Chapter 95: The National New Technology Exploration Division

The coffee in Chen Jingming’s mouth almost shot out. He gaped, revealing a mouthful of yellowed teeth. “You’re saying these waiters are robots?”

Ling Xuan nodded and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “Director Chen, didn’t you read the materials?”

“No.” Chen Jingming looked at the seven or eight waiters moving to and fro on the floor, pointing at them with a finger. “These are robots? Artificial intelligence?”

Ling Xuan covered her mouth and laughed softly. “The others are human. Two of them are robots, including the one who just poured you coffee. If you look closely, you can still tell the difference from a real person.”

Chen Jingming was utterly speechless. He truly had not noticed robots mingling among the human staff. Now that Ling Xuan had mentioned it, he took a closer look and, indeed, began to spot the subtle signs.

First was the skin. Though it was a high-grade synthetic human skin, it was still a product; the complexion it gave off looked too flawless compared with a normal person’s. The hair was the same, glossy black and smooth, needing no care at all.

Then there were the speech and movements, all precise and impeccably proper, without the small imperfections that real people inevitably had.

In short, because they were too proper, too perfect, they became distinguishable.

“So this is artificial intelligence, then,” Chen Jingming said. As a director, film was his field of expertise, but when it came to technology, he could only glance at it superficially. “The kind that can learn and improve itself?”

Ling Xuan shook her head. She had studied Xiao Kaitian’s materials with great care. After all, the public explanation was that all these products existed to serve the needs of film production. “Mr. Xiao said this is the first generation. It’s mainly built for specific application scenarios, like our film, which needs a large number of robots. The two you saw are loaded with waiter programs, so they can only do waiter work. Anything beyond that, and they can’t handle it.”

“If Mr. Xiao has that kind of ability, why not go all the way and produce true artificial intelligence?” Chen Jingming voiced the question in his mind. By rights, if the technology was truly advanced, that was what should be shown.

“That I don’t know.” Ling Xuan shrugged. “I can’t guess what Mr. Xiao is thinking.” In her view, the way Xiao Kaitian handled things had already far surpassed her imagination. She could even foresee that once the film was made, it would be a work of epochal significance.

Unlike the other exhibition halls, Xiao Kaitian’s booth, though well placed, did not attract much foot traffic. Its promotion revolved tightly around the film, and the various mechanical limbs and other displays were clearly presented as props for a movie.

If one merely passed by without paying close attention, one would never know what these products truly meant.

The exhibition drew all kinds of visitors, but their focus was on practical technological products. Xiao Kaitian’s booth looked more like a stunt put on by a postproduction company: attractive, but not useful. As a result, very few people lingered.

Xiao Kaitian did not mind. He was fishing, and fishing for an unusual catch at that; the ordinary crowd was never his target. He sat relaxed in the corner of the booth, idly stirring the coffee spoon in his hand so that it tapped against the porcelain cup and gave off clear, pleasant sounds from time to time.

He knew exactly what he was doing, but Guo Lei and the others did not. Seeing that the booth had almost no visitors, she exchanged a glance with Tang Tian, and both of them saw a trace of worry in each other’s eyes.

“Ah, I really don’t know what Mr. Xiao is thinking.”

The first day of the exhibition ended without producing any results. So when everyone returned to their posts the next day, their spirits were generally low, except for the two robot waiters, who remained as enthusiastic as ever.

Xiao Kaitian still sat in the corner, checking his phone and drinking coffee with complete composure.

It was not until nearly noon that the booth finally welcomed a middle-aged man who took a serious interest in the displays.

He was not tall, a little stout, with greasy hair and stubbly whiskers, plainly someone unkempt in appearance. Wearing black-rimmed glasses, he leaned close to the exhibits and studied them carefully, spending a full ten minutes or more on each one.

As he looked, he muttered under his breath, and sometimes he took out a notebook to jot something down. His behavior quickly drew Guo Lei’s attention.

“Hello, do you need any help?” she asked with a smile as she approached.

“Hmm.” The middle-aged man did not even turn around. “These are made with a new type of composite material. Are you really making these only as film props? You should know that if these products were put to practical use, they could represent an epochal change for human civilization.”

Guo Lei felt awkward beyond measure. Whether it was epochal or not, she had no idea; in any case, no one seemed interested in these things.

“This is a buffering system that imitates joints, isn’t it? Explain the design concept and the underlying principles.”

“Um... I’m not the designer. How about I take you over to speak with someone?”

Only then did the middle-aged man react. He adjusted his glasses and glanced at Guo Lei. “Right, you don’t look like the designer. Sorry to trouble you, then.”

Guo Lei’s mouth twitched, but she still led him to Xiao Kaitian. “Mr. Xiao, this gentleman is...”

“Huang Ming.” The middle-aged man shook his hand and, after the basic courtesies were done, sat down without ceremony directly opposite Xiao Kaitian, placing his briefcase on the table. “You designed these products?”

Xiao Kaitian merely smiled at him and said nothing.

“Ah, how rude of me. Look at my head, I got so caught up in the products.” Huang Ming slapped his forehead, opened his slightly worn briefcase, and took out a business card to hand over. “This is my card.”

Xiao Kaitian took it and looked. It bore only Huang Ming’s name and phone number, with nothing else.

“I’m the director of the National Department for New Technology Exploration under Han and Tang,” Huang Ming said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. “Short for the New Exploration Department. Of course, not many people know this organization, but I can assure you, I’m definitely not some kind of scam artist.”

“The purpose of the New Exploration Department is to dig into and discover emerging technologies. Our definition of new technology does not depend on whether it is lawful or reasonable, or whether it conforms to ethics and morality. Practicality is not a consideration either. We simply acknowledge it as a new technology, nothing more.”

“I’ve looked at these products from your company, and they fit the scope of what the New Exploration Department seeks very well. So I wanted to ask you: you’re the inventor, aren’t you? Have you considered cooperating with us?”

He rattled off a long string of words, while Xiao Kaitian remained smiling all the while. Only after Huang Ming finally brought up cooperation did Xiao Kaitian lower his eyes to the coffee before him. “What kind of cooperation?”

“Any kind. A buyout, capital investment, technology transfer, equity participation—anything works. But before that, I want to know what your ultimate finished concept is. Whether it’s for marketization or industrial and military use, I need to know exactly how far your products can go.” Huang Ming stated his request cleanly and directly.