This photo shows the view outside the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center, the new venue for the Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum), in the Chinese capital, Beijing, on April 24, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING – A “girl” who appears to be 3 or 4 years old, wearing a pink hairpin, white T-shirt and pink shorts, attracted attention at the 2024 Zhongguancun Forum exhibition in Beijing.
The “girl”, named Tongtong (Little Girl in English), is an advanced virtual artificial intelligence (AI) avatar based on artificial general intelligence, said developer Beijing Institute of General Artificial Intelligence. According to Mr. Zhu Songchun, director of the product.
In the video demonstration, after being programmed to prefer clean things, Tonton notices spilled milk on the table and takes the initiative to bring a towel to wipe it up. This behavior came from her autonomous decisions made based on the guidance of her values. , rather than a preconfigured program.
“Unlike traditional AI, she can understand your words, interpret your intentions, and proactively provide assistance,” Zhu said, adding that Tong Tong can be applied to a variety of scenarios. It added that it will strengthen industries covering six sectors, including emergency, transport, education and education. Healthcare field.
Boasting a wealth of AI innovations like Tong Tong, China has seen the AI industry in the fast lane. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the total scale of China's core AI industry has reached 500 billion yuan ($70.37 billion), and the number of related companies exceeds 4,400.
AI technology has permeated every aspect of society, featuring a wide variety of application scenarios.
In the field of autonomous driving, unmanned vehicles equipped with AI technology can automatically choose the best route, maintain an appropriate speed, and smoothly traverse complex road sections. In the medical field, surgical robots equipped with AI systems can improve the accuracy and precision of surgeries, contributing to reduced pain after surgery and shorter hospital stays.
Regarding large-scale language models (LLMs), which are the mainstream of AI development, official data shows that China has the second largest number of self-developed LLMs in the world, with over 100 LLMs each with over 1 billion parameters. has been released. Country.
Wang Haifeng, chief technology officer of Chinese technology giant Baidu, said his LLM and ChatGPT-like product, called Erniebot, has a user base of more than 200 million people. We offer a wide range of services covering various aspects of work and life, including writing speeches, business plans, instructions, and creating flowcharts and mind maps.
“Currently, China is striving to master advanced LLM algorithms, promote deep integration of computing software and hardware, and accelerate technological transformation into applications in various fields,” said one of China's leading AI companies. said Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFlytek. companies.
In Liu's eyes, China has formed a comparative advantage in the areas of voice LLM and medical LLM.
“In 2024, we expect to see more and more innovative AI application scenarios and product forms,” said Wu Hequan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering. “China is a developed country in the Internet field, and will also become a developed country in AI applications.”
