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Science fiction collection ＂Promised Land＂： Creating the Future with Imagination

　　Jules verne once said: "What one person can imagine, another person can turn it into reality." Submarine, helicopter, spaceship, artificial intelligence, genetic technology and other important inventions and innovations are inextricably linked with science fiction works, which wrote the bishop for this sentence. Thus this famous saying has become the most classic description of the connection between science fiction and the real world.

　　What can the current science fiction bring to the great changes in science and technology? How can technology lead human society to the future? Promised Land answers these questions.

　　Recently, Ji Shaoting, the founder of the Future Affairs Administration, Jiang Bo, a science fiction writer, Zhang Jiaxing, the technical director of artificial intelligence of Ant Financial, and An Ye, the cultural editor of Zhanlu, came to Shanghai, bringing a collection of hard science fiction novels jointly contributed by seven cutting-edge writers who were shortlisted for the nebula award, Hugo award and other outstanding awards — — Promised land.

　　Promised Land originated from the workshop plan of the Future Affairs Bureau. As a company focusing on science fiction culture, it has signed more than 100 domestic and foreign authors and created more than 800 novels. Since its birth in 1818, science fiction has been accompanied by the rapid development of science and technology in a country and an era. Excellent science fiction should be based on the thinking brought about by scientific and technological changes. The Bureau of Future Affairs hopes to attract more sci-fi writers to pay attention to the current changes in China. Ant Financial, as an important technology company in China, is a very good observation object. Therefore, the Bureau of Future Affairs invited more than a dozen science fiction writers and engineers of Ant Financial Artificial Intelligence Project to exchange ideas. Because of this opportunity, science fiction writers at home and abroad have the opportunity to get in touch with the technology being developed by Ant Financial. On the basis of knowing the technical mechanism, the authors have created independent stories.

　　Science fiction writers use imagination to edit the future, and engineers are creating the future. Ji Shaoting said: "What changes can science fiction writers in China bring to the scientific research strength in China and the great technological changes that are taking place in China? This book is a start. I hope that it will still be considered by many readers after ten, twenty and fifty years, and will be verified or overthrown by the emergence of new technologies. "

　　The story of "changing face"

　　Jiang Bo contributed a story about "changing face" in The Promised Land. When financial criminals can use the technical loopholes of face recognition to hide the sky, personal privacy begins to be threatened by technology. Jiang Bo has been thinking about face recognition for the first time in the workshop. What kind of social problems will arise after the face brushing technology enters life? For example, is it feasible to change the facial features by light to make the machine misjudge? Coincidentally, soon after the story was written, I saw a news report about using faces to identify crimes. He believes: "If science fiction writers can run ahead of science and technology to predict something, it is a very meaningful thing for science fiction writers, and FACE/OFF partially achieved this."

　　Regarding whether the "black technology" described in the book will really happen in real life, Zhang Jiaxing explained in time: "This method is actually using an algorithm to cheat the algorithm. For example, it looks like a cat and adds something to the algorithm. The naked eye recognizes that the cat is still a cat, but it has become a dog in the eyes of the machine. The plot of this novel twists and turns, and the description of technology is also very imaginative. However, the face recognition technology in reality is not as simple as that written in the novel. The technical model itself is highly confidential. Companies will set up security prevention and control algorithms for it, and will also identify people in all directions through comprehensive means such as infrared and laser. "

　　"Enami made a deduction that is very close to the future in this novel. The best part is that this deduction was really realized later. In fact, whether it is cited or overturned, this is a good thing. I think this is the greatest value of this workshop — — Think and deduce the reality. " Ji Shaoting added.

　　Not predicting the future, but giving imagination.

　　Many people say that The Wandering Earth started the first year of science fiction in China, and the upgrading of technology made people truly realize the speed of scientific and technological development. Whether technology pursues imagination or imagination pursues technology has become a common problem for science fiction writers and technicians.

　　Jiang Bo believes that technology and imagination are integrated. Just as there are myths in primitive society, science fiction was born on the soil of technology. Imagination is a part of human nature and shapes human world outlook. Technology and imagination are a unity, and they promote each other and evolve together. When discussing technology, we can’t define it by pure guilt or innocence. More often, we still keep technology neutral. Whether the future is a land of hope or death, the key is to control technology within a reasonable range and serve mankind.

　　In Ji Shaoting’s eyes, science fiction is literature to watch the future. It is difficult to bear the function of predicting the future, but it can give countless imaginations. Whether these imaginations are good or bad, they simply depict the possibility of the future in everyone’s eyes. In the past 200 years, there will always be a few things in science fiction, such as humans setting foot on the moon, launching satellites, inventing tablet computers, and widely using big data. As Liu Cixin asked: "If the future is a high-speed car, and artificial intelligence technology is its throttle, then what technology can become the brake of this car?"

　　Perhaps for science fiction, the real value lies in asking questions rather than answering them, because there will always be new technologies to subvert or answer them, so you don’t have to answer them, just think. It is precisely because of this kind of thinking that some bad futures have not appeared, which is also the significance of science fiction.

　　The door of science fiction will not be closed.

　　"You are walking on the plain, and suddenly you meet a wall. This wall is infinitely high up, infinitely deep down, infinitely far to the left and infinitely far to the right. What is this wall?"

　　"death."

　　With "Three-body" winning Hugo Award, sci-fi works have entered people’s field of vision widely. The double outbreak of The Wandering Earth’s word-of-mouth and box office has immersed creators and audiences in the wave of sci-fi. Recently, the controversy over "Shanghai Fortress" has made everyone start to wonder whether China’s sci-fi movies will end at the beginning.

　　China science fiction is still in its infancy, and the emergence and development of anything is not smooth sailing. Ji Shaoting said: "It can be said that The Wandering Earth started, but it doesn’t mean that all the works will get better and better in the future. After that, we will see all kinds of works writing different sci-fi futures, sorting out experiences in success, and bringing inspiration and value in failure. There is an excellent domestic sci-fi movie that people often ignore, Crazy Alien, which is inspired by Liu Cixin’s Country Teacher. There are few excellent domestic comedy sci-fi movies, and people tend to pay more attention to those works with big splash. The problem now is that we have too few science fiction works, and we can’t define China science fiction just by a few works. "

　　Domestic science fiction has attracted enough attention, and the potential audience is so huge that it has become history for Chinese people not to watch science fiction and care about the future. The popularity of Three-body in Japan also shows that China’s science fiction works have attracted the attention of international audiences. When more creators and supporters join the industry and have confidence in the sci-fi market in China, everyone is thinking about their relationship with science and technology, which is the essence of sci-fi works. (The Paper reporter Xu Minghui intern Xu Zifan)

Herd immunity： Why does herd immunity in English use herd？

This article is reproduced from "A Zewai English Notes" and has been authorized.
At the beginning of the spread of the epidemic in March 2020, the British Prime Minister put forward the proposal of "herd immunity", which made many people feel "refreshing". At that time, the successful development of the vaccine against COVID-19 was still far away, and the British Prime Minister could only imagine the HERD Immunization achieved through "infection of diseases". This proposal with low safety attracted a lot of criticism at that time.
Since the beginning of this year, with the listing of various vaccines, safer herd immunity has become an important means to fight the epidemic. Countries are encouraging people to vaccinate, and strive to reach the vaccination scale needed to realize herd immunity as soon as possible.
Herd immunity will effectively reduce the negative impact of the epidemic and protect people’s health; This statement itself also contains a remarkable feature of English in language and culture, as well as the great differences between English and Chinese.
Before explaining English knowledge, let’s first understand the principle of group immunity.
What’s with Herd immunity?
The definition of Herd immunity is roughly as follows:
Herd immunity is a phenomenon seen when a high percentage of individuals within a population have developed immunity to a pathogen.Group immunity is a phenomenon: in a certain population, a large proportion of people are immune to a certain pathogen (such as bacteria or viruses).
Because so many people within the community are unable to contract the disease or virus, this reduces the likelihood that those who have not developed immunity will contract the disease. Because most individuals in this population have acquired immunity, they will not be infected with related diseases or viruses; In this way, the possibility and risk of exposure to related diseases or viruses will be greatly reduced for those individuals who have not acquired immunity in the whole population.
There are two ways to obtain immunity from a virus or bacteria: infection or vaccination. Comparatively, vaccination is the safer, more effective path, as it provides immunity without illness.
There are two ways to get immunity from a virus or bacteria: one is to infect the disease, and the other is to vaccinate. In contrast, the method of vaccination is more effective and safer, and it will not cause illness while generating immunity.
Different expressions for "group"
In English, there are several other expressions of held immunity, including community immunity, population immunity and social immunity, but in newspapers and media, most articles use the wording of held immunity.
The original meaning of the word herd in English is not used for "people", but to describe "groups of animals".
In practical use, herd mainly refers to cattle, and sometimes also refers to deer or elephants, such as: A herd of cows/deer/elephants and so on.
Using herd to refer to people is strictly an extended metaphor. In addition to newspapers and magazines, people are often referred to in various fictional novels, and the language effect is herd vivid, such as:
She pushed her way through a herd of lunchtime drinkers.
She struggled through the crowd who were having lunch and drinking.
Two idioms
Although the description of "crowd" with herd is vivid and interesting, its meaning is not completely neutral, and it is somewhat disapproving or even critical. It is emphasized that when many people get together, they often lose the ability to think independently as individuals.
Herd mentality or herd instinct, which is often used in English, is usually described as "herd mentality" in Chinese, which means: like flocks of animals and livestock, they have no thinking ability, only know that follow the herd takes action with the whole group; What most other members of the group do, they follow suit.
There is an idiom to ride herd on sb/sth in American English, which is often used to describe crowds. This idiom comes from the plains of the western United States, which reminds people of the scene of cowboys riding horses and herding cattle on the grassland.
Although it originated in the countryside, to ride herd on sb/sth is mainly used in urban areas, which refers to crowd control, usually refers to unorganized crowds, such as:
The police rides herd on crowds of youths on the streets.
The police kept order in the street to prevent groups of young people from getting out of control.
Situation difference
This figurative use of herd to refer to the crowd mainly exists in newspaper articles and literary novels, and is also used in popular science books for the public.
However, in academic articles and official documents of various institutions and departments, most people deliberately avoid using Herd to describe people. For example, in academic and formal occasions, herd immunity is usually replaced by community immunity and population immunity.
Although this will reduce the vividness of the language, it can rule out the possibility of association and avoid being offended. Although it is vivid, it is more objective and accurate.
cultural difference
Different from English culture, many other languages and cultures are not used to using words specially used to describe animals to describe human beings, and even are very taboo about it. This is the case in Chinese, and an obvious example is a large number of insulting expressions in traditional Chinese that originated from "dogs".
This cultural difference between Chinese and English deserves special attention when learning and using English. When translating English-quoted media articles, it is especially important to realize that when "animals" are used to describe "people" in English, they are usually not insulting, and they are not intentionally offending others and calling them "animals, pigs and dogs are inferior".
Most of the time, Herd’s analogy of "animal" to "human" can be directly translated into plain language without rhetorical meaning.
Two more "groups"
Realizing the cultural differences between Chinese and English in animal metaphor can also help us to use English more vividly and effectively, and we will not be timid because of this "burden" of traditional Chinese rhetoric expression.
English words like herd, which use animals to describe "people", are very rich and constitute a systematic series.
For example, herd is suitable for cattle, deer, elephants and other large animals; The "flock" of smaller animals is called flock in English, which mainly refers to sheep.
In addition, flock can also refer to a flock of birds, such as the proverbial birds of a feather flock together, which often corresponds to the Chinese word "birds of a feather flock together". When describing insects, such as bees, it will be called swarm.
Like herd, flock and swarm are often used to describe people, which not only remind people of vivid images, but also have their own division of meaning and function, describing different characteristics and aspects of "group behavior" respectively. In English, these statements are usually not regarded as insulting or demeaning.
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Nearly 60% of China’s demand for intelligent computing power comes from large models. How will the ＂gold＂ GPU chip play a greater role？ ｜ Silicon-based world

NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPU (Source: NVIDIA)

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI) big model, computing power plays an increasingly important role and becomes a key productivity.

On December 20th, Titanium Media App recently learned from the first "AI Tech Day" conference that the report "White Paper on the Development of Intelligent Computing Industry in China in 2023" released by iResearch showed that the demand for large-scale model computing power broke out in 2023, and the industries related to AI large-scale model accounted for 58.8% of the total demand for intelligent computing power in China, close to 60%, which was the largest demand side of intelligent computing power. The second place is algorithm recommendation, accounting for 14.2%.

The report also shows that in 2022, the scale of intelligent computing power will account for 22.8% in China’s computing power structure, but in the same period, the shipment of AI servers will only account for 6.8% in China’s server structure. This means that intellectual computing resources are scarce, and the construction of intellectual computing center will effectively improve the supply and demand structure of intellectual computing resources in China.

Xu Fanlei, head of iResearch Industry Digital Research Institute, said that in the future, the general artificial intelligence (AGI) technology will continue to develop, which will promote the overall demand for intelligent computing. Therefore, it is necessary to have enough high-end intelligent computing power and constantly optimized software and hardware integration solutions, as well as to build ecological convergence upstream and downstream, full chain, and participants in various fields, and the use threshold is low and convenient enough.

In fact, over the past year or so, the generative AI technology represented by ChatGPT has been popular all over the world. Nvidia, which monopolized the global Al training chips with 95% market share, became the biggest winner of this round of AI melee, and its research and development of A100/A800, H100/H800 and other AI chips became the "explosive products" in the AI craze.

As NVIDIA itself said: "GPU has become a rare metal of artificial intelligence, even gold, because they are the foundation of today’s generative AI era."

From a technical point of view, GPU is superior to CPU, especially in parallel computing power, energy efficiency and CUDA ecology. Its high computing power and scalability make NVIDIA GPU the first choice in the AI accelerated chip market.

According to a recent report released by Stanford University, since 2003, the performance of GPU has increased by about 7000 times in the past 20 years, and the unit performance price has also increased by 5600 times. The report also pointed out that GPU is the key driving force to promote the progress of AI technology.

Nowadays, computing power is accelerating the evolution of applications in government affairs, industry, transportation, medical care and other industries, promoting the deep integration of the Internet, big data and artificial intelligence with the real economy, and greatly stimulating the innovation vitality of data elements.

According to public data, since 2018, the compound annual growth rate of the number of racks in China data center has exceeded 30%. By the end of 2022, there were more than 6.5 million standard racks in use. According to the calculation of China Information and Communication Research Institute, in 2022, the scale of the core industry of computing power in China will reach 1.8 trillion yuan, and every investment in computing power in 1 yuan will drive the economic growth of GDP from three to 4 yuan.

Then, with the increasing demand for AI models in China, the gap of NVIDIA’s GPU computing chips reaches 432,000 pieces. So, how will the "golden" GPU chips play more space?

At the first "AI Tech Day" meeting of InBev Mathematics Department held on December 18th, InBev Mathematics Department announced a strategic upgrade, from positioning a large model computing service provider in stage 1.0 to positioning an "AGI full-stack ecological service platform" in stage 2.0-providing a series of computing and full-stack solutions including IaaS infrastructure layer, PaaS platform layer, data engineering service, data store and model store for customers in the entire industrial chain of AGI, forming a "full-stack solution". In addition, InBev Mathematics Department has also launched "Bobo Cloud" service, as well as commercial landing projects such as "AGI Pan-Entertainment Alliance", "Wutong Project" and "MM Bean Project".

According to public information, Hongbo shares is a listed company whose main business is bill printing, but InBev Digital Branch, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NVIDIA’s server product supply, was established a year ago, and then Hongbo shares became a "computing power" concept stock and its share price soared.

On August 10th, 2022, Hongbo Co., Ltd. signed a four-party cooperation agreement with Zhongguancun Zhongheng Cultural Science and Technology Innovation Service Alliance, Nvidia Company and Beijing InBev Digital Technology Co., Ltd. to establish the "Beijing AI Innovation Empowerment Center". InBev Digital, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is the main body of the "Beijing AI Innovation Empowerment Center".

On December 4th this year, Hongbo shares disclosed a major contract announcement, and InBev Digital recently signed a Cloud Service Agreement with Baichuan Intelligent, founded by Wang Xiaochuan. During the agreement period, InBev Digital provided the latter with services such as high-performance computing or GPU computing technology. The total transaction amount involved in the agreement is estimated to be 1.382 billion yuan.

Zhou Wei, vice president of Hongbo Co., Ltd. and CEO of InBev Mathematics Department, said that the development from AI to AGI requires deep interdisciplinary integration. The company should not only build a one-stop service ecological closed loop, but also gather the top technical partners in China and even the world through this ecology, focusing on finding innovative computing solutions on the hardware side and data, model and algorithm optimization and upgrading solutions on the software side, thus relying on the single brand path of high-end intelligent computing equipment at this stage.

"Take a service provider who serves 15-20 small and medium-sized customers every year as an example. Through the calculation service fee and the sales rebate of Boboyun’s value-added service fee, combined with resource locking tools such as prepaid leverage, it is roughly calculated that every year (customers) can achieve gross profit income of hundreds of thousands." Zhou Wei said.

It is reported that the minimum computing power rental unit that InBev Mathematics Department will provide is a complete server, with a minimum lease term of 3 months. Each machine is charged separately every month, and the rent is paid monthly in advance. The target customers include AI technology companies that have a large demand for intelligent computing power, such as multimodal large model training and development, cloud rendering, driverless reasoning, and quantitative trading model training. Taking a single monthly computing service of H800 as an example, the pricing of computing power for strategic partners is 96,000 yuan p.u/m, and the potential customers are 256,000 yuan p.uhttps://m.jrj.com.cn/madadapter/finance/2023/12/m.

Up to now, InBev’s partners include head companies such as Baichuan Intelligent, MiniMax, Luchen Technology, Wuxinxin Dome, Jingneng International, Anqing Computer, ProLogis, iSoftStone, Century Internet, Zhongke Langke and Chinese Online, as well as chip leaders such as NVIDIA, Intel and AMD.

"We want to make computing power more efficient and universal, like water and electricity." InBev Mathematics Department said.

(This article is the first titanium media App, author | Lin Zhijia)