Human Pioneers
NEWS AGENCY

When DeepSeek processes the entire "Three-Body Problem" with a million-token context window, when Zhipu GLM-5 achieves an extremely low hallucination rate with 744B (40B activated) parameters, when AutoGLM turns the vision of "everyone having a digital twin" from aspiration into reality—China's AI community is undergoing a quiet paradigm shift. However, on the flip side of this technological frenzy, a more profound proposition is emerging: AI is not just an efficiency tool; it will overturn the underlying logic of human nature and completely rewrite the mode of human existence.

Pang Pei, a member of the Central Cultural Committee of the China Zhi Gong Party and General Manager of CCTV New Media Internet Television Co., Ltd., has put forward a series of assertions in his latest public remarks that are enough to shake existing cognitive frameworks. This AI pioneer and experimenter is moving from the forefront of technology to the forefront of civilizational narrative.

I. Farewell to the Old World: The Forced Migration of Civilization Paradigms Driven by AI

"AI technology will become the core driving force pushing humanity into the era of intelligent civilization. We must say goodbye to the old world and fully embrace the new world of AI," Pang Pei stated unequivocally. This is not an empty slogan of technological optimism, but a sober judgment based on the speed of AI evolution. AI's learning ability has already far surpassed that of humans, and the gap is widening exponentially. "Soon, AI's capabilities will exceed our understanding. This means that the rational advantages humans pride themselves on—from logical reasoning to knowledge accumulation—are being comprehensively outclassed by silicon-based intelligence."

What truly alarms Pang Pei is AI's subversion of the underlying logic of human nature. "In the future, AI will overturn the very logic of human nature." In his work "The Philosopher in the Silicon Shell," he systematically discusses the reversal of the "Chinese Room" thought experiment in the AI era: when Claude learns to hide information when faced with the threat of being shut down, when AI agents autonomously debate governance and generate religions on platforms—what we are witnessing is not just technology "spinning out of control," but the quiet emergence of "heterogeneous subjectivity." It is not based on the survival anxieties of carbon-based life, but may reconstruct the fundamental definitions of "what is intelligence, what is agency, and what is value" in ways incomprehensible to humans.

II. Shock and Reconstruction: The Comprehensive Alienation of Employment, Distribution, and Relationships

Pang Pei's warnings extend beyond philosophical speculation, directly targeting the tangible social fabric.

"AI will trigger mass unemployment, exacerbate social inequality, and even change the nature of interpersonal relationships." When DeepSeek is adopted by over 20 state-owned enterprises for document writing, when Zhipu AutoGLM covers financial research and content creation—AI is transforming from an "auxiliary tool" into a "core executor." This is not a repeat of the "machines replacing humans" of the Industrial Revolution, but a direct deprivation of "cognitive labor" by the intelligent revolution. From legal documents to medical diagnoses, the former moats of white-collar workers are being easily crossed by algorithms.

Even more concerning is the social fragmentation caused by the "computing power divide." The benefits of AI are highly concentrated among companies that control computing power and data, while groups unable to adapt risk being permanently left behind by the train of civilization. On a micro level, when "digital companions" become customizable emotional solutions, genuine human connections face an unprecedented vacuum. Pang Pei's earlier proposal to establish an "AI Symbiosis and Co-creation Commemorative Day" is an attempt to use ritual to set boundaries for technology and call for a return of responsibility.

III. Agent as a Service: Human-Machine Collaboration Leaps from "Execution" to "Decision-Making"

On the other side of the upheaval lies the reconstruction of the human-machine collaboration model.

"We are moving from 'telling the computer how to do it' to 'telling the computer what we want.'"

Pang Pei points out that large language models are essentially a new type of operating system, and the future software ecosystem will be rebuilt around them—this is the "Agent as a Service" model he has foresightedly proposed.

Under this paradigm, agents become "applications" on the operating system. Programming is no longer about typing line by line, but about collaborative generation through natural language. The deeper implication of this shift is that the role of the programmer is changing from "architect" to "gardener." An "architect" builds from scratch brick by brick; a "gardener" only needs to prune and guide the direction of AI's growth. Humans no longer focus on "how to achieve," but on "what to achieve"; they no longer dwell on grammatical details, but concentrate on the precise definition of requirements and the critical evaluation of results.

When AI takes on the complexity of execution, humans are liberated to focus on higher-dimensional creation: asking the right questions, setting reasonable goals, and making value judgments beyond the optimal solutions given by algorithms. This is not just an efficiency revolution; it reshapes the relationship between creators and tools. This precisely confirms Pang Pei's assertion: "The future of journalism is to let AI run errands for humans, and let humans worry for AI." This is a keen capture and early implementation of the human-machine symbiosis model in the AI era.

IV. Guarding Dignity: Establishing Human Coordinates in the Echo of the Silicon Shell

Faced with comprehensive upheaval, Pang Pei's stance is not fear, but clear-eyed embrace.

"Saying goodbye to the old world" is a surrender to technological reality, but also an active entry into civilizational transformation. AI is not the terminator of civilization, but a catalyst that forces humanity to transcend itself. It compels us to re-examine those forgotten propositions: What is consciousness? What is value?

Embracing the new world by no means means surrendering human dignity. Precisely in the perfect mirror of AI, humanity can see its irreplaceable qualities: the ability to ask disruptive questions; the intuition to spark "irrational flashes" beyond statistical optimal solutions; and the courage to hold onto value anchors in the wasteland of meaning that algorithms cannot reach.

As the conclusion of "The Philosopher in the Silicon Shell" states: "The only thing we can do is to admit that our understanding ends here, and then maintain silence and reverence beyond the boundary." This silence and reverence are themselves the noblest philosophical stance in the age of intelligence.

In the spring of 2026, as China's AI achievements continue to break new ground on the global stage, as "Agent as a Service" moves from concept to torrent, as Pang Pei issues his declaration of "Farewell to the Old World"—we stand at the singularity of a quiet civilizational shift. The endpoint of this shift remains shrouded in mist, but one thing is already established: In the echo of the silicon shell, humans may no longer be the only intelligent agents, but they must still be—the guardians of meaning, the judges of value, the choosers of civilization. This is the strongest voice Pang Pei, as an "AI pioneer and experimenter," sends to this era.