Awakening Elementary School System in University
Chapter 12 - 11: Even Faster Than AI?

Chapter 12: Chapter 11: Even Faster Than AI?

Sun Yu checked his phone. The case he ordered had shipped and was expected to arrive tomorrow morning.

Bored out of his mind, he mindlessly scrolled through the recommended listings on the Xianyu app.

Just then, the title of a listing abruptly caught his eye.

[One-on-One Math Consulting]

"Consulting?" Sun Yu paused for a moment.

It wasn’t that strange, really. When he was an undergrad, there were a few times he couldn’t figure out his homework and ended up finding a grad student on Xianyu for one-on-one tutoring.

Ever since, the algorithm would occasionally push services like [Math Homework Help] or [One-on-One Advanced Math Tutoring] to his feed.

But this was the first time he’d ever seen one for "consulting."

On a whim, he tapped on it.

The listing had two images: an acceptance letter and a transcript.

Sun Yu first tapped to enlarge the acceptance letter. When he saw the gilded characters at the top, his pupils contracted slightly.

"Yannan University."

The student’s name had been deliberately blacked out, but the fine print below was clearly visible: "Admitted to the School of Mathematical Sciences for study in the Mathematics and Applied Mathematics program."

He then opened the screenshot of the transcript.

A long list of major courses was followed by a string of scores: "95," "98," "99"...

"HISS—"

Sun Yu couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

Yannan University’s reputation in the country was nothing to scoff at.

While it wasn’t on the same tier as world-renowned institutions like Qingbei, nor was it a member of the C9 League, its credentials spoke for themselves.

For one, it was one of the first universities established in the country—a true century-old institution. It was also a bona fide "Project 985," "Project 211," and "Double First-Class" university.

More importantly, Yan University’s mathematics department was one of the school’s crown jewels.

Although Sun Yu had attended non-Project universities for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees, and had mostly been a slacker, he still had a few academic superstars in his circle of friends.

He’d heard them mention that Yan University’s overall strength in mathematics placed it firmly in the nation’s top ten, even ranking higher than two or three C9 League universities.

Rumor had it that a heavyweight professor who had taught at a top European institution for years had joined them in the last two years, making their department’s strength even more unfathomable.

’If this picture isn’t photoshopped, then the person on the other end is truly one of the chosen few!’

With a newfound sense of awe, Sun Yu’s gaze slowly moved down to the product description.

[Still stressing over incomprehensible math homework? Still racking your brain over complex project models?]

[Here, all your math problems will be solved with ease.]

’What a bold claim!’

Sun Yu muttered to himself and continued reading.

[Service 1: Homework Help]

[- Final answer only: 20 yuan/problem.]

[- Detailed solution process (handwritten photo/digital file): 100 yuan/problem.]

[(Note: Difficulty is no object. From graduate-level coursework to elementary school Math Olympiad problems, the price is fixed. Honesty is the best policy.)]

At this point, Sun Yu just found it a bit absurd. ’No limit on difficulty, one price fits all? This person is way too arrogant.’

But when he saw the pricing for the second service, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

[Service 2: Project Consulting]

[- Providing holistic mathematical solutions or core algorithm support for graduation theses, mathematical modeling, research projects, engineering challenges, etc.]

[- Price: 888 yuan/hour. A discounted package price of 2000 yuan is available for a one-time purchase of three hours.]

[(Note: My time is valuable. Consultations must be scheduled in advance. Serious inquiries only.)]

"HISS—"

Sun Yu took another sharp breath, this time forgetting to even pick at his takeout.

’888 an hour!’

He quickly did some mental math. After deducting social insurance, housing funds, and all the other miscellaneous expenses from his own pathetic salary, his hourly wage was probably... only about 5% of that price.

For a moment, Sun Yu was torn.

Logic told him there was a 99% chance this was a scam.

Even if he was a genius, an undergrad charging such an astronomical consulting fee was just insane.

But his current predicament made him entertain a fantasy he knew he shouldn’t.

’What if?’

’What if he’s not a scammer? What if he’s actually got the skills?’

’If he can really solve this hot potato I’m stuck with, forget two thousand yuan. Even if it costs a bit more, as long as it satisfies my team lead and lets me pass my probation, it’ll be worth it!’

’So what if I’m paying to do my job? Plenty of people would kill for the chance to pay for an opportunity like this and can’t find one.’

’It’s a long shot, but I’ve got nothing to lose!’

Finally, Sun Yu gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

’First, I’ll make contact and feel him out.’

He was a math grad student, after all. He had some ability to tell real from fake.

If the person was just a scammer using AI tools to cobble together answers and fool laymen, a few questions would be all it took to expose him.

With that thought, Sun Yu no longer hesitated. He tapped the familiar "Chat Now" button on the listing page and entered a private chat with the seller.

He took a deep breath and sent a message.

Sun Yu: [Are you there? I’d like to ask a few questions.]

The reply came back almost the instant he sent the message, so fast he thought it was an automated system response.

Seller: [I’m here. Are you interested in homework help or project consulting?]

Sun Yu froze for a second, then quickly typed back.

Sun Yu: [I do have an engineering project design that’s stuck on a verification calculation. I need a new algorithmic model.]

Sun Yu: [But your price isn’t exactly cheap. Can I give you a couple of problems first to test your skill level?]

After sending that, he was already bracing himself for rejection or ridicule.

However, the reply was just as quick as before.

Seller: [Normally, if you provide the problems, it’s charged as homework help. 20 for the final answer, 100 for the full process.]

’Just as I expected.’ Sun Yu’s heart sank. He was about to argue that it was just a test, not an official order.

But before he could finish typing, another message popped up.

Seller: [But since you’re my first customer, I’ll consider it a grand opening discount. Just 2 problems, okay?]

Seeing this message, Sun Yu felt an unexpected thrill, as if he’d gotten a great deal. He quickly replied.

Sun Yu: [Okay, okay, one moment!]

He immediately set his phone aside and opened a dialog box for DS on his computer.

He thought for a moment and typed a command into the dialog box: "Generate a numerical analysis problem for me, upper-level undergraduate difficulty, primarily using knowledge of numerical integration."

After about thirty seconds, DS finished generating the problem.

[Problem: You are asked to calculate the definite integral: ∫[0, π] sin(x) dx.

We know that the exact solution to this integral is 2.

Please use the following specified numerical integration methods to calculate the approximate value of the integral. For each method, calculate the absolute error between the approximate value and the exact value of 2:

1. Composite Trapezoidal Rule: Divide the integration interval [0, π] into n=4 subintervals (i.e., using 5 nodes).

2. Composite Simpson’s Rule: Also divide the integration interval [0, π] into n=4 subintervals (using 5 nodes).]

Sun Yu nodded in satisfaction. The problem was perfect. The calculation itself wasn’t complex, but the steps were tedious and the formulas were easy to mix up, making it a great test of fundamentals.

He copied and pasted the problem and sent it to the seller via Xianyu.

At the same time, to establish a benchmark, Sun Yu opened a new DS dialog window, dropped the same problem in, and had the AI start solving it.

’AI really is convenient,’ he thought. ’I just have to wait for DS to calculate the result and then check if there are any errors caused by hallucinations.’

He leaned back in his chair, pondering.

’If the seller’s solving speed is about the same as DS, I’ll just block them and not waste any more time.’

’It’s not that they’re definitely cheating with AI, but for such an expensive price, I’m not willing to take any risks.’

’If they’re a lot slower, it’s actually more likely that a real person is calculating it by hand.’

’I’d even be willing to hop on a video call with them. I did okay in a few of my undergrad courses, so I could probably judge their actual skill level through a conversation.’

’As for being faster than the AI...’

’What a joke.’

’Even the most brilliant genius couldn’t possibly be faster than an AI on a purely computational, step-by-step problem of undergraduate difficulty.’

He glanced at his computer screen. In the DS dialog box, the cursor was blinking, displaying "Thinking..." The timer had already passed 45 seconds.

He glanced back at his phone. The Xianyu chat interface was silent; there was still no reply from the seller.

Just then, the seller sent an image.

’That fast?’

Sun Yu was startled, and a thought crossed his mind: ’They probably want to show me the intermediate steps to prove they did it themselves.’

With that thought, he casually tapped open the image.