The Unveiling of Gold
Yoo Jae-won demonstrated everything from an animal encyclopedia in the AI revolution to a plant encyclopedia, and even guessing what randomly searched images on the internet were. In random searches, the speed slowed down further, and there were mistakes. For example, ambiguous images that couldn't be pinpointed with a single word, or street images with numerous objects on one screen, would display a message saying "undefined." However, when using the mouse cursor to click on a specific point in a street image mixed with various objects like cars, roads, people, buildings, and signs, it could accurately identify the object at that location.
“This is just a simple demonstration. Let me show you a more efficient application method.”
Yoo Jae-won didn't stop the demonstration there. He connected his iWorks laptop and Android smartphone with a USB cable. Then he launched ID Word from ID Office. It was the beta version currently under development as the successor to the latest 2003 version of ID Office on the market.
“During document work with ID Word, a large portion is occupied by the task of converting existing paper documents into digital format, right? Only those who actually do the work know how inefficient it is to type them all out by hand. Well, there are many cases where it's scanned into image files with a scanner, but then you can't index or search them. But from now on, that task will become incredibly simple.”
As he spoke, Yoo Jae-won took out an old document. It was a paper published in the 1980s. The language was naturally English, and it contained many complex graphs and charts. Yoo Jae-won changed the input device in ID Word from keyboard to AI Eyes and selected it. Then, holding the smartphone, he slowly scanned the paper. As if by magic, the content of the paper began to be transferred intact onto the blank ID Word workspace. Even the graphs and charts were transferred as if drawn by hand. The time it took to transfer one A4 page was about 10 seconds. It was an astonishingly fast speed.
“It’s not perfect yet, so there are some typos. You’ll have to correct those yourself.”
It was an incredible performance, but Yoo Jae-won expressed his regret.
“No! This is already perfect!”
Im Myung-han PD was surprised, but the one with an even louder voice was Writer Kim. It made sense, because document work with ID Word was something writers had to handle much more than PDs. For Writer Kim, who had done a lot of converting paper documents into IDW files, what Yoo Jae-won was showing now was truly revolutionary.
“What on earth is the principle behind this? Is it artificial intelligence?”
“Yes, it’s a combination of AI-based image interpretation and document work.”
Yoo Jae-won explained simply. But both Im Myung-han PD and Writer Kim sensed that this wasn't something that would end simply. They even had the thought that the latter part of Real Camera should be subtitled as an AI special.
Seeing Im Myung-han PD's reaction, Yoo Jae-won added further explanation.
“Actually, if you dig deeper, it hasn't reached the level of artificial intelligence that you might be thinking of yet. However, we've built an artificial neural network and trained it with machine learning, and now image interpretation has reached a certain level, so we've made it public. If you look at it coldly, it can also be seen as the result of sophisticated statistics.”
“Statistics?”
While saying this, Yoo Jae-won disclosed several algorithms that form the basis of machine learning. For the most famous Monte Carlo algorithm, since it had been used even in 1930, he had no hesitation at all.
“How on earth did you come up with this idea? And when did you start developing artificial intelligence?”
Im Myung-han PD, whose tone clearly showed he didn't understand a single thing, asked while pretending to understand.
“Well, I think it's been about 11 years.”
“11 years ago? So 1992? My goodness!”
A look of shock appeared on Im Myung-han PD's face. Yoo Jae-won's current age was 26. It was a number that didn't match at all with the title of chairman of ID Group, the world's largest company. And 11 years ago would have been when he was 15.
“Yes, that was when I created the community site 2CH.com. At first, it was really good. But as time passed, problems started to arise.”
“What kind of problems?”
“Malicious comments. I thought if left as is, it would only amplify hate and hatred, so I decided to introduce a filtering system and wrote a program. Cases where the words themselves were swear words could be easily identified, but when those were blocked, people expressed hatred with ambiguous sentences.”
Yoo Jae-won was now revealing that what was called a filtering system was actually language learning.
“At first, I was frustrated because there were no results, but as time passed, some outlines began to appear. At some point, I thought that with this, I could make computers understand human language too. So I properly expanded the scale of learning. Then a few years ago, I thought combining the image interpretation module and the language learning system would create good synergy. Instead, it required a lot of computing power, and now we're using computing power of about 1 teraflops per second.”
Yoo Jae-won then briefly explained how the image interpretation module and language learning system were being utilized in F2's autonomous driving system. The images captured by the image sensors mounted on F2 distinguish between drivable roads and obstacles. It also reads the signals of road signs and traffic lights and uses them as reference for driving.
“The white line you see here is the route to the destination marked with navigation data. And the slightly thicker overlay in lime green on top of the white line is the route that F2's autonomous driving system has determined is safe to travel.”
Yoo Jae-won didn't just speak but also gave a presentation using a projector connected to the iWorks laptop, so even Im Myung-han PD, who had no background knowledge in this field, could nod and understand.
“If an obstacle suddenly appears, it will be overlaid in red like this. The analysis of obstacles is done in various ways, and the one evaluated as the most dangerous is, of course, people.”
What appeared on the screen was the demonstration video from earlier outdoors. It was a situation where a mannequin, not a person, suddenly ran into the road, but F2's autonomous driving system had detected it before getting close to the road. Since it had the same shape as a person, it naturally analyzed it as a person, and as soon as it came onto the road, it reduced speed even though it was much farther than the safe distance. Then, when the mannequin invaded inside the white route line, it applied stronger brakes and perfectly avoided it.
“Oh.”
Im Myung-han PD nodded with admiration. However, he hadn't understood the core algorithms of artificial intelligence, but only the simple operating principle. But that level was sufficient.
“How far ahead are you looking?”
“Right now it's the combination of language module and image module, and I'm planning to combine a voice module as well. Making it understand human voices too. If it reaches the level I'm thinking of without issues, then Android users will each be able to receive customized services from a smart assistant.”
Yoo Jae-won's schedule management is handled by the secretarial office. Scraps on desired interests are also handled by the secretarial office. But most people can't hire a secretary like Yoo Jae-won, so they have to do it themselves. With an AI assistant, just one word would suffice. Of course, there would be a huge qualitative difference from what a human does, but as AI technology advances, that gap will narrow. In Yoo Jae-won's view, by around 2020, AI's IQ would surpass that of most people. If it were before the regression, it would have been in 2030, but since technological acceleration has been implemented, he was confident that even conservatively, it would be at least 10 years faster.
“Ah! But I forgot to ask the name of the artificial intelligence. What’s its name?”
Yoo Jae-won, who had answered any question without hesitation, was at a loss for words for the first time at Im Myung-han PD's question about the name. Come to think of it, until now it had been called something-something module, and there was no term referring to the entire artificial intelligence system.
“We won't use a common name. I'll leave that to the buyers who choose our products.”
It was a conclusion he reached after thinking quickly. Before the regression, when AI was first being popularized, it had started with AI services with consistent names like Siri, Bixby, and Genie. The problem was that because the AI assistants had common names, if you called the name loudly, other nearby AI assistants would also respond. Later, after AI technology advanced further, it became possible to give each user a different name for their AI assistant. Yoo Jae-won himself had used an AI assistant to which he had given a name himself, not one assigned by the company.
“Instead, the artificial intelligence running on the main server will be called Gold.”
Gold. There is no one who dislikes gold. But Yoo Jae-won didn't choose the name Gold because he liked gold. In the mid-21st century, the name of the first AI to surpass the technological singularity was Golden Silver. The base metal of the processor, the core of AI, is silver-colored, but when light shines on it, it reflects a golden color, hence the name Golden Silver. Yoo Jae-won chose the name Gold in the hope that the AI he was creating would follow in the footsteps of the great Golden Silver.
“Gold? That’s nice! It seems like our Gold will bring a brilliant golden age to humanity.”
Im Myung-han PD was already saying “our Gold.” And it wasn't wrong either, because the ID Media Group to which Im Myung-han PD belonged was also a proud member of ID Group, so in a way, they were family.
When the second episode of Real Camera, which captured Yoo Jae-won's daily life, ended like that, the aftermath was enormous.
- President of South Korea Roh Moo-hyun!
- Apple iPhone 3G announced!
- Iraq, civil war breaks out!
These were the major events that occurred during the two weeks while Yoo Jae-won's Real Camera aired one episode per week. In Korea, the presidential election had ended, and Democratic Party candidate Roh Moo-hyun was elected president. From early February to early March. During the official campaign period for the presidential election, huge events broke out one after another in Korea. Among them, the confusion caused by the unification was a huge variable in an already unpredictable election landscape. It started with Lee In-je, of course. Like a loach turning the entire pond into muddy water, Lee In-je, who founded his own party, showed an unstoppable move. The most unconventional among them was, of course, the proposal for unification with candidate Roh Moo-hyun. Candidate Lee In-je himself knew that if things continued as they were, it would be neither fish nor fowl, so he needed to create a variable. In particular, he absolutely couldn't stand the sight of Jeon Jae-jun, whom he considered an outsider, becoming president. The way to maximize his own value while preventing Jeon Jae-jun from becoming president was unification with candidate Roh Moo-hyun. Candidate Roh Moo-hyun didn't show much interest in this, but what showed a bright expression was the Democratic Party, to which he belonged. During President Kim Dae-jung's time, due to the coalition with the Tongil National Party, the Democratic Party's presence was like cold rice. The most bitter thing was the last general election. It was because they had to share seats in the National Assembly that were not even one seat to spare. Seoul was a place where Democratic Party forces were strong, but there were quite a few districts where they couldn't run because of the coalition. This movement by the Democratic Party was a burden for candidate Roh Moo-hyun, who had to draw the picture after the election, and it was infuriating for candidate Jeon Jae-jun. In the case of Jeon Jae-jun, it was too absurd that someone who had been defeated after going through the final primary in the Tongil National Party would leave the party and run in the presidential election again. This was also where Yoo Jae-won burst into laughter at Lee In-je's performance. In fact, the reason the law prohibiting running in elections after losing primaries was created before the regression was because of Lee In-je. He had run independently after defying the primary results in the 1997 presidential election, which led to the prohibition law being created afterward. But in this life, Lee In-je couldn't be active because he was pushed back by Jeon Myeong-heon in the 1997 presidential election, and now he was running wild like a fish in water. As expected, right after the presidential election ended, there were rumors that a law prohibiting running after losing primaries would be created. But that wasn't all. It seemed like there would be unification between candidate Roh Moo-hyun and candidate Lee In-je, but candidate Jeon Jae-jun also made a unification proposal. Naturally, it was directed at candidate Roh Moo-hyun. It was a humiliating thing. Because candidate Lee In-je's out-of-the-ordinary actions were so rampant that candidate Jeon Jae-jun's approval rating also declined, making his own election precarious. Candidate Roh Moo-hyun preferred Jeon Jae-jun over Lee In-je. Even if combined with Lee In-je's National Unification Party, it would be less than a majority in the National Assembly, but combined with the Tongil National Party, it would secure a stable majority, so he could implement his political philosophy as is. But Jeon Jae-jun was a troller recognized by Yoo Jae-won. As expected, the ability of an outstanding troller didn't go anywhere, and the day before the election, Jeon Jae-jun declared the breaking of the unification. It was the picture Jeon Jae-jun had originally drawn. By shifting the blame for the failure of unification to candidate Roh Moo-hyun's side, he would mass-produce voters who felt disappointed, and he himself would gain sympathy votes and come in first place. The interesting thing was that Jeon Jae-jun's moves were very similar to the 2002 presidential election before the regression. Naturally, Jeon Jae-jun's plan failed. Voters were coldly watching the election landscape, and on internet communities, netizens and political experts with sharp insight clearly read the intentions of Jeon Jae-jun and Lee In-je. Moreover, because candidate Roh Moo-hyun had a strong fandom, the effect of gathering even more densely in crisis situations occurred. As a result, the winner of the 2003 presidential election was candidate Roh Moo-hyun. Like this, Korea was abuzz with the presidential election that showed extreme dynamism, and in the US, Apple announced the next smartphone, the iPhone 3G, through Macworld. It boasted performance that was clearly one step ahead of the Android S2, and the design had become even more Apple-like. In particular, with the addition of a 3G modem, wireless data transmission speed increased significantly. If the reception rate was guaranteed in an environment equipped with 3G repeaters, speeds in Mbps units could be maintained consistently. There were also many innovative aspects in the software iOS. Unification of the interface, integration with SNS, improvement in performance, etc. It was a new product that showed that Apple had been sharpening its knives diligently. The truly unfortunate thing was that the day after the iPhone 3G was released, Real Camera episode 2 aired. People's attention was focused on AI Gold. But Apple hadn't thought of AI at all. The iPhone 3G, which had no AI at all, was instantly pushed to the back burner. No, not only that, but even though a civil war broke out in Iraq between the Hussein regime and Islamic fundamentalist rebels, interest in AI Gold was exploding to the point where that news was pushed aside. At the same time, controversy also arose. Ethical issues inevitably accompanying AI began to emerge.