China's Race for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology

[JSCh]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1014347495000846336

Baidu Inc.‏Verified account @Baidu_Inc 1h1 hour ago
Baidu Senior Vice President and Head of AI Group Dr. Haifeng Wang introduces #BaiduBrain 3.0 - now empowering over 110 #AI capabilities from mapping to recommendations, #facialrecognition and #deeplearning - making life simpler through technology #BaiduCreate2018 #AI

 

[TaiShang]

Four big announcements from Baidu’s AI Developer Conference 2018

By Pan Zhaoyi
2018-07-05

Baidu, one of China’s major tech giants, kicked off its annual Artificial Intelligence (AI) Developer Conference at the National Convention Center in Beijing. Here are some big announcements from today’s conference.

Volume production of autonomous bus

Powered by Apollo autonomous driving platform, Baidu’s self-driving mini bus, Apolong, is expected to enter the volume production phase.

Apolong, equipped with Baidu’s voice-activated software, is able to perform driverless tasks like obstacle avoidance, automatic transshipment, and swerving.

You will see the buses running in some tourist attractions, airports, and other enclosed areas to cover the last-mile journey.

Baidu's Apolong /VCG Photo

Its open source platform Apollo also gathered over 100 partners at home and abroad from automotive and technology industries, including Ford, Intel, NVIDIA, and Microsoft.

“The autonomous driving is a large and fast-growing market,” said Mr. Ji from Quanta Computer, a tech company from Taiwan. “I think it is a good opportunity for us to promote our hardware and software to our customers.”

AI chip for edge and cloud computing

The boom of AI applications drives higher requirements for the computing capabilities, however, the traditional AI accelerator cannot keep the pace.

The new AI chip, designed for the edge and cloud computing and as an answer to demands, is ready to deliver large-scale AI scenarios in terms of natural language processing, speech recognition, autonomous driving, etc.

Baidu brain /VCG Photo

Robin Li, the CEO of Baidu, said that China has long been relying on imported chips from global companies, especially the high-end chips, but when Baidu’s first AI chip comes out, things will change.

Baidu Brain: making machines more human

The Baidu Brain 3.0 is an update from its 1.0 version, a platform intended to figure out how to make the machine interact like humans do.

The algorithm is analyzing the World Cup players. /VCG Pho

The new version, with over 110 AI services ranging from natural language processing to facial and voice recognition, is aimed at allowing the machine to see, to hear, and to understand more clearly.

Wang Haifeng, Baidu’s vice president, demonstrated how a machine commented like a human does on a World Cup video clip. Based on its technology, the machine is able to recognize every object in the video including the players, the referee, the ball, the goal, the goal line. It can also capture great moments like shoots, free kicks, and corners. So with this data, the brain can perform like a real commentator.

A detailed analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo in one game /VCG Photo

Mini Program

Last year, WeChat, China’s largest mobile social media network, offered its 768 million users a function—“mini-program” which serves as a one-stop-shop for everything from reading news and booking taxis to ordering takeaways and making payments.

Shen Dou, vice president of Baidu Inc., speaks during the Baidu Inc. Create Conference in Beijing, China, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Today, Baidu announced a similar platform but with wider accessibility. Users will have access to merchants’ services without having to download their apps, a move aimed at the Apple and Google app store. App developers only need to modify the relevant code to adjust to Baidu’s mini-program.

Attributed to its "All in AI" strategy, Baidu is now leading China's AI industry. It is clear that Baidu has long put AI at the heart of the company’s future development.

(With input from CGTN's Ning Hong)

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e3163544e78457a6333566d54/share_p.html

Four big announcements from Baidu’s AI Developer Conference 2018

By Pan Zhaoyi
2018-07-05

Baidu, one of China’s major tech giants, kicked off its annual Artificial Intelligence (AI) Developer Conference at the National Convention Center in Beijing. Here are some big announcements from today’s conference.

Volume production of autonomous bus

Powered by Apollo autonomous driving platform, Baidu’s self-driving mini bus, Apolong, is expected to enter the volume production phase.

Apolong, equipped with Baidu’s voice-activated software, is able to perform driverless tasks like obstacle avoidance, automatic transshipment, and swerving.

You will see the buses running in some tourist attractions, airports, and other enclosed areas to cover the last-mile journey.

Baidu's Apolong /VCG Photo

Its open source platform Apollo also gathered over 100 partners at home and abroad from automotive and technology industries, including Ford, Intel, NVIDIA, and Microsoft.

“The autonomous driving is a large and fast-growing market,” said Mr. Ji from Quanta Computer, a tech company from Taiwan. “I think it is a good opportunity for us to promote our hardware and software to our customers.”

AI chip for edge and cloud computing

The boom of AI applications drives higher requirements for the computing capabilities, however, the traditional AI accelerator cannot keep the pace.

The new AI chip, designed for the edge and cloud computing and as an answer to demands, is ready to deliver large-scale AI scenarios in terms of natural language processing, speech recognition, autonomous driving, etc.

Baidu brain /VCG Photo

Robin Li, the CEO of Baidu, said that China has long been relying on imported chips from global companies, especially the high-end chips, but when Baidu’s first AI chip comes out, things will change.

Baidu Brain: making machines more human

The Baidu Brain 3.0 is an update from its 1.0 version, a platform intended to figure out how to make the machine interact like humans do.

The algorithm is analyzing the World Cup players. /VCG Pho

The new version, with over 110 AI services ranging from natural language processing to facial and voice recognition, is aimed at allowing the machine to see, to hear, and to understand more clearly.

Wang Haifeng, Baidu’s vice president, demonstrated how a machine commented like a human does on a World Cup video clip. Based on its technology, the machine is able to recognize every object in the video including the players, the referee, the ball, the goal, the goal line. It can also capture great moments like shoots, free kicks, and corners. So with this data, the brain can perform like a real commentator.

A detailed analysis of Cristiano Ronaldo in one game /VCG Photo

Mini Program

Last year, WeChat, China’s largest mobile social media network, offered its 768 million users a function—“mini-program” which serves as a one-stop-shop for everything from reading news and booking taxis to ordering takeaways and making payments.

Shen Dou, vice president of Baidu Inc., speaks during the Baidu Inc. Create Conference in Beijing, China, July 4, 2018. /VCG Photo

Today, Baidu announced a similar platform but with wider accessibility. Users will have access to merchants’ services without having to download their apps, a move aimed at the Apple and Google app store. App developers only need to modify the relevant code to adjust to Baidu’s mini-program.

Attributed to its "All in AI" strategy, Baidu is now leading China's AI industry. It is clear that Baidu has long put AI at the heart of the company’s future development.

(With input from CGTN's Ning Hong)

https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d414e3163544e78457a6333566d54/share_p.html

 

[cirr]

AI-aided 3D embroidered panda

2018-07-05 15:51:24 Ecns.cn Editor : Mo Hong'e

Video:http://www.ecns.cn/video/2018-07-05/detail-ifyvvuhv1810080.shtml

(ECNS) — An embroidered panda work featuring a 3D effect and AI-aided technology was finished at Shujing Hall in Sichuan on Thursday.

This artwork, for the first time, applied image processing technology via AI to Shu embroidery.

Since ancient times, Sichuan has been well known for its brocades and embroidery.

 

[TaiShang]

AI ambulances and robot doctors: China seeks digital salve to ease hospital strain

Source:Reuters-Global Times Published: 2018/7/8

China seeks digital salve to ease hospital inefficacy

A robot provides information for visitors at Chinese PLA General Hospital in Beijing on November 22, 2017. Photo: IC


In Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, an ambulance speeds through traffic on a wave of green lights, helped along by an artificial intelligence (AI) system and big data.

The system, which involves sending information to a centralized computer linked to the city's transport networks, is part of a trial by Alibaba Group Holding. The Chinese tech giant is hoping to use its cloud and data systems to tackle issues hobbling China's healthcare system like snarled city traffic, long patient queues and a lack of doctors.

Alibaba's push into healthcare reflects a wider trend in China, where technology firms are racing to shake up a creaking State-run health sector and take a slice of spending that McKinsey & Co estimates will hit $1 trillion by 2020.

Tencent-backed WeDoctor, which offers online consultations and doctor appointments, raised $500 million in May at a valuation of $5.5 billion. Ping An Good Doctor, a similar platform backed by Ping An Insurance, raised $1.1 billion in an IPO earlier this year.

"The opportunity is growing very fast," said Min Wanli, the Hangzhou-based chief machine intelligence scientist at Alibaba's cloud division.

Alibaba is working with a hospital in Shanghai through using data to predict patient demand and to allocate doctors. In Zhejiang, the company is working on AI-assisted diagnosis tools to help analyze medical images such as CT scans and MRIs.

"You need to go through very specialized training in order to read these images, but we know that experts are a very scarce resource," said Min.

Chinese hospitals are increasingly using technology to bridge the gap between urban centers and remote parts of the country where doctors are in short supply. Using document-sharing systems and livestreaming, specialists can direct more junior medical staff on-site doing patient diagnoses.

DXY, one of China's biggest online networks of doctors, offers consultations via social media giant WeChat for patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes with the help of a team of nurses and doctors.

China is pressing to reduce healthcare costs that are soaring as the population ages, putting huge strains on the State insurance system.

At the same time, the country has been promising better access to healthcare and improved grassroots care, which has brought technology into the spotlight as a way of maximizing resources.

"Educating doctors is going to take too long," said Rogier Janssens, Beijing-based general manager of Germany's Merck KGaA's biopharma business in China. He added that smartphones could help deliver primary care faster and cheaper.

"There are hundreds of millions of people who still go without care for relatively simple diseases."

China's healthcare system has long grappled with a shortage of doctors, exacerbated by low wages and a dearth of local clinics and general practitioners. That means patients often crowd into large, specialist hospitals for even minor ailments.

The Chinese government has been trying to fix the problem, setting targets to increase the number of family doctors across the country.

Online drug sales

China has been enacting legislation over the last two years that has included strong support for basic internet-based healthcare services.

China may be about to approve the sales of some prescription drugs online, creating a major opportunity for local and global firms, according to companies in the sector.

Janssens of Merck KGaA said the company had "good indications" that policymakers were addressing the prospect of pharmaceutical e-commerce "as we speak."

Li Tiantian, founder and chairman of DXY, said the health ministry had met with healthcare companies like his own and planned to soon release a policy on "internet hospitals," which would open up some online sales.

"I think the new policy will be released very soon, potentially in July," he said.

The policy would allow approved hospitals to consult, prescribe and sell drugs to chronic disease patients online. However, regulatory concerns over safety and pushback from State-run distributors sank a similar plan several years ago.

Li added that Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region had already been approving some internet hospital providers on a test basis.

Global drugmakers are taking notice. A move to open up online sales - if approved nationwide - would help shake up a drug market dominated by State-owned distributors and public hospitals, where most medicines are still prescribed and sold.

Merck KGaA, for example, recently announced a tie-up with Alibaba Health that is focused on systems to help track medicines to avoid counterfeiting, but also on online drug sales and potential online direct-to-patient sales.

False hope?

In the US, technology firms like Amazon, Google and Apple have made pushes into healthcare, with mixed results, often finding sprawling medical markets tougher to crack than entertainment or media.

Technology firms in China also face major obstacles.

One is convincing patients to see doctors online or getting hospitals to spend extra money on high-tech tools that promise efficiency boosts or improvements for patients. And regulators still have concerns about drug sales online.

Doctors and industry insiders also said that technology alone could not solve the issues facing the sector.

"Technology is important but is not enough on its own," said DXY's Li, a former doctor, adding that the most immediate benefit was creating new channels for simple primary care.

For most people in China, however, AI ambulances and robot doctors may need to wait a bit longer.

Tony Li, 55, a cancer patient in Shanghai, said he had seen little cutting-edge tech in Chinese hospitals during regular visits over the past few years.

"From what I have heard, some of the newest technologies can help doctors identify tumors at earlier stages, and that's great," he said. "But the internet has a tendency of exaggerating things, giving us enormous false hope."

Alibaba Cloud's Min acknowledged that the company is still working to prove the value of its technology, and that many hospital administrators remain suspicious of things like cloud computing.

But, he said, "In China, once a new technology is proven useful then everybody is crazy about it."

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1109862.shtml

 

[TaiShang]

Visual AI technology to shine in 2018, China leads in facial recognition

By Li Xuanmin Source:Global Times Published: 2018/3/29 22:27:15

China leading the way in facial recognition sector

High-speed train passengers have their faces scanned at the barrier gates of a station in East China's Zhejiang Province so they can enter. Photo: VCG


Endless queues and long waits at the ticket inspection desks at China's major train stations were signature of the Spring Festival travel rush before this year. Every year, as the country's biggest national holiday unfolded, a huge flow of travelers would leave staff at the check-in desks feeling swamped.

But with the installment of artificial intelligence (AI) in dozens of train stations this year, including a facial recognition system which is able to process passenger identification within five seconds and therefore speed up the waiting process, busy scenes started to become something of the past.

When a passenger approaches the camera inside the facial recognition system at the station, it scans their face and then quickly compares it to the photograph shown on their identification card in real time. If the information matches, the barrier gates will open and allow the passenger to go through.

Such use of facial recognition technology is in line with discussions heard at the recent two sessions meeting, a key annual political event, which focused on the widespread application of a security network named Tianwang ("Sky Net" in English) currently being used by China's public security department.

The network, according to reports by the People's Daily, has the potential to recognize the facial features of anyone in the world and match them on the spot with photographs on a database of criminal suspects. In fact, it can analyze photographic identity so quickly that it can scan every single Chinese face on the planet in just one second, and it would only take two seconds to scan every face in the world, with an accuracy rate of up to 99.8 percent.

Those are just two examples that highlight the development of Chinese visual AI technology, which industry insiders predict could contribute to robust growth in the global technology sector this year.

Growing trend

"The year 2018 will mark a fast-track year in facial recognition technology, whose speed of growth is likely to override other AI sectors including robotics, voice recognition and natural language processing," Yang Yuxin, the vice president of Beijing-based operating system provider Thundersoft Software Technology Co, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

An industry report published on news website sohu.com in March echoed Yang's prediction by summarizing the financing of China's AI start-ups and concluding that the computer vision and image analysis sector has been the "hottest" destination for domestic investors lately.

The sector has even topped the country's investment list with a financing amount of 14.3 billion yuan ($2.27 billion), representing 23 percent of the total funds flowing into the global AI industry.

One of the reasons behind the popularity of AI-powered visual technology is the wide range of scenarios in which it can be applied, making it easier for investors to "envision a bright business prospect and quickly capitalize on their investment," Yang explained.

Security is just one of many areas where visual technology is being applied. In addition to targeting consumers, AI start-ups have already started to tailor their visual technology services to domestic companies focused on such technology as unmanned vehicle-makers and manufacturing.

For example, Thundersoft has partnered with local factories to facilitate the application of AI visual technology in production lines so as to maintain quality control and supervise the production environment, Yang said. The move has helped manufacturers reduce labor costs and improve efficiency.

Lu Feng, an industry analyst at Beijing-based consultancy firm CCID Consulting, also underscored the trend of combing AI visual technology with 2018's emerging industries, for example, the new retail sector.

In unmanned supermarkets, which are part of the new retail concept, visual technology can help capture and analyze consumer behavior, through which, companies can improve their store's setting and displays to attract more buyers. Adopting a facial recognition system could also prevent shoplifting and help analyze consumer data.

With market players deeming those technologies as promising, they have in turn pumped up the number of start-ups in the sector. Currently, there are 146 visual AI technology companies in China, the biggest number of any type of AI firm across the country, the news report by sohu.com showed.

But analysts do not expect all those start-ups to thrive.

"I think an industry reshuffle will take place next year… the clock is ticking and visual AI start-ups that focus on researching basic algorithms should scramble to find applications, otherwise their capital pool will dry out in 2019," Yang noted.

M&A in Europe

Taking into account the abovementioned scenarios and China's large amount of data, the nation has an edge over US rivals in terms of AI visual technology application. However, in terms of the industry's foundation, such as basic theory and algorithms, domestic companies are still catching up with the standards set by foreign competitors, Lu noted.

But recent mergers and acquisitions (M&A) inked between Thundersoft and European peers may offer some insight into Chinese companies that are aiming to introduce cutting-edged AI technologies.

Thundersoft, for example, announced on Thursday that it has acquired Bulgarian software provider MM Solutions AD (MMS) in a deal worth 31 million euros ($38.16 million).

"Acquiring MMS will largely reduce the time we take to achieve new technological breakthroughs, which in turn will elevate our technological competitiveness… It's like strengthening our innovation ability through external dynamics," Zhao Hongfei, CEO of Thundersoft, said.

In a similar move, Thundersoft also acquired Finnish auto software maker Rightward for $68 million in December 2016.

Asked why Thundersoft has been eyeing European firms recently, Yang explained that compared with the US, European AI start-ups can be seen as "unexploited gold mines" with long-term business prospects and market competitive M&A prices.

"Most European firms have rich experiences in developing technology, they also have a very strict system when training talents," Yang said.

By this, Yang was referring to the fact that it can take about 18 months for MMS to fully train a visual technology engineer. In contrast, the training period is generally six months in China. Yang also noted that after the MMS deal was completed, he would send some employees from Thundersoft to MMS for further training.

Furthermore, the European capital market has not been developing as fast as either market in China or the US, meaning it is usually a great bargain when Chinese investors acquire European tech peers.

"We bought the two European tech firms at a price that was less than ten times their price-earnings (PE) ratio. The price has to be at least twenty times the PE ratio here in China," he added.


Newspaper headline: Visual AI technology to shine in 2018

 

[JSCh]

AI-backed vascular disease diagnosis, treatment system in pipeline
By Liu Zhihua | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2018-07-30 15:04

[Photo provided to China Daily]​

An artificial intelligence-supported vascular disease diagnosis and treatment collaboration system is being researched and is in development, and will be applied in 300 Chinese hospitals among 1,000 doctors by 2020, according to experts attending the 15th Chinese International Congress of Vascular Medicine held in Beijing on Friday and Saturday.

The system is designed to to enhance diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease in the country by collecting and analyzing medical records of vascular disease and related illnesses, such as heart disease and stroke, in volunteer hospitals. Then, based on data comparison and analysis, it will be able to make diagnosis and treatment suggestions to doctors, as well as enable online collaboration between doctors and hospitals for difficult cases.

"The aim is to change vascular disease diagnosis and treatment practice in China, because the system is able to bridge the information gap between doctors and hospitals, and make great use of medical data," said Wang Hongyu, director of the Department of Vascular Medicine, Peking University Shougang Hospital.

The hospital is one of the initiators of the program. The others include Tsinghua University, Xiamen University, and China National Software and Service Co Ltd.

China has about 400 million people suffering from vascular disease, Wang said, adding early detection and intervention, including educating the public to adopt healthy lifestyles, are crucial for China to reduce the economic burden of vascular disease.

 

[JSCh]

Future of healthcare could lie in artificial intelligence technology
By Zheng Yiran | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-07 09:14

Doctors from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, perform an eye operation wearing 3D glasses. [Photo/for China Daily by Lin Yunlong]

China's deployment of artificial intelligence technologies in the healthcare industry will continue to boom in 2018, better serving grassroots medical institutions in particular, according to industry experts.

The country's medical AI industry scale is estimated to reach 20 billion yuan ($2.93 billion) in 2018, surging 53.8 percent year-on-year, according to industry information provider qianzhan.com.

Xie Guotong, chief healthcare scientist at industry leader Ping An Technology, said: "AI is expanding at an exponential rate. The whole AI value chain, from the basic level to the technical and application levels, is full of opportunities. When you combine AI with the nation's trillion-dollar healthcare sector, especially healthcare at the primary (smaller, local-scale) level, there are infinite possibilities."

The National Health Commission's 2017 national healthcare report, issued in June, estimated that last year, the nation's healthcare budget surpassed 5 trillion yuan, accounting for 6.2 percent of GDP. Per capita medical expenses hit 3,712 yuan.

"The figures will continue to rise, leaving heavy burdens for both the public and the government," Xie said.

Another problem is the shortage of medical resources, according to Xie.

"With the advent of the aging population problem and chronic diseases, the number of people going to hospital is rising. Official statistics from the National Health Commission show that currently, total visits to Chinese hospitals per year have reached 8 billion. Meanwhile the growth rate of newly trained doctors isn't matching the growth rate of hospital visits," Xie said.

"However, the introduction of AI is greatly improving the efficiency of hospitals and doctors."

In terms of technology, events such as IBM's man-versus-machine battle and Google's AlphaGo program have proven that machines' search ability, image visual understanding and decision-making capability have reached an unprecedented level, raising the development of AI technology to a relatively mature level.

Ping An Technology has signed strategic partnerships with roughly 100 hospitals and numerous provincial medical administrative departments across China. According to the company, it will continue to broaden its coverage to benefit more hospitals.

After the People's Hospital of Longli county in Southwest China's Guizhou province adopted AI-enabled technology, AI robots scanned more than 4,000 lung image reports within three months, and helped to diagnose over 300 cases involving lung nodules in four months.

Currently, Ping An's AI robots can detect 35 diseases, covering 200 million patients and 600 million potential patients.

"AI robots are processing 15 to 40 percent of the hospitals' image reports. The scanning rate has improved 15 times over, as it takes only one minute for the AI robot to scan the image and generate a diagnostic report," Xie said.

He added that among the nation's 8 billion annual hospital visits, over 50 percent happen in hospitals in second or lower-tier cities, while healthcare professionals in those grassroots level institutions have relatively limited medical knowledge and business training.

"They are in more urgent need of AI-based technologies to help them improve efficiency," he said.

Xiao Fei, a medical analyst at Beijing-based market consultancy Analysys, said that at present, domestic medical resources are inadequate and unbalanced.

"Qualified healthcare resources are mainly located in major hospitals in first-tier cities. Urban residents have access to two to three times the medical human resources that those living in rural areas do. Yet, rural areas contain larger populations," Xiao said.

She said if AI can possess the diagnostic experience of human doctors, the technology can assist doctors, empowering grassroots hospitals.

Ping An Technology's cloud platform achieves all-online, intelligent and real-time control. The platform's smart disease scanning system helps to realize effective disease control.

According to Xie, many doctors initially held doubts about the application of AI in their hospitals.

"Now, they have learned about and experienced medical AI for themselves, their mindsets have changed significantly," Xie said.

Shang Yang, an AI specialist with Beijing-headquartered think tank iyiou.com, said: "China's real demand gap lies in primary hospitals, rather than Grade 3A (higher-tier) hospitals, as the latter have plenty of excellent doctors with more than 10 years of experience. I think the future trend is updated medical AI products being tested in Grade 3A hospitals, and finally applied broadly in those grassroots medical institutions, where there is heavy demand."

 

[JSCh]

Shanghai hopes new award will become Oscars of AI industry
Yang Meiping, Zhang Jinyao
14:57 UTC+8, 2018-08-09

Shanghai launched an award on Wednesday to honor projects involving new AI technologies and new application models that will "change future life."

Selections for the SAIL award, which stands for Superior, Applicative, Innovative and Leading, kicked off on Wednesday. The results will be announced during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, to be held in Shanghai next month.

A panel of AI experts from related academic research institutions, enterprises, and investment companies, as well as media from home and abroad, will recommend outstanding programs, which they believe will guide the development of future AI technologies or application models that will "change future life."

As the finals of the AI World Innovation Contest will also be organized during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, winning programs from that contest will also be on the candidate list for the SAIL award.

The AI World Innovation Contest, launched in June, has already attracted about 600 teams from home and abroad to compete for championships in human-machine interaction, unmanned driving, medical innovation and intelligent robots.

All the candidate programs for the SAIL award will be reviewed and voted on by an assessment committee in September, and the winners will be awarded at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

Zhang Ying, chief engineer of the Shanghai Economy and Informatization Commission, one of the organizers of the contest, said it was expected that the SAIL award could one day be as influential in the AI sector as the Oscars are in the film industry.

Source: SHINE Editor: Shen Ke

 

[JSCh]

Internet technology to assist healthcare in Yangtze region
By He Wei in Shanghai | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-15 09:29

A riverside view of Shanghai, a city situated at the estuary of the Yangtze River. [Photo/VCG]

Residents of China's Yangtze River delta region stand to benefit from distant medical diagnosis and algorithm-backed disease detection services.

Thanks to a healthcare agreement between local authorities and Chinese internet giant Tencent, cloud computing, big data and artificial intelligence technologies will be applied to digitalize the medical sectors of Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces and Shanghai.

"Technologies will help aggregate the resources of offline public hospitals into a medical network serving local residents," according to a joint statement.

Under the agreement, patients are entitled to go through the medical checkup process starting with the online appointment. After that comes a video consultation and diagnosis, and then e-prescriptions, online payment and delivery of medicine, all with a few taps on the phone.

A trial by four hospitals will use WeChat to fulfill a variety of functions that previously required people to line up in overcrowded hallways.

Medical records, encrypted to protect information, will be attainable at any time, as people shuffle between hospitals.

Another major highlight is the introduction of Tencent AIMIS, an AI-enabled diagnostic imaging solution developed last year to detect early symptoms of various cancers.

Chen Guangyu, Tencent's vice-president, said the program has scanned hundreds of thousands of gastroscopy images and is more than 90 percent accurate in diagnosing preliminary esophageal cancer.

"By accumulating massive troves of data, the analysis is expected to become even more reliable ... and can effectively assist younger doctors," Chen said.

Smart healthcare solutions are mushrooming across China in light of the country's aging population and the relatively unbalanced allocation of medical resources. The State Council issued a guideline in April to promote health services using internet technologies.

Alibaba Group rolled out an ET medical brain that can aid doctors in medical imaging, drug development and health management, while search engine Baidu launched an AI-powered chatbot designed to talk with patients and collect data on their conditions.

"When you combine AI with the nation's trillion-dollar healthcare sector - especially healthcare at the smaller, local level - there are infinite possibilities," said Xie Guotong, chief healthcare scientist at Ping An Technology.

China's internet healthcare market is expected to surpass 90 billion yuan ($13.1 billion) by 2020 from 22.3 billion yuan in 2016, according to a Sootoo Research Institute report in April.

hewei@chinadaily.com.cn

 

[JSCh]

China’s Golaxy AI chimes victory at 2018 Go Conference
CGTN
Published on Aug 16, 2018

The 2018 Weiqi (Go) Conference concluded on Wednesday in Nanning, the capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, with the Chinese team, Golaxy, winning first place.

 

[JSCh]

Google, Microsoft Sign Up to 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Conference
QIAN TONGXIN
DATE: MON, 08/20/2018 - 11:05 / SOURCE:YICAI

Google, Microsoft Sign Up to 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Conference​

(Yicai Global) Aug. 20 -- Google and Microsoft have put their names down for the 2018 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, slated to take place in Shanghai next month to discuss a new era empowered by artificial intelligence.

The two American tech giants will join the likes of Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and Huawei at the conference, the event organizer said. A host of Chinese firms focused specifically on artificial intelligence, such as Ifytek and SenseTime, will also attend.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences will host the conference in tandem with the Academy of Engineering and a slew of government bodies, including the Shanghai municipal government. The organizers want to investigate global development trends in AI technologies, industries and applications, and look at its uses in traffic management, finance, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, education and other services.

 

[JSCh]

Downloads of Julia Programming Language Surge in China
August 22, 2018

BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 22, 2018 — Less than two weeks after Julia 1.0 was released, China has for the first time become the number one country for downloads of the Julia programming language. This highlights the broad international appeal of Julia for artificial intelligence, machine learning, numerical and scientific computing.

Julia is a free and open source computer programming language that delivers the speed of C++ and Java together with the high-level productivity, simplicity and ease of use of Python and R.

The August 2018 release of Julia 1.0 is the most important Julia milestone since Julia was launchedin Feb 2012 by computer scientists Jeff Bezanson, Stefan Karpinski, Viral Shah and MIT professor Alan Edelman.

Since the Julia 1.0 release, 34% of unique visitors to the Julia download page are from China, 22% are from the United States, 5% are from Japan, 4% are from Germany and 3% are from the United Kingdom. Julia has been downloaded in more than 140 countries during the past two weeks.

Professor Alan Edelman explained: “Since we first launched Julia six and a half years ago, Julia has reached more than 2 million downloads and early adopters have already put Julia into production to power self-driving cars, robots, 3D printers and applications in precision medicine, augmented reality, genomics, energy trading, machine learning, financial risk management and space mission planning. The future belongs to artificial intelligence and machine learning, and that future is powered by Julia.”

Source: Julia Computing


https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/downloads-of-julia-programming-language-surge-in-china/

 

[JSCh]

Chinese scientists develop smart app to identify pests on crops
Source: Xinhua| 2018-08-25 16:05:08|Editor: Liangyu


HEFEI, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- It is difficult for even veteran farmers to recognize every pest variety, making choosing the right pesticide to kill them difficult. But Chinese scientists have made the work as easy as using a smartphone to photo them.

A pest-recognizing application developed by the Hefei Intelligent Machine Institute with the Chinese Academy of Sciences has tested successful for recognizing over 50 varieties of rice pests.

Xie Chengjun with the program said excessive use of pesticide and a lack of pest monitoring and farming technology support for farmers were the primary problems in China's agriculture.

He said the application developed with artificial intelligence technology and a database of 1 million pictures of pests could immediately match the photo with pictures in its memory, diagnose pest types and give tips on how to accurately use pesticide to control the damage.

"The system will provide strong support to help the country reach the goal of curbing the growth of pesticide use by 2020," Xie said.

He said the institute had teamed up with experts from the Anhui Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences to rapidly extend the system's applications to recognize more pest varieties in agricultural plants ranging from wheat, corn, soybean, to rapeseed, vegetables and fruit trees.

 

[TaiShang]

Intelligent robot maker raises funds as demand grows

By Ouyang Shijia | China Daily | Updated: 2018-08-28

A woman looks at an intelligent robot at Popular Science Products Expo in Shanghai, Aug 27, 2018. [Photo/IC]

International Intelligent Machines Co Ltd, a leading Chinese intelligent service robots developer and manufacturer, has announced it raised tens of millions of dollars in a Series A financing round, amid growing demand in the service robots market.

The new fundraising is backed by the China-Belarus industrial investment fund, managed by China Merchants Capital.

Proceeds from the new funding will be used for research, development and manufacturing of smart service robots in the property management and education sectors, system construction, channel deepening and team building.

"We will continue to deepen cooperation with China Merchants Group, seeking new business opportunities in fields such as the property management sector," said Zheng Xiaogang, chairman and CEO of International Intelligent Machines.

Zheng said with the smart community construction boom across China, the smart property management era is coming.

"With the development of robotics and changing user habits, robots will gradually perform some of the jobs that used to be done by humans," Zheng added. "Intelligent service robots clearly have advantages, as they will help reduce labor costs, increase efficiency and improve service and living standards."

Yang Hong, general manager of the China-Belarus industrial investment fund said the new funding marked China Merchants Group's attempt to tap into the artificial intelligence sector.

Established in 2017, the $585 million investment fund aims to introduce high-quality projects and firms to the China-Belarus Industrial Park, focusing on fields such as the fine chemical, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and high-tech sectors. In early 2018, International Intelligent Machines officially settled in the park.

"We look forward to the firm's good prospects and huge potential in the future. And we believe that China Merchants Group and the fund will empower the company with abundant overseas resources and industrial experiences," Yang added.

Founded in 2015, International Intelligent Machines focuses on the development of smart service robots, intelligent hardware and robotics application, owning a wide range of patents in the fields of machine vision, positioning and navigation, electromechanical control and smart voice.

Headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, the company has an overseas technology R&D center in Singapore and an AI institute in Great Stone, Belarus. It mainly offers intelligent service robots and visual products, providing a complete set of intelligent solutions for smart property systems.

"We will see growing demand for smart products in the property service market," Zheng said. "We will be committed to offering a total solution for the property ecology chain, allowing the application of smart robots to conform to actual needs."

To date, the company has cooperated with China Merchants Group in the fields of smart property, smart parks and smart ports. It has signed agreements with smart manufacturing firm Sinomach Intelligence Technology Co Ltd and Shenzhen GTA Education Tech Ltd.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201808/28/WS5b84bbf0a310add14f388293.html

 

[TaiShang]

China takes lead in 5G and AI technologies


By Kou Jie (People's Daily Online) 17:52, August 28, 2018


Following the swift development of advanced technologies including 5G and artificial intelligence, the world is now heading towards a smart era, with China taking the lead in emerging smart industries, said experts during the 2018 Smart China Expo.

Held in Chongqing Municipality on Aug. 23, the first Smart China Expo attracted over 500 domestic and international companies as exhibitors. The three-day tech event heralds the global surge in smart technologies, with a focus on intelligence industries, 5G and big data.

“There’s no doubt that China is one of the leaders in 5G research. It has been making great contributions to the ITU with its own 5G research and proposals. The ITU’s job is to collect such proposals and then combine them into a single international standard, while China’s proposal for IMT-2020 will also be taken into the final consideration,” Mario Maniewicz, deputy director of the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Radiocommunication Bureau, told People’s Daily Online.

Stressing China’s achievement in 5G technologies and the telecommunication industry, such as the Beidou Navigation Satellite System, Maniewicz noted that China will play a more important role in smart technologies in the future.

“Such scientific advancement will surely promote China’s economic growth in the long run,” said Maniewicz.

Echoing Maniewich, Penny Baldwin, CMO of Qualcomm, told People’s Daily Online that 5G and AI technologies will fundamentally change the way we live, while her company is willing to cooperate with its Chinese counterparts to further promote such technological advancements, noting the importance of the Chinese market.

With nearly 800 million internet users, China has the world's largest market for smartphones, mobile payment and online retail sales. The country has been the top consumer of industrial robots for six consecutive years, with the size of its artificial intelligence market growing an average of over 40 percent annually.

http://en.people.cn/n3/2018/0828/c90000-9494935.html