November 15th, Tuesday.
At the graduate student dormitory for Ancient Chinese Literature majors at Handong University.
Several students were typing on their keyboards, inputting content on their laptops, occasionally pausing to search for various materials online.
To uninformed observers, it might seem like they were writing academic papers.
In reality, they were the first batch of content creators for the “Useful APP,” currently completing tasks assigned by their advisor.
Each graduate student was responsible for a specific portion of content, mainly poetry, lyrics, traditional drama, and classical texts. After uploading the basic content to the “Useful APP” entries, these students would summarize and organize existing research findings and knowledge, refining the entries.
The “Useful APP” had a specialized backend template; creators only needed to fill in according to the template. The submitted content would be reviewed by higher-level creators, typically doctoral students or young lecturers. Once approved, it would be displayed according to the template.
These graduate students would normally access encyclopedia websites or CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), but compared to these two platforms, the “Useful APPs” most distinctive feature was its more scientifically planned structure.
Though the “Useful Apps” architecture was somewhat similar to encyclopedia websites, besides differences in content, there were also significant differences in the details of user experience.
Simply put, the “Useful APP” was making an effort to simplify and create layers.
General encyclopedia websites typically display most information for a single entry on the same page, which not only appears cluttered but also lacks hierarchy, unable to accommodate personalized needs.
For instance, some people only want the most basic information, while others need detailed analysis of a specific term or sentence. Encyclopedia websites struggle to cater to these two extreme demands.
The “Useful APP” was a multi-layered structure: the first layer contained the most core, essential analysis of an entry; the second layer provided categorized analyses of the entry; the third layer offered specific word-by-word analysis and research; the fourth layer included sources, referenced papers, etc.; the fifth layer consisted of various issues derived from the entry.
Transitions between levels were represented through page-turning or pop-up windows, fully accommodating user habits.
For users, this meant they could accurately and quickly find the specific content they needed most, without having to browse through unwanted information.
Currently, the “Useful APP” was dedicated to classical poetry and literary Chinese sections. The basic functions had long been developed. Current work, apart from fixing various bugs, mainly involved creators continuously updating content.
This was relatively monotonous work, though the students didn’t find it particularly burdensome.
On one hand, it was their specialty, so organizing this content was equivalent to reinforcing their professional knowledge; on the other hand, it counted as a job, providing a good supplement to these poor students’ daily expenses.
A graduate student who had just completed his work for the day leaned back in his chair and stretched.
“Old Li, have you finished today’s tasks?”
“Almost.”
“What do you mean by ‘almost’? Don’t try to cut corners. Last time, you cited the wrong paper, and our advisor warned all of us. This project is headed by Professor Kong Zhemin; if you cause trouble, you can forget about graduating smoothly!”
“Relax, I was just careless last time. Now, I check my content several times before submitting. I won’t make such basic mistakes again.”
“But I’m puzzled — what does Tenda gain by paying us to create this? Although they say they’ll charge for it, they probably won’t make any money, right?”
“Who knows? Maybe they plan to sell it to educational groups? At least, it would be quite useful for elementary and secondary school students to look up poetry with this ‘Useful APP.'”
“But the problem is, they can search with Baidu for free; textbooks and supplementary materials also explain these poems.”
“That’s not quite right. Baidu’s search results are too chaotic and hard to verify. As for content in textbooks and study guides, it’s not as comprehensive as ours. I think the Useful APP will probably burn money initially, with few people paying. But as more content is added, the number of paying users will certainly increase.”
“At our current pace, I seriously doubt it’ll be profitable even after ten years…”
These students had various opinions about the “Useful APP.” Many didn’t believe it would succeed and only created content in their spare time because Tenda provided subsidies.
Many were even prepared for Tenda to abandon the project at any time, maintaining a “make money while you can” mentality.
One student asked curiously: “Hey, I’ve always had a question. Features like ‘synonymous verses,’ ‘antonymous verses,’ ‘similar rhyme verses,’ etc., don’t seem to be displayed on the ‘Useful APP,’ so what’s the point of creating this section?”
The so-called “synonymous verses,” “antonymous verses,” and “similar rhyme verses” were about establishing connections between verses or poems with similar meanings, opposite meanings, or similar rhythms.
When entering a poem, creators could freely add its synonymous verses, antonymous verses, similar rhyme verses, etc., establishing connections between different poems or verses.
These contributions were counted toward workload and had significant weight. After organizing a poem, creators would search online, verify information, and then enter related verses into the backend.
The strange thing was that these connections weren’t displayed in the “Useful APP,” which puzzled everyone.
“I don’t understand. They developed this feature but don’t display it—isn’t that wasteful?”
“Who knows? Maybe the frontend display for this feature is still in development? They’re preparing the backend first, and when the frontend is ready, it can be displayed directly?”
“Maybe.”
The students didn’t pay much attention to this and continued creating content in the backend.
…
At Outu Technology.
As soon as Yu Ping’an arrived, he was invited by Chang You to the meeting room.
“Please wait a moment.”
After leaving briefly, Chang You returned with an OTTO smartphone.
“Since you’re here today to coordinate work on the Useful APP database, take the opportunity to experience the first version of the AEEIS intelligent assistant and see how it functions.”
“Our researchers have been a bit obsessed with developing it lately. Right now, we need a complete outsider to provide objective opinions.”
Chang You handed the phone to Yu Ping’an as he spoke.
Yu Ping’an had originally come to coordinate work with Chang You, as the Useful APP’s data would directly connect with AEEIS’s intelligent database. There were many design details that required decisions from both team leaders.
But upon arrival, he was caught by Chang You to test the initial version of AEEIS as a guinea pig.
Although Yu Ping’an wasn’t particularly interested in this, he took the phone and began to experience it earnestly.
Within Tenda Group, there was an unwritten rule that departments must unconditionally and unreservedly cooperate when other departments need assistance. All department heads habitually complied with and implemented this rule.
As for when this tacit understanding was formed?
Most people couldn’t say for sure.
However, the origin of this implicit rule could probably be traced back to Mr. Pei: on one hand, Mr. Pei placed great emphasis on interdepartmental coordination; on the other hand, there was no KPI competition pressure among department heads—everyone worked for Mr. Pei, everyone’s salaries were quite similar, and bonuses depended on reputation rather than profitability. Thus, there was no interdepartmental rivalry as seen in some large companies.
Yu Ping’an noticed that this OTTO E1 smartphone seemed different from those currently on the market, most notably in its operating system.
Originally, OTTO phones’ operating system leaned toward native Android, with a clean, simple interface that could also feel somewhat bare.
But this version of the operating system had become more content-rich. Various system UI animations were more fluid and natural, with many added details. System settings included more options to better explore some new Android features. The camera system icon had changed, and inside were new functions such as photo optimization algorithms and new filters.
Additionally, this system integrated the AEEIS intelligent assistant function; long-pressing the power button or directly saying “AEEIS” to the phone could activate the voice assistant.
Yu Ping’an didn’t know many details about the AEEIS intelligent assistant.
He only knew that this intelligent assistant directly utilized Xunke Technology’s latest artificial intelligence research results. At the foundational technology level, it was similar to other manufacturers’ intelligent assistants and smart speakers, with differences possibly only in some fine-tuning details.
In addition, Chang You had mentioned it was an “elegant and easygoing intelligent system” with some sarcastic attributes and poetry capabilities.
But Yu Ping’an hadn’t taken it too seriously. Since the underlying technology all came from Xunke Technology, this voice assistant shouldn’t differ much from others, especially as this was just the first version.
Yu Ping’an said into the phone: “AEEIS.”
After a crisp “beep” prompt sound, a dark gray overlay appeared on the phone screen, covering the original content. A wave symbol with some sci-fi elements appeared in the upper part of the screen.
Below this wave symbol was the main information display area, with another smaller wave symbol at the bottom.
The large sci-fi-style wave symbol at the top of the screen was AEEIS’s core representation. It would only bounce according to the sound waves when AEEIS was responding; when AEEIS wasn’t answering, it would display other dynamics, such as rolling in waves or rotating regularly, representing AEEIS’s current mood and state.
The small wave symbol captured the external voice and would fluctuate as Yu Ping’an spoke.
The entire page was very simple, without excessive text information.
Yu Ping’an had used other voice assistants that often displayed a lot of text on the screen, including frequently asked questions. But AEEIS’s interface appeared neater and cleaner, consistent with the consistent style of OTTO OS.
Yu Ping’an’s first impression of AEEIS was positive.