China’s AI technology could boost industrial development

“I am very surprised to see a greater diversity of exhibitors compared to last year, with both well-established internet giants and emerging artificial intelligence (AI) startups having a strong presence,” an AI entrepreneur surnamed Hua told the Global Times on Friday.

China’s extensive displays of large language models (LLMs) at the ongoing World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai demonstrate the tangible benefits of AI technology in boosting productivity and economic development, underscoring its potential to drive growth and transformation in the country, the Global Times learned from industry leaders, experts and specialists who attended the event.

The event indicates the diversification and competitiveness of the domestic industry, Hua said, adding that more and more technology companies are shifting from showcasing their LLMs to pursuing practical applications and commercial capabilities.

The cutting-edge AI products on display at this year’s WAIC have shown their practical use in different industrial applications, playing a key role in advancing China’s economy through innovation and modernization.

“The event marked a time when major companies are starting to take action and domestic AI startups are really flourishing,” Hua noted after spending the afternoon exploring the exhibition.

Spanning 52,000 square meters, the exhibition highlights advances in key areas such as computing power, robotics and autonomous driving. Delegates were able to explore cutting-edge “AI+” applications and discover a plethora of highly anticipated innovative products.

Major players in the large model race, such as SenseTime and iFlytek, have unveiled their latest LLMs, as well as AI applications in many fields such as healthcare, education and business.

One notable example is SenseTime. The company unveiled SenseNova 5.5, its most advanced LLM, which is being touted as a rival to OpenAI’s GPT-4o in areas such as mathematical reasoning, according to a note the company sent to the Global Times on Friday.

Another major highlight came from IFlytek, which launched the next-generation Spark-Desk V4.0, an LLM that enables faculty to provide differentiated guidance. Meanwhile, Shanghai-based AI company United Imaging Intelligence introduced its uAI MERITS tool, a metaverse ecosystem for robotic intervention, therapy, and surgery. Based on this tool, the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Team led by Prof. Richard Su and Dr. Jane Pu from the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with United Imaging Intelligence, performed the world’s first oral and maxillofacial reconstructive surgery powered by a large medical multimodal model.

“This is an era of expansion, which promises great improvements in efficiency, productivity and innovation across various sectors,” Hua noted. New generations of LLMs, along with many other innovative and technical displays, together showcased how China’s rapidly developing AI technology is bringing convenience, efficiency and a better quality of life, he said.

The view was echoed by Yan Junjie, the founder of Shanghai-based AI unicorn MiniMax, who told the Global Times on Friday that Chinese AI players are becoming more pragmatic and ambitious as they are now more interested in demonstrating how AI technology can be applied across various sectors and industries to boost productivity and improve efficiency, Yan said.

Today, AI technology is powering a range of industrial and consumer products, including chatbots like ChatGPT and Minimax, as well as autonomous driving systems, business sources said. It can also do things like help design new molecules for drug development and enable the design and optimization of new products.

In the realm of autonomous driving, AI-powered vehicles can automatically choose the optimal route, maintain an appropriate speed, and smoothly navigate complex road sections. In the medical sector, AI-enabled surgical robots can help increase the precision and accuracy of operations, which helps reduce post-surgical pain and shorten hospital stays.

With more than 50 new products, LLMs or related systems from Chinese AI companies “reflect the prosperity of China’s AI industrial ecosystem,” according to Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFlyTek.

“We need to prepare for an AI-enabled future,” Liu Gang, chief economist at the China Institute for New-Generation AI Development Strategies, told the Global Times on Friday.

This advanced technology has become a crucial driving force for China’s scientific and technological development, its industrial transformation and upgrading, and the overall improvement of its productivity, supporting the replacement of old growth drivers with new ones and high-quality economic development, Liu Gang noted.

Business leaders also emphasized the importance of technological innovation and its practical adoption in driving economic growth. “The application of LLMs in different industries can boost product competitiveness and generate new added value. In addition, it can increase the efficiency of business innovation by improving processes and decision-making in broader and more complex scenarios,” experts said.

China now hosts more than 4,500 AI companies. Its core AI industry is expected to reach a scale of more than 578 billion yuan (about 81 billion U.S. dollars) in 2023, up 13.9 percent year on year, Xinhua News reported Tuesday.

Via Global Times.