Chapter 12: Consequences |
Meeting Ji Yongsheng's gaze, Wei Hongsi nodded and said in a loud, clear voice, "Based on my analysis of Plan B, combined with the client's actual test verification data, the proportion of subjects who underwent an emotional shift is approximately 35%, with an average tolerance threshold of 47 exposures…"
He paused when he saw Yu Sheng reach out and lightly tap the tabletop in front of him twice.
Then he heard Yu Sheng say, "Director Ding, let me explain the meaning of these two data points. Among those who viewed Plan B, 35% will develop a psychological resistance. However, this doesn't happen immediately; it occurs after they've seen it roughly 47 times."
Ding Yafan glared at Yu Sheng, her words gritted out between clenched teeth, "I don't need your explanation."
Yu Sheng gave a slight, derisive smile and raised a hand, signaling for Wei Hongsi to continue.
Wei Hongsi thought to himself, Is Director Yu trying to draw hatred onto me?
He continued, "Based on the target consumer group for this client's product and the media channels the client plans to use for distribution, the viewers' refusal-to-purchase behavior will emerge approximately two weeks after the advertisement's launch, reaching a theoretical peak in the third week.
"In other words, for the first two weeks after Plan B is launched, its advertising effectiveness will be normal, even excellent. It should achieve a decent conversion rate. However, after two weeks, a strong negative effect will manifest.
"The viewers' refusal-to-purchase behavior won't just be reflected in their personal choices regarding the consumer product; they will also spread this sentiment to people around them. This negative word-of-mouth will propagate online at an extremely rapid pace and will be exceedingly difficult to eliminate."
Ji Yongsheng said, "Everyone should understand the situation now. If Engineer Wei's first report had used the conclusions from the standard model, what would the consequences have been? Everyone, feel free to share your views."
Miao Rui, the director of Department Eight, said, "In that case, Plan B would have been rolled out comprehensively. Paradise Beverages' new product launch would likely have gone smoothly initially, but its reputation would have suddenly reversed after about half a month. They probably wouldn't have been able to find the cause in a short time, let alone solve the problem. The new product's promotion campaign would have ended in a disastrous failure."
Lu Jiaqi was his subordinate. He had been aware of Ji Cheng and the others visiting the company yesterday afternoon. Afterwards, Lu Jiaqi had reported the relevant situation to him. At the time, he also knew the matter was quite serious. This morning, when Lu Jiaqi submitted the commission request to him, he immediately communicated with Yu Sheng. That's why Wei Hongsi received the work task so quickly.
He just hadn't expected the severity of the situation to far exceed his initial estimation, including right now.
"And it doesn't stop there," Yu Sheng said, patting Miao Rui's arm as he spoke. "Old Miao, you're underestimating the power of psychological resistance. It wouldn't just affect Paradise's new product; it would spread into an aversion to the entire Paradise brand. Even that minor celebrity who starred in Plan B would get dragged down and suffer."
Lin Fangzhe, the General Manager of the Finance Center, said, "If I recall correctly, Paradise Beverages' market capitalization should exceed 300 billion. If that situation truly occurred, it would be nothing short of a disaster for them. To make matters worse, if Paradise Beverages were targeted by short-selling institutions, the losses could easily reach tens of billions. The subsequent company turmoil and brand rebuilding would require even higher investments."
Qian Jiayu said, "Do you all think the kind of people capable of orchestrating such things wouldn't also take action against our Zhiwei Technology? Once Plan B blows up, how much better off would we be compared to Paradise Beverages? Surely everyone hasn't forgotten about 'Dome Technology'?"
Ten years ago, Dome Technology was a behemoth in the industry, surpassing the current Zhiwei in both scale and influence. Yet, seven years ago, it collapsed almost overnight. While the reasons were complex, the trigger was an incident that crossed the ethical boundaries of cognitive science.
The essence of Plan B is AI-led manipulation of the human subconscious. Merely its existence at the experimental stage would plunge Zhiwei Technology into a moral crisis. If rolled out comprehensively across media, the number of people affected would be at least in the tens of millions, making it even more severe than what Dome Technology faced back then.
Seeing that everyone had analyzed the situation sufficiently, Ji Yongsheng looked at Meng Haolin and asked, "Director Meng, do you understand now how serious the problem is?"
Meng Haolin's face was deathly pale, his eyes vacant as he stared at the screen in front of him. After a moment, he let out a long sigh and said somewhat despondently, "President Ji, could you please add some more tea for me?"
Ji Yongsheng slowly nodded and gestured towards the door.
The conference room door opened, and two service staff entered carrying trays. They began replacing everyone's teacups according to the seating order, starting from the top.
After just a few cups had been replaced, Meng Haolin suddenly reached out and grabbed the wrist of the service staff member beside him. "Li Yunxiang, wait a moment."
Caught completely off guard, the service staff member's tray immediately tipped over. Teacups flew out, shattering on the floor with a clattering crash.
Gu Shiming, sitting to Meng Haolin's right, hurriedly stood up to avoid the spill but still got splashed with quite a bit of tea. Fortunately, the tea wasn't very hot, so he wasn't injured, but he looked thoroughly disheveled.
This sudden turn of events left everyone present stunned.
Since Li Yunxiang often provided service support during management meetings, many people recognized her. She was also the service staff member Wei Hongsi considered somewhat unusual.
Ji Yongsheng said to the other service staff member, "You may leave first." That person nodded, picked up their tray, and left.
"Director Meng, what are you doing?" Li Yunxiang cried out, both frantic and angry, shaking her arm vigorously. But Meng Haolin's grip was incredibly tight; she couldn't break free at all.
Once the conference room door closed, Meng Haolin questioned her in a voice thick with suppressed, extreme fury, "Li Yunxiang, was it you who handed over the Eye-Tracking Analysis Standard Model to the CMS for parsing?"
"I don't know what you're talking about! Let go!" Li Yunxiang panicked, trying to pry the hand clamped around her wrist.
Meng Haolin abruptly stood up. With a forceful yank of his arm, he flung Li Yunxiang onto a chair in the back row. "Stop pretending. I'm throwing my old face away just to get you to clarify this matter."
Li Yunxiang's face was a mask of bewilderment and grievance. "Director Meng, what do you want me to say?"
Meng Haolin said, "You have access to my office. You know how to obtain console operation privileges. I only ever told you the backdoor instruction set for the CMS log storage block. If you didn't do the thing with the standard model, then who did?"
Li Yunxiang lowered her head, sobbing. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a cleaner. I don't understand any of what you're saying."
Hearing their exchange, everyone understood what was going on, yet they found it hard to believe.
Li Yunxiang's official job title was Environmental Maintenance Staff. Her work primarily involved cleaning and meeting support. Because her work areas included special locations like laboratories and server rooms, the personnel requirements were somewhat higher.
But to suggest she could use the console, invoke CMS instructions… that was pushing it too far. Let alone having the CMS deep-learn the standard model or using the CMS to parse and render advertising content—those were highly complex operations.
If Li Yunxiang possessed that level of technical skill, she'd be at least a Z3 grade. Why would she work as an Environmental Maintenance Staff member for three or four years?
However, Meng Haolin had spoken such words outright. Clearly, he wasn't shooting in the dark.
Could Li Yunxiang really have done it?
Comments 1