An\r\n employee (left) answers visitor queries on a smart diagnose system \r\nduring a warm-up event of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference \r\n2021 in Shanghai on Wednesday. [Photo by SUN ZHONGQIN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

WAIC 2021 reveals metropolis' efforts toward goal of a major global AI center

From autonomous driving cars, unmanned convenience stores to a \r\nbrain-computer interface which can help treat diseases, Shanghai is \r\nmaking artificial intelligence technologies and their applications more \r\nubiquitous, and accelerating steps toward its goal of building itself \r\ninto a national AI center with global influence.

With the kickoff of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference \r\n2021, the metropolis has vowed to see the sector enjoy 15 percent \r\ncompound annual growth so it can hit 400 billion yuan ($61.8 billion) in\r\n value by 2025.

Such a goal is in line with the city's digitalization drive during \r\nthe 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). It should come about through \r\ntechnological breakthroughs, investments, public platform construction \r\nand policy innovation, said the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy\r\n and Informatization, the city's industrial regulator.

The WAIC 2021 symbolizes Shanghai's efforts on the AI front. The \r\nmeeting from July 8 to 10 will see some 1,000 industry luminaries \r\nattend, including Turing Awardees Joseph Sifakis and Andrew Chi-Chih \r\nYao, along with academicians and top business executives.

A dazzling array of AI-backed applications are being showcased during\r\n the event. For instance, at Shanghai's River Mall, people can stand to \r\nexperience virtual mirrors at apparel shops where algorithms can give \r\nrecommendation to customers on their best outfit without hassles of \r\ninadequate fitting rooms.

Visitors can also enjoy coffee prepared by robots, and grab a pack of\r\n chips at an unstaffed convenience store where the bill is automatically\r\n deducted through their phones when they leave.

Autonomous driving buses run test trials in select areas near the \r\nexhibition venue. Some of the bus－es run at around Level 4 or high \r\nautonomous driving. AI firm SenseTime provides the bus fleet coupled \r\nwith augmented reality technology to give guests an immersive ride.

"Equipped with SenseAuto Pilot solutions, the buses follow a \r\ndesignated route and are most suitable to shuttle between work campuses \r\nand tourist sites," said Shi Jianping, vice-president of Intelligent \r\nDriving of SenseTime's Mobile Intelligence Group. "AR technologies also \r\nenable customers to view everything from graphics to videos from inside \r\nthe vehicle."

A robot demonstrates its Chinese chess-playing skills at the Shanghai\r\n World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center in Shanghai on Wednesday.\r\n [Photo/China Daily]

To beef up the application in transportation, Shanghai opened up 560 \r\nkilometers of roads to conduct autonomous driving tests in 2020. It \r\nissued 155 licenses to 23 companies eligible for such tests, with both \r\nfigures topping the national numbers, the Shanghai Municipal Commission \r\nof Economy and Informatization said.

Other promising undertakings include a brain-computer interface \r\ntechnology that can allow minimally invasive implantations without the \r\nneed for a craniotomy at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and \r\nInformation Technology.

"The approach is critical to solving major brain diseases like \r\nAmyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and has shown good performance in the \r\nlevel and safety of device implantation," said Tao Hu, vice-dean of the \r\ninstitute.

Shanghai's bid to excel in AI sprouted in 2017 when the municipal \r\ngovernment first released a document to bolster the development of the \r\n"next generation AI industry". By 2020, local authorities counted 1,149 \r\nfirms as "key AI enterprises", whose scale reached 224.6 billion yuan.

The city has fostered a cluster of industrial zones located in Pudong\r\n new area and Xuhui district. This has attracted big tech firms like \r\nAmazon, Microsoft, Tencent and Huawei to dive into AI-related \r\nbusinesses.

Emerging players also said they benefited from the city's \r\ncomprehensive industrial chain, rich application scenarios and \r\ninnovative policies.

"Thanks to innovative policies, we managed to secure leading banks as\r\n our very first batch of customers, allowing us to massively adopt \r\nmachine learning to the financial sector," said Zhu Mingjie, founder and\r\n CEO of CraiditX, an AI startup specialized in finance. During the WAIC \r\n2021, the company is debuting a virtual digital agent it claims can \r\nraise efficiency in the insurance sector.