Tech chiefs promote AI at meeting
Sector may support competitiveness, offset rising costs
China is holding its annual two sessions when officials and people from all walks of life get together to discuss major political, economic and social issues concerning the country’s development. For the country’s technology leaders, artificial intelligence ( AI) appears to be a prominent focus.
Baidu Founder Li Yanhong, member of the 12th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference ( CPPCC) national committee, has put forward three AI- related proposals during this year’s ongoing two sessions.
Li appealed to the top political advisory body for more support for AI applications.
AI can be used to address child abduction issues and prevent traffic congestion, according to the Chinese version of Li’s non- binding proposal obtained by the Global Times over the weekend.
In addition, he asked the authorities to issue policies to push the integration of AI with other sectors such as transportation and manufacturing. He also called for further opening up and sharing of industrial data to better advance AI technology.
Li is not alone. Two deputies of the 12th National People’s Congress ( NPC) are also AI advocates.
NPC deputy Lei Jun, who is also the CEO of leading Chinese technology company Xiaomi, is set to submit a motion about AI development during the fifth session of the 12th NPC, which started Sunday.
Lei, who said AI will be key to Xiaomi’s development strategy in 2017, was set to hold a press conference on Monday to explain the proposal to the public.
NPC deputy Ma Huateng has proposed measures to build a technological base to rival Silicon Valley in the Guangdong- Hong Kong- Macao area.
The development of advanced technologies such as AI is crucial to help enterprises maintain dominance in their markets, said Ma, CEO of Tencent Holdings.
“In the future, robotics may be combined with AI, neurology, mechanical
engineering and many other fields to deeply influence our life and work,” Ma said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday evening.
Amid a slowing economy and rising labor costs, the Chinese government has resolved to infuse traditional industries with new technologies
Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday at the opening meeting of the top legislature’s annual session that the country will accelerate R&D on and commercialization of new emerging sectors such as new materials and AI.
The National Development and Reform Commission has forecast that domestic AI applications will be worth hundreds of billions of yuan by 2018.
AI is widely regarded as a next technological revolution that can be the new engine for global economic growth. US technology companies such as Google Inc and Microsoft are also in the race to lead the sector.
“As the technology matures, those who can first break new ground at the application level will likely gain a [ competitive] edge,” Li wrote in his proposal.
This may explain why Baidu has taken a more aggressive approach to AI.
Baidu’s smartphone connectivity system CarLife, a competitor to Apple’s CarPlay, has been installed in more than 600,000 cars, Li told reporters on Thursday.
Baidu is also betting on the driverless car, which was a major theme of Li’s proposal in 2016. The company is determined to bring its autonomous cars to consumers between 2021- 22.
However, technology companies’ aggressive push into AI has raised eyebrows among some NPC deputies.
Zong Qinghou, a NPC deputy and chairman of China’s beverage giant Hangzhou Wahaha Group, expressed his concerns about the other side of the technology.
“Technologies should not develop so fast that they can replace entire sections of the labor force. If so, what can human beings do?” Zong said at a salon held by magazine China Entrepreneur on Friday in Beijing.
Li admitted that some professions will be indeed affected by AI. For instance, in the era of driverless cars, full- time chauffeurs may be shifted out of the market. Government authorities should prepare for the arrival of AI, which may cause some professions to disappear, Li said.