At home.
Ivan stared at the floppy disk containing "Akinator" in his hand, and fell silent for a moment.
I couldn't resist my curiosity and went to the mall to get one.
However, it seemed I arrived a bit too late; by the time I got to the shelf, only the floppy disk version was left.
Actually, he plays almost all of Gamenova's games.
However, Ivan was, after all, a top scientist, and his free time made it difficult for him to enjoy the games they developed, which often required dozens or even hundreds of hours of play.
As a computer graphics scholar, it would be a lie to say I'm not interested in video games.
However, this was truly the first time he had ever seen a game like this.
He was really curious because he overheard people talking about some kind of mind-reading spirit.
As a computer science scholar, he knew very well that such a thing was simply impossible.
There's some merit to detecting brainwaves, but what company can actually perform brainwave detection using only a floppy disk?
"Emmm----"
If Lin Lixin had this ability, then this Earth might be a bit too backward for him.
but----
Recalling the astonishing code he had seen while reverse engineering "D00M" last time, Ivan suddenly had some unrealistic and absurd thoughts.
Good heavens, maybe he really does have that ability!
"Unexpectedly concise."
Ivan stared at the image appearing on the screen, slightly taken aback.
Aside from a genie with his arms crossed and a cocky, irritating look floating beside him, the screen only displays questions and answers for him to interact with.
There are five fixed options.
[Yes][No][I don't know][Maybe yes][Maybe no]
It clearly encompasses all possible scenarios.
Is the person you described a real person?
"Well----"
The game got straight to the point. Ivan knew nothing but that it could guess anything. "What should I guess?"
For his first question, Ivan decided to test the waters with a reliable one.
Recalling the conversation he had overheard on the way, he decided to give it a Elvis at Elvis Presley.
Is the person you described a woman?
The first question made Ivan hesitate for a moment.
"So that's how it is?"
Okay, now everything is revealed.
It wasn't mind reading at all, but rather a meticulously designed guessing game.
However, knowing the principle doesn't mean he'll lose interest.
Now Ivan was even more curious about how GAMENOVA was doing.
The more you understand the technology behind it, the more you realize how complex this seemingly simple game truly is.
[no]
He casually selected "no," but the next question made Ivan freeze in his tracks.
Is the subject you described related to music?
How is that possible?
Is it a coincidence?
Surprisingly, it quickly narrowed down the area right from the start.
Elvis was undoubtedly associated with music!
The question was just too precise, narrowing down the range of possible answers in one go.
This gave Ivan a sudden Porky's.
It felt as if my thoughts had truly been spied on.
[yes]
Is the person you're describing United States?
[yes----]
Is the person you described dead?
[yes----]
Although Elvis died of a sudden heart attack in 1977, he remains a Legend in the music industry.
Ivan swallowed hard.
Every problem was far beyond his imagination.
It's as if Gamenova knew who he was thinking from the beginning, and is now deliberately guiding him, intentionally directing him.
Something inexplicably eerie.
Is the person you're describing a dance king/queen?
Are his nicknames related to animals?
[Is it related to cats?]
[I think----]
[Elvis Presley ( Elvis )]
"This----"
The more you understand the underlying logic, the more fearful you become of the process.
It's like a staunch materialist suddenly getting elbowed by a ghost in the street.
This is simply magic!
It's mind reading!
Was my guess correct?
Ivan pressed the confirm button.
[Great job, you guessed right again!]
This answer has been used 91 times.
[Play it again]
"Could it really be a coincidence?"
Ivan quickly reviewed the situation in his mind, trying to find any flaws in his question.
"Why did I guess it was related to music first? Hmm... Ah! I see!"
It's actually not that complicated at all.
It's easy to deduce with a simple deduction that this is because there are many celebrities associated with music, and their fame is relatively higher.
Not all players of this game are scholars; the vast majority are just ordinary people.
For them, these celebrities active in the entertainment industry are naturally the easiest to come up with.
If you were to guess the identity of a sports star yourself, it would probably be similar.
"Akinator----"
Looking at the confident expression on the Web Genius's face, Ivan suddenly felt a surge of competitiveness. "I'll see if you're really omniscient and omnipotent."
Now that we have made our assumptions, what I need to do is quite simple.
Guess someone who's definitely an obscure name, but who is indeed a celebrity.
"Um----"
It seems there really is someone like that.
That is yourself.
A quirky individual who won the Turing Award but almost never makes a high-profile appearance in the media or industry.
This time, things didn't go so smoothly.
After answering more than 20 questions, Akinator finally narrowed down the scope to the field of computer graphics.
It wasn't until the 30th question that it finally gave its answer.
[ Ivan Sutherland ]
[1988 Turing Award winner]
[Uploaded by: Nolan Bushnell ]
Although the guessing process was indeed slow, it actually managed to guess itself.
"Uploader? What's going on?"
Nolan Bushnell, a student of his when he taught at the University of Utah, was the founder of Atari.
How did this get involved with him?
After all that trouble, Ivan finally figured out what was going on.
No wonder! No wonder it requires a constant internet connection!
It seems I submitted this entry not long ago because I couldn't guess what Nolan was doing while he was traveling.
"I see! I see!"
Now everything makes sense.
GAMENOVA utilizes the collective efforts of all players to improve and maintain this massive database.
It's only the first day of release, and even someone as insignificant as myself has been featured.
If it continues to develop for a while, it might actually become an omniscient genius.
even----
Ivan was quick-witted and immediately came up with another use for this thing by thinking in reverse.
It can help you find more than just the person you've chosen in your heart.
You can specify the characteristics for it and let it help you find roles that meet the criteria.
For example, if you want to find a graphics engineer living in Maryland, you can use this method to perform a reverse search.
In other words, anyone who wants to find a female celebrity, game character, or anime character that matches their profile can also do so in this way.
A surprisingly simple little game.
Ivan, however, found himself unexpectedly fond of it.
Especially seeing my own name appear on it.
Although it was uploaded by Nolan.
But he still occasionally re-examines his own thoughts.
For no other reason than to see if the usage count had increased.
Even the most unassuming person can't help but feel a little smug when faced with this kind of subtle showing off.
Such an innovative work naturally became a sensation across the country overnight at an alarming speed.
Except for those areas where NEXUS services are difficult to cover, almost everyone knows that there is an omnipresent figure on the internet --
Intellectual genius.
Just as the wave of World Wide Web was beginning to cool down, the emergence of Akinator gave it a renewed push.
Let's go all out.
It wasn't until Ivan arrived at the company the next day that he realized just how terrifying Akinator's influence truly was.
From the moment he stepped through the door—no, it should be said that he had heard this name countless times while he was still on the way—he had already heard it countless times.
It's so popular!
It was so popular that even a group of mischievous children were chattering about everything related to this genius.
As for his company, there's no need to elaborate.
"Hey, let me tell you, last night I tried guessing Mr. Sutherland, and guess what?"
"You've come to the right person. Mr. Bushnell uploaded it, right? I saw it too."
"Yes, yes, and he's searched quite a lot."
"Perhaps a former student of Mr. Sutherland?"
"I don't know, but I guess—"
As they were talking, Ivan Sutherland appeared before them, carrying a briefcase.
"Good morning, Mr. Sutherland! We were just talking about you. Akinatorz is so cool, isn't he?"
"Um----"
Ivan nodded. "I've played that game too. It's really fun; it can even guess famous people."
After studying him all night, he had a basic understanding of the guy and could naturally understand what they were talking about.
"Not just famous people, Mr. Sutherland!"
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
Ivan looked at the person who had spoken with a puzzled expression.
"It can even guess that I'm thinking about myself, and it can even guess about my parents and my girlfriend!"
"Ah?"
"Tch, what's that? Akinator's abilities are beyond your wildest imagination!"
The person who spoke up was clearly more astute, his face beaming as he raised his voice, "Even if it's not a person, it can guess!"
He paused, gesturing for everyone to pay attention to what he was about to say.
Then, like a stand-up comedian, he made a microphone-tapping gesture, "It can guess the bezel of my computer monitor!!!"
These words naturally caused an uproar.
More people jumped in, sharing their own amazing guesses from yesterday.
Ivan's eyes became somewhat vacant.
What on earth is all this?
What do you mean by being able to guess even the disc used to play Akinator?
It seems that my understanding of this game is still only superficial.
It—it really knows everything!