China’s artificial intelligence show is like a glimpse into the future.
In fact, Shanghai has been flooded with the industry’s brightest minds this week for the annual global trade show. artificial intelligence meeting.
This exposition is a very impressive exhibit.
There are lots of fun things to do here that can be enjoyed by a large crowd. For example, a basketball court that offers suggestions for improving your technique, or a robotic arm that tells you your horoscope.
But there are also serious industry innovations transforming businesses of all kinds, from logistics to manufacturing to construction.
The world will see what’s happening here, China has won the development race and how it will take advantage of its new features.
In an atmosphere of extreme competition and tension with the US, AI is a critical front line.
Some of China’s biggest beasts have come here and are racially aware.
Companies such as Baidu, the Chinese equivalent of Google.
Developed China’s most advanced consumer “chatbot”. This is a language-based program, which is the answer to the following questions. Chat GPT.
Visitors experience dialogue with robots at the World AI Conference
They obviously take a lot of pride in the work they do here, like developing chips, but they also have a patriotism.
This is clear when speaking to Baidu market consultant Wu Hao.
“We believe AI should provide tremendous assistance in the development of industrial intelligence,” he says.
“When Baidu and Chinese companies develop AI-related technologies, they must ‘focus on the health and safety of the people, the major scientific needs of the country, the global frontiers of science and technology, and the development of the national economy,’ according to the president’s decree.” obey”. ”
China is making impressive progress, but still lags behind the US
China has also made impressive progress in certain areas, such as military and cybersecurity, but experts agree that overall it still lags slightly behind the United States.
There are many reasons for this.
There are three key ingredients required for successful AI development. Large amounts of high-quality data, the right people with great expertise, and state-of-the-art software and hardware.
First of all, the situation is complicated for China.
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In some areas, such as facial recognition, we have more data than in the West, but in others there are factors that limit it.
For example, the proportional decline in the use of Chinese on the Internet means that less information is accessible.
In terms of talent, experts say there are excellent Chinese talent, but recent news favored by companies microsoft Trying to keep AI centers out of China could limit Chinese access to top talent in the future.
But where China is particularly hampered is on the hardware and software side.
China lacks the ‘basic’ ingredients for rapid development
That’s largely because the US last year introduced a series of major new export controls that effectively blocked China’s access to its best chips and technology.
And despite the brilliance of AI developers, the lack of access to these chips and how to manufacture them is limiting.
It was raised at the conference by many people, including the public,
“I think China has good competition at the moment,” says visiting enthusiast Edward Chan.
“But it doesn’t even have basic things like big chips, so I don’t think it’s likely to develop rapidly even if we want to.”
But there are some areas where China has an advantage.
A ‘data labeling town’ doing important work
To understand them, we traveled more than 1,000 miles from Shanghai to small towns in the countryside of Guizhou province.
Bai Niao River Digital Town is an interesting place. It’s off the beaten path and looks a little run down, but it does important work.
It has come to be known in some quarters as ‘the city of data labeling’ because there are several companies working on this very important endeavor.
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This requires a human to manually “teach” what the computer sees by literally describing the data. For example, how to tell the difference between a dog and a cat.
This is an area where China really excels because it has more readily available and abundant cheap labor.
At Bainiahoe, a lot of work is done by students in parallel with their studies. People like Mr. Sune Jiang, who I met while having lunch with my friends.
He just arrived and said he was going to label the data.
“I am benefiting from AI developments,” he says. “It’s good to earn money and make a living.”
“Harder regulations will drag the industry down.”
But if human power is a strength, regulation is a potential downside, and experts agree that China is likely to go further than others.
Information is already heavily censored here, and indeed a draft AI regulation issued in China emphasized that products must be in line with “socialist core values.”
“I think China already has stricter regulations than the rest of the world,” said Calman Lucero, a Yale University researcher who specializes in regulation of emerging technologies and U.S.-China relations.
“At least for now, heavy regulation will drag the industry down,” he said.
AI developers warn of threats
The approach so far has been very broad, he said.
But the future of China’s approach is unclear.
“It’s the cloud of uncertainty that it creates,” he explains. “There’s so much uncertainty for tech companies about what’s allowed and what’s not, that they’re going to be very hesitant in a way they might not have been in 2015, for example. Let’s go.”
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Back at the conference, there’s optimism, but there’s also recognition that AI needs some regulation to protect people and jobs.
The industry is developing so quickly that it is difficult to predict what will happen next.
But China is clearly an important player and is catching up.
