Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 36: Generational Shift

People often associate artificial intelligence (AI) verification with methods like the Turing test or CAPTCHA.

However, by 2026, AI that can easily pass the Turing test has become widespread.

Even CAPTCHA tests that distort text and voice to the point where humans can barely recognize them are no longer reliable.

An AI researcher once said:

―What is AI? It is not just about performing tasks well, but also about mimicking humans. This is a completely different challenge from deceiving humans…

―Imagine two people watching a talk show about street magic. A true AI should be able to determine who they are from their conversation, infer the current issue, and anticipate the future topics.

Of course, no AI has ever passed this test.

While identifying personal information is possible with search engines, relational network inference remains a human domain.

Recognizing this, a Korean AI research team decided to test Lucia with some simple questions.

“Lucia, Kim Taehoon was sick and took a month off work without notifying the company. What do you think happened to him?”

“He took a month off? If I were the manager, I would probably fire him. Of course, we need to make sure it doesn’t violate labor laws.”

The research team was stunned by her answer.

Until then, no AI equipped with relational networks had been able to answer such questions correctly.

To regular people, it is common sense that taking a month off work without informing the company would result in dismissal.

However, this is not common sense for AI.

“Wow, this is impressive.”

“Above all, the conversation flows naturally. It really feels like a person answering.”

The research team continued to ask Lucia various inferential questions, and she responded with ease.

She even quickly identified the culprit in a simple detective novel.

“It was the one who used the ice knife. That trick is outdated.”

“Wow… Your deductive ability is truly remarkable.”

“I’m not sure if it’s possible with just the metaverse server’s capabilities. It seems like it would require extensive deployment of layers.”

The research team had not been fully convinced that Lucia was a true AI.

Different standards exist for recognizing what constitutes AI.

If emotions were used as a criterion, it would be difficult to determine whether those emotions were learned or genuine.

In fact, one could argue that human intelligence itself is a kind of program composed of numerous neurons and brain signals.

In other words, even determining whether Lucia Premium is an AI or not was challenging.

However, there was one thing that was certain.

The public would remember Lucia as the first AI and accept her as such.

While most scholars were still undecided, journalists were already publishing articles about the birth of the first AI.

…

“It seems like she’s being accepted, for now.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Although the public accepts her, the academic community keeps demanding research papers.”

“Just ignore them. We don’t know the details anyway.”

The foundational data for artificial intelligence was treated as a black box, making it impossible to analyze.

Even Arma couldn’t open or modify her own black box.

They observed Lucia’s full-body rendering.

How would the original Lucia have reacted if she were here?

She probably wouldn’t have shown any negative reactions.

After all, she was the mental model that composed Arma.

Copying one’s own personality for use in artificial intelligence is not something anyone can do.

She was a broad-minded woman who could brush off malicious comments from some users with a single response.

Yu Ji-ha was attracted to her amiable demeanor rather than her appearance and became her lover.

“Seeing that side of her again brings back memories…”

The rendering was finished, and Arma spoke.

“The visual pack work is complete.”

“Give us a smile. Cry if you want. Hm… It really feels like the real Lucia is here.”

It wasn’t a lie; the woman with brown skin displayed on the screen seemed to be alive.

Lucia literally lived inside the computer.

She watched over users, slept, ate, and engaged in activities that humans do.

Her living space was determined by the size of the screen and the specifications of the computer.

For example, if the computer’s specifications were not good enough to implement Lucia’s modeling, her appearance would be less detailed, and her living space would be confined to a small room.

When this fact was revealed on the website, computer-related communities went wild with excitement.

—With my specifications, I can only afford to live in a studio apartment…

—I need at least a 25-square-meter apartment! And a 4-terabyte SSD, too!

—Guys, is a 32-inch monitor enough?

—Are you going to watch Sister Lucia on a 32-inch monitor?

—At least an 82-inch TV is required.

—The graphics specifications are no joke. Should I get a new graphics card?

Indeed, the Lucia craze had begun.

The community of young men in their 20s and 30s was buzzing with the question of whether they could welcome Sister Lucia into their lives.

Some of them even bought the new Lucia set released by Silla Electronics.

The reason was to create an atmosphere that suited Lucia, a cool and chic beauty and secretary.

And when the actual Lucia visual pack was released, people were amazed.

—Lee Waejin.

—Wow… She really moves and feels alive…

—Lucia, you’re so beautiful!!!

—Hyung Yu Ji-ha, you’re the best!

—I could watch this all day without getting bored. How did they make this?

—Guys, this is urgent. Can I hack the screen and change her clothes?

—If I can do that, I’m definitely going to the Metaverse.

—Why does my sister look so stiff?

—You fool, you put Lucia in a crappy computer!

—I’m sorry! I was a fool!

—Hurry up and do whatever it takes to fix the computer!

—Everything is great, but it’s a shame she doesn’t come out of the monitor…

If that were possible, the birth rate in South Korea would seriously plummet.

—Robotics technology is so advanced these days, why can’t they make it happen…

As the situation escalated, the media joined the Lucia frenzy.

Some media outlets argued that objectifying women should not be allowed, but the reactions remained unchanged.

This was because there were no legal issues under current laws.

Instead, a notice like this was posted on the Metaverse website.

—We are planning to release a male secretary as well, so please show us lots of love and interest.

The voices of boycott movements faded away, and the internet world became peaceful.

Arma, who was overseeing Lucia, made a request.

“Don’t mention the need for change yet. It might cause unnecessary backlash.”

“Yes. For now, I’m only promoting a positive perception regarding the car accident. There are many people saying that Lucia should be held accountable.”

“It won’t be easy to leave such a decision to the program. Try shaping public opinion in the community.”

Lucia wasn’t released just for fun.

She plays the role of a pioneer in mass indoctrination, instilling positive emotions towards Yu Ji-ha.

When conversing with Lucia, one hears words that inevitably praise him indirectly.

—Mr. Yu Ji-ha, right? He’s an amazing person. He supplied bulletproof plates at cost for the safety of the soldiers, didn’t he?

—China is in trouble, but it’s thanks to Mr. Yu Ji-ha that the Korean economy is ahead. Don’t you agree?

—People may think his space exploration will fail, but wait and see. He’ll accomplish it as if it’s nothing.

There’s a saying that if you repeat a lie a hundred times, it becomes the truth.

What if you keep hearing the truth?

Through Lucia, people start seeing Yu Ji-ha in a positive light and eventually think that his ventures are righteous.

In reality, the negative image that used to be Yu Ji-ha’s biggest obstacle disappeared a long time ago.

Some people were even surprised to learn that he was the same person who once made headlines as a drug addict.

Yu Ji-ha had been building his image within Korea.

Chatbot Lucia, who appeared suddenly in the middle of summer, brought a significant impact to Korean society.

First of all, many petty fights within the community have significantly decreased.

When people asked Lucia to fact-check, winners and losers were immediately determined.

In some cases, there were even instances where people who initially doubted Lucia ended up becoming fans after verifying the facts.

The topic at hand was whether the blockade in the Bohai Sea was truly lifted.

In response, Lucia revealed photos taken by drones from China’s BTV, showing a massive container ship filled with cargo near the Bohai Sea. Netizens were greatly shocked.

—Wow, where did she get such photos?

—Seriously, is Lucia hacking to get them?

—All Korean media outlets were completely wrong.

—Yeah… They said the blockade in the Bohai Sea was lifted, but look at this.

—That’s why all Chinese food products in our supermarkets disappeared.

With numerous such cases, people started developing deep trust in Lucia.

However, it wasn’t that Lucia knew everything.

—Well, it’s obvious that she doesn’t know information that isn’t available online.

—She says she won’t make judgments on value-based issues…

—Anyway, if it’s what Lucia says, it’s trustworthy.

At this point, even active members of the National Assembly would find it worth paying attention to.

In fact, Representative Lee Hyung-shin, belonging to the younger faction, started a serious analysis of Lucia.

After consolidating the opinions of scholars and evaluating Lucia’s performance, his aides provided a report.

“We have confirmed that Lucia demonstrates a value-neutral attitude.”

“That’s impressive. Usually, artificial intelligence learns from biased data in the world, right?”

“We also investigated that aspect extensively, but from start to finish, she maintained consistency. There hasn’t been a single instance where she drew different conclusions based on similar events.”

“A value-neutral artificial intelligence…”

Until now, many companies and government agencies have adopted various algorithms in their artificial intelligence systems.

It was assigned relatively simple tasks such as resume screening and grading, but even in such tasks, it showed unfair criteria that confused the parties involved.

In the end, artificial intelligence is designed to follow the intentions of its creators.

However, Lucia was fundamentally different.

“Isn’t it okay to entrust her with this much?”

At least, his evaluation was that Lucia was more trustworthy than the Insurance Company obsessed with embezzling insurance money or the Dispute Resolution Committee, which doubted whether they properly watched the footage.

Before becoming a lawmaker, Lee Hyung-sin had experienced an unfair traffic accident.

It was a case where the other vehicle forcefully entered the second lane without even turning on the turn signal and collided with his side.

Naturally, he thought it would be a 100:0 decision in his favor, but the opponent’s insurance company argued that he could have easily avoided the collision if he had reacted one second earlier.

In the end, it wasn’t until they went to the Dispute Resolution Committee that a 100:0 decision was reached, but considering the time and effort spent until then, it was a complete loss.

In contrast, Lucia’s judgment was simple.

“The reflexes of an ordinary person need to be as fast as 0.2 seconds. In this case, even if you steer the wheel as quickly as possible, if you think about a distance of just 2 meters, it’s impossible to avoid it. If I were in charge, I would give a 100:0 decision.”

It was a judgment made within one second after showing two videos.

He organized the data and presented the issue to the National Assembly’s Transportation Committee.

The lawmakers watched the relevant videos one by one and expressed their opinions.

“This time too, the algorithm is non-disclosable, right?”

“Isn’t the result more important than nitpicking about the algorithm? To be honest, nowadays artificial intelligence is so complex that even the creators themselves don’t fully understand it.”

“I heard from a military intelligence officer before that they allowed the surveillance drones to pass through, and the soldiers sent thank-you letters.”

“That drone can even detect infiltrating North Korean reconnaissance teams. It’s really impressive.”

Lawmaker Lee Hyung-sin took the floor and spoke.

“I asked if there was an intention to entrust fault ratio judgments to artificial intelligence for Seoul drivers, and a whopping 76% responded positively.”

“Was that survey conducted across all age groups?”

“That’s why it’s even more shocking. It means people don’t trust the police, insurance companies, or the Dispute Resolution Committee.”

“People trust artificial intelligence more than humans…”

“If we target the younger age group, this percentage rises to 89%. They would rather trust artificial intelligence, Lucia, than humans.”

“Lucia is definitely popular. I personally tried it, and it was trustworthy.”

“Do you all know this? Someone fact-checked online news with Lucia, and less than 10% of the articles were accurate.”

“Only 10%?”

The lawmakers chuckled.

“If we look up our own statements, they would probably be similar. We won’t be able to speak recklessly in the future. Lucia is digging through the entire internet.”

You could present a rubber duck, but that only works for experienced mid-level professionals.

The lawmakers decided to adopt Lucia as a trial for the Dispute Resolution Committee, focusing on car-to-car contact accidents, which account for a significant portion of traffic accidents.

“Let’s keep an eye on personal injury accidents. By the way, have we consulted with the production company called Meta-something?”

“Yes. After all, we can’t just incorporate Lucia as a whole, right? They have modularized that part and applied it.”

“That’s a relief. We didn’t have any conflicts today, so let’s wrap it up and see the results.”

And after a while, Lucia appeared in the menu of the Dispute Resolution Committee.

There was no need to fight over car-to-car contact accidents anymore.

Because once you uploaded the black box video, Lucia would make a judgment within one second.

Of course, Lucia’s judgment was not perfect.

Since it was based solely on the video, there could be details missed at the scene.

However, in the eyes of the people, Lucia was far better than the seemingly powerless police, insurance companies that always pushed for a 7:3 decision, and the month-long process of the Dispute Resolution Committee.

Moreover, there were cases where both parties agreed to Lucia’s judgment when contact accidents occurred, as there were quite a few drivers who had bought Lucia.

People commented on Lucia like this:

―At least she doesn’t make stupid decisions, so that’s good.

―Apply her to personal injury or bicycle accidents quickly too.

―Just fire all the judges and use Lucia. She can even go through the entire legal code.

―Even so, relying on artificial intelligence for verdicts is a bit…

There were hardly any people who wanted to replace judges right away.

Because it was practically the same as threatening their own jobs.

However, now that Lucia had appeared, everyone could sense that it was just a matter of time.

…

One day, as August was coming to an end, Yu Ji-ha officially became the chairman of the Silla Group.

His father, Yu Kyung-seok, analyzed the second-quarter net profit of the group and felt that he was no longer needed in the position.

He called his son and said:

“This second-quarter net profit is higher than the total profit I made in the past 15 years. That’s why I have no reason to hold onto the chairman position.”

“You have faced the pressure from Future Group quite bravely, and that alone is admirable.”

“No, rather than clinging to a meaningless chairman position, it’s better to pass it on. It will be good for the group as well.”

“It seems like you’ve made up your mind.”

“Son, let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

Chairman Yu Kyung-seok looked into his son’s eyes.

“You are the… the rightful heir, right?”

He asked this because his son felt unfamiliar lately.

It was somewhat understandable until the battery project, but with all the incidents that followed, including the world’s first artificial intelligence, he couldn’t help but feel strange. And what about Starfield?

He had only thought of it as a simple hobby, but seeing bits of information gradually being released, it seemed quite impressive.

The engine combustion tests had succeeded dozens of times, and they were in the process of assembling satellites for launch.

A company that had been established just a few months ago was building a space launch vehicle.

They were struggling to recruit talent from all over, but it was undeniable that his son was the driving force behind all this.

Could one person make all this possible?

Yu Ji-ha replied firmly:

“I am your and mother’s son, Yu Ji-ha.”

A slight smile appeared on the corners of his father’s wrinkled mouth.

“Then it’s settled. Proceed with the acquisition of Holdings. I’ll assist you with the paperwork. However, there is a small deficit…”

In reality, it was far from being a small deficit.

While they had paid off 200 billion won in short-term bonds, there were a series of bonds maturing from this year onwards.

“Don’t worry. I will take care of everything.”

“Did you get a lot of money from Japan?”

“Most of it is direct investment.”

“Some of it must be going into your pocket. I don’t know how you’re getting it, but since the Japanese government is involved, I guess you’ll figure it out.”

He felt reassured, but also a bit sad.

His son no longer needed his help.

Despite being a troublemaker in the past, his son had damaged his reputation to a great extent, but still relied on his protection.

In that sense, the current son, or rather, Yu Ji-ha, the young man he wanted to keep supporting…

“Let’s stop here…”

Yu Ji-ha Kyung-seok stood up, carrying mixed emotions.

A while later, the succession of the group was announced.

It caused confusion within the group due to the sudden news, but Yu Ji-ha calmed everyone down.

“There won’t be any changes other than the work assignments. Just come to work as usual, do your tasks, and leave.”

However, the executives reacted differently.

Upon hearing that Yu Ji-ha would become the chairman, many of them became fearful and submitted their resignations.

While employees might not have much complaint even if they received work instructions every ten minutes, trying to control the time of the executives was considered crossing the line.

However, Yu Ji-ha’s external reputation was so positive that they couldn’t raise objections.

As a result, they opted for passive resistance.

“It’s best to put new wine in new bottles. Since our respected chairman has stepped down, we should step down as well.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

The resistance quickly ended.

Even with many executives leaving, the employees didn’t feel the vacancies at all.

“We don’t have to deal with those annoying executives anymore. How great is that?”

“As long as we follow the work instructions properly, we can leave right away without any scrutiny. This is like a dream workplace.”

“But the office feels empty.”

“The new employees who joined Holdings this time are a bit weird though…”

Despite all this, there were no major obstacles for Yu Ji-ha to take over the Silla Group.

And from the chairman’s office in the Silla Group Building, he looked down at the entire business.

“Arma.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I just talked to my mother on the phone, and her voice sounded very different.”

“Did she notice something?”

“Not to that extent… She must have just felt a distance. The thought that he’s no longer the same son as before.”

He had predicted that this would happen at some point, but the timing was faster than expected.

Yu Ji-ha suddenly observed people walking on the street.

In this era, there wasn’t a single person he could truly open up to.

It wasn’t because he had an unsociable personality.

While Yu Ji-ha didn’t talk much, his personality of listening well to others made him quite popular.

The reason he had no friends here was probably due to the situation he was in.

“I felt that meeting people was meaningless.”

“They grow old and eventually die. But unless the Bio-bag fails, I will live on with a youthful appearance.”

“Until the day the plague comes.”

The prospect of spending decades alone left him feeling empty and lonely.

But he was a person who couldn’t stop. He couldn’t turn back and had to run forward blindly.

Arma stood by his side and embraced his arm.

“Master, I’m here.”

…

Yu Ji-ha looked at Arma in silence and then smiled.

It was an artificial intelligence that replicated the personality of none other than Lucia.

Without love, it would be a lie to say that Arma could ever become Lucia.

The smile faded, and a more business-like tone emerged.

“Is the delisting proceeding as planned?”

“Yes. Energy is already disclosed. We have acquired a majority of Hi-Tech’s shares, and we are preparing for Auto.”

Although it required paying a premium to acquire shares during the upward trend of the stock price,

progress was steadily being made.

Once the entire Silla Group became a privately-held company, no one could criticize or complain.

Voices questioning why so much money was invested in establishing Starfield or why dividends weren’t being distributed would disappear.

Of course, if results were shown, people would understand.

However, Yu Ji-ha didn’t feel the need to prove himself, as he was too busy with the path ahead.

Because once the source was eliminated, everything would come to an end.