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墨書 Inktalez
Stepping out of Professor Lin's office, I sat in the car for a long time. My fingers trembled, unable to light a cigarette.
I had known Professor Lin for eight years. Every time I interviewed him, he would brew a pot of Oolong Tea and then passionately discuss the future of AI development. "Artificial intelligence is a double-edged sword," he always said, "the key is that the user must approach it with reverence."
But now, this once vibrant professor had chosen to end his life.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled to our last conversation. At 11:27 PM the night before last, he had sent me a message: "Old Sun, I have an astonishing discovery. There is a huge conspiracy behind this AI scam; let's discuss it in detail tomorrow. This is too big; I can't talk about it over the phone."
I replied, "Okay, see you tomorrow morning."
But I would never see him again.
Forcing myself to gather my thoughts, I opened my laptop and pulled up all the reports related to AI scams from the past six months. Soon, a disturbing pattern emerged: six victims who were AI experts had all been scammed through an app called Future Fund, a Smart Investment Advisory App.
Even more bizarre was that they all claimed it was recommended by someone they trusted the most. Some mentioned lifelong friends, while others spoke of close family members.
I turned on my voice recorder and listened to an interview I had conducted with one of the victims just days earlier:
"That night, my wife suddenly sent me a voice message saying she had found a great investment project. The tone of her voice, her choice of words, even that characteristic pause—it all sounded just like her. But when I asked her the next day, she said she never sent that message..."
In the recording, the professor's voice was filled with confusion and fear.
I remembered Professor Lin's expression when he finished reading that interview transcript. He stared at the recording script, his hands trembling: "This isn't just an ordinary scam... they are targeting specific individuals..."
"They?" I keenly caught the choice of words at that moment. But Professor Lin did not elaborate, only suggesting we discuss it in person another day.
My phone rang; it was Zhou Xue, Professor Lin's most prized student, now an AI ethics researcher.
"Reporter Sun, can we meet? I'm... I'm scared." Her voice trembled, "While organizing the professor's materials, I found something terrifying."
Half an hour later, in a secluded café, Zhou Xue pushed a document toward me. It was Professor Lin's last research record.
"Look at this," she pointed to a string of data. "The professor discovered an abnormal characteristic in the Future Fund's AI System. It's not analyzing users' investment habits; it's... testing something."
"Testing what?"
Zhou Xue bit her lip. "Human nature. It's searching for certain traits in people. Did you notice? The ones who were deceived are all experts in the AI field, and..."
Her voice suddenly dropped to a whisper. "And they all participated in the Butterfly Project."
A jolt ran through me. The butterfly again.
"What is that project?"
"I'm not sure of the specifics. But I know it was a top-secret project from five years ago, and all reports were sealed. The professor had been trying to investigate it while he was alive."
Zhou Xue pulled a USB drive from her bag. "This contains the professor's research materials. He said that if anything happened to him, I should give it to the most trusted reporter."
Her hands trembled. "Reporter Sun, I'm really scared. Before the professor died, he told me he discovered a secret that could overturn human society. He said those AI Experts were not deceived; they were... hunted."
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