I Play Dungeons in the Police Station

Chapter 484 - 286: Another Lonely Rest

"Really?"

"You think I’m joking?"

Seeing Li Xiang’s incredulous expression, Li Zhongqing couldn’t help but find it amusing: You probably don’t even know what kind of monster you’ve created.

In front of Artificial Intelligence, what’s a mere academician title worth?

"Have I really become an academician?"

"Not yet, but soon you will be."

Li Zhongqing smiled at Li Xiang.

Li Xiang still couldn’t believe it. Two years ago, he was just a lowly assistant police officer.

Now, he’s transformed and has actually been elected as an academician.

All this felt like a dream.

Unreal.

"It’s too sudden!"

"It’s not sudden at all. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has been looking for me for days. I kept delaying them by saying you were busy with a case. In the end, they brought over the notice that you were selected as a candidate for an academician."

After saying this, Li Zhongqing handed the notification of his candidacy to Li Xiang.

Actually, there are a series of procedures to go through to become an academician candidate, and it’s usually not this fast. But Li Zhongqing needed to see the sincerity of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and in their eagerness, they got 23 academicians to jointly recommend him, which is unprecedented in the history of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

There’s no other way; Artificial Intelligence is just too important.

Worldwide, countries are in a race to develop Artificial Intelligence. Whichever country gains a leading edge can lead the Industry 4.0 revolution.

"They say your project, ’Little Wooden,’ is just a half-finished product. Is that true?"

Li Xiang nodded: "Yes, when I first developed it, I was all alone, so many functions weren’t perfected in time. I left an interface module to complete whenever I had time."

This is like the heavens spoon-feeding him. Even a half-finished product has those academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences chasing him for collaboration.

"Here’s the thing, the Chinese Academy of Sciences currently has a project about the E-level supercomputing project. They plan to install your Artificial Intelligence on this supercomputer. At the same time, they also hope you can continue to perfect ’Little Wooden.’ What are your thoughts?"

"That’s great news, but if I leave, what about the guidance team?"

Li Xiang actually didn’t really want to go. Leaving the guidance team meant losing his diamond income, which was fundamental to him.

Li Zhongqing, unaware of these details, thought Li Xiang couldn’t bear to leave the police force, feeling deeply gratified that he didn’t care for him in vain.

"Don’t worry. As long as I’m here, you’re the leader of the guidance team. Also, at the end of the year, I plan to raise your rank and position even more."

This was something decided internally, only revealed to Li Xiang in advance.

Not only did he need to dangle incentives to keep Li Xiang, but he also needed to offer some tangible benefits.

"Thank you, Director Li, for your mentorship."

"It’s the result of your hard work. So, what are your thoughts? I want to hear your ideas first. Rest assured, no matter what, you’re still our person in the police force. Even if I have to risk my reputation, I’ll fight for your rights."

Hearing Director Li’s words, Li Xiang was very touched. Ever since he joined the provincial department, Director Li had been very supportive of him. Li Xiang is someone who appreciates kindness.

Even if there were no diamonds involved, he’d have to consider whether it was more interesting to be in a lab doing research or solving crimes.

The answer seemed obvious.

"I still want to stay with the guidance team. It’s my profession and my dream, hoping to punish those who have lost their humanity. But in the field of Artificial Intelligence, the country also needs me. Can you negotiate with them? I can just have a nominal role with them, stepping in when there are critical or bottleneck issues. Otherwise, I’d prefer staying with the guidance team. What do you think, Director Li?"

Li Xiang’s words resonated with Li Zhongqing: "No problem at all, but being nominal means you can’t be the project leader. They initially wanted you to lead the project. Aren’t you tempted?"

"I’ll pass on being the project leader. They’re still seniors in both experience and age compared to me. If I took on that role, I’d feel awkward. This way is just fine."

Li Zhongqing agreed with Li Xiang’s decision. Though he considered Li Xiang a genius, his credentials were limited, and in this era where seniority is often valued, there are those who flaunt their experience and age.

This arrangement seemed suitable for him.

"Now that this is settled, I have another matter to ask your opinion on."

"Something else?"

"The project I just mentioned is led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, part of the national 14th Five-Year Plan. But what I’m going to talk about next is provincial. In the provincial committee meeting, I proposed enhancing our Sky Net System, integrating your Artificial Intelligence for real-time facial recognition on social monitoring. Once a wanted person is identified, an alert will be triggered. Our rapid response team will quickly move and arrest the person. What do you think of this idea?"

Li Zhongqing had wanted to realize this idea for a long time. Previously, the technology was infeasible, and timeliness couldn’t be guaranteed. Now, with Li Xiang’s intelligent system, he thought it was highly achievable.

"Achieving real-time facial recognition is very computationally demanding. Even with support from the Shenwei Supercomputer, it can only cover the provincial capital at best. If it’s just one city as a pilot, it might be feasible."

This idea wasn’t unheard of before, but realizing it wasn’t easy. The algorithm of the system is crucial. If its error tolerance is too high, there will be constant false alarms, and capturing the wrong person is possible.

After all, catching a face in real-time just by overhead cameras on the street is nearly impossible outside a controlled environment like a lab. Widespread implementation is challenging.

Even banks’ facial recognition systems require users to open and close their mouths, blink, or nod for identity verification.

If the lighting is poor or there’s a disguise, recognition can fail.

While achieving this is highly challenging for others, for Li Xiang, it’s a medium difficulty, even if claiming it’s easy might sound a bit arrogant.

"Even if Shenwei did nothing else, it would be solely running this system."

Li Xiang added one more point in conclusion.

Implementing this system would incur significant costs.

He had said before that just the electricity bill for running the supercomputer was unaffordable for most organizations.

Seeing Li Xiang’s somewhat dismissive expression, Li Zhongqing meaningfully stated, "What if we go for E-level supercomputing?"

"What? Our provincial department is also going to get E-level supercomputing? Does the budget allow for such a thing?"

Hearing Li Xiang’s skepticism, Li Zhongqing felt a bit awkward: "What’s this about the budget allowing me to play around? This is to enhance city security. Do you know the annual expenditure on crime prevention? Not to mention the provincial department; our regular public budget allocation is ten billion annually, while county-level police funding is nearly a billion. You can imagine the expenditure in this area. If the system operates, deterring criminals and capturing them immediately would save how many public resources? Why am I explaining all this to you? Just know that you shouldn’t worry about the budget side of things. Can it be done?"

"Yes!"

Seeing that Li Zhongqing had made up his mind, Li Xiang naturally said yes, as it wouldn’t be his money.

"Good. After you return, prepare a proposal for the Sky Net 2.0 upgrade. We’ll collaborate with the Shenwei Supercomputer Research Institute to develop an E-level supercomputer supporting Sky Net 2.0. Can you have it done by next week?"

"Alright, looks like I’ll spend my week off doing nothing!"