain in a vat. Assume that they have the motivation to do so, the technology to do so, and that they have a way to avoid being noticed by human civilization when they first act. Assume... many, many things need to be assumed. And if we think that the brain in a vat does not exist, then we don't need to make any assumptions.

That series of assumptions are added entities, and these entities are unnecessary, so they will be shaved off by Occam's razor, so we believe that the brain in the vat does not exist, and we are all living, real people.

Of course Dink knows the hypothesis of brain in a vat and also knows the existence of Occam's razor, so Dink says that brain in a vat is meaningless.

But Xiao Yun has a different view on this matter. Looking at the increasingly confused Dink, Xiao Yun smiled and said: "Of course I know that the brain in the vat is meaningless. I just want to use this matter to illustrate a truth, that is... what kind of judgment does a certain existence make? Everything depends on external information. To achieve any purpose, you only need to provide the corresponding information to the entity. The internal logical judgment mechanism cannot be changed, but external information can be changed."

After pondering for a moment, Xiao Yun continued: "For example, suppose I want to murder you by exposing you to highly toxic substances, and your logical judgment mechanism is to stay away from highly toxic substances when you see them to prevent yourself from being harmed. The harm caused by highly toxic substances, but if I use some method to provide you with wrong information, making you think that the highly toxic substances are actually non-toxic and beneficial to the body, then...will you come into contact with it? During this murder process, I did not change your logical judgment mechanism. You are still you. The reason why you were murdered was just because I provided you with wrong information.

Therefore, it does not matter what the original logical judgment mechanism is. What is important is the information it receives. Information is the master of everything. Under the influence of different information, a slut may become a martyr, and a hero may become a thief. As for their original logical judgment mechanism and code of conduct, it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. "

There was some confusion in Dink's eyes. Dink carefully thought about Xiao Yun's words. After a long silence, Dink found that he could not find the loopholes in Xiao Yun's words.

Because that's the way it is.

"I understand what you mean." Dink nodded slowly: "Misleading the robot group by providing false information - these false information are specially customized for the robot's logical judgment mechanism. Through this We use deception to make the robot group act according to our wishes and ultimately achieve our goals...but how to do it specifically?"

Dink thought hard about this problem and said slowly: "We need to achieve two goals through deception. The first goal is to destroy most of the robots. The second goal is to make the surviving robots give up and continue to copy themselves... Well... ... No. Although the robot group’s logical judgment mechanism includes the “separate risk avoidance” clause, this clause may not be incapable of being used by us. We may be able to find a lie to trick the robot group into giving up this point.”

Xiao Yun smiled lightly and shook his head: "This is probably not possible. I have thought about this a few years ago. I have imagined many lies to try to make the robots give up their hedging strategies, or to make the surviving robots They give up replicating themselves... But I have thought about it for a long time, and I have never thought that lies can do this - although in an absolute sense, lies are omnipotent, as long as the corresponding information is provided, no matter what we ask the robot to do, It is possible, but this is only in an absolute sense. In reality, it means that the difficulty of lies varies. There may be some kind of lie that can achieve this purpose, but the difficulty of that lie is too great. We simply can't achieve it.

I have been troubled by this point and thought about it for a long time but to no avail. But just before, it suddenly dawned on me and I figured it all out. I think we don’t actually have to do this. We have to make the robot groups give up their hedging strategies or make the surviving robots give up replicating themselves. Yes, there is no need. We can modify our needs. Tolerating the existence of surviving robots, we just need to find ways to control them within acceptable limits. And the difficulty of lying to achieve this is probably acceptable to us. "

Dink was still thinking hard: "Although the lies required to achieve this are less difficult than the lies required to make the robots give up their hedging strategies or to make the surviving robots give up replicating themselves, it is absolutely In a sense, it is still very difficult. So what kind of lies should we use to achieve this?"

Xiao Yun smiled and replied: "I don't know what kind of lies should be used to achieve this, but I think that since the general direction of our work has been determined... it will not be difficult to perfect it and then implement it. Too high. But there is a prerequisite principle, that is, since we are going to launch a deception offensive against the robot group, we must ensure that there are no blind spots. The deception offensive must cover all robots, and no robot can escape. As long as there is one If the robot escapes, our plan might be ruined."

Dink said: "I understand this. Please rest assured that although the smallpox virus I developed is still lacking in lethality, I can guarantee that any robot, as long as it can communicate with other robots, will definitely will be infected. Wherever the smallpox virus reaches, our deception offensive can reach."

Xiao Yun nodded: "This is exactly why I want to cooperate with you."