Empowering Thousands Of Industries: Artificial Intelligence Applications Blossom in Various Fields

At the recent 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, more than 30 large models, such as Huawei's "Pangu," SenseTime's "Ririxin," and NetEase's "Fuxi," made their debut, attracting widespread attention.

In recent times, large models have sparked a new wave of intelligence, with many technology companies accelerating the expansion of the artificial intelligence application ecosystem. In fields such as intelligent connected vehicles, AR glasses, digital humans, social software, live-streaming e-commerce, and medical services, the application scenarios for large models are flourishing, injecting more momentum into the development of the artificial intelligence industry.

Artificial intelligence empowers various industries

The fourth-generation unmanned drone from Meituan can stably fly in environments such as moderate rain, moderate snow, strong winds, and at night in temperatures ranging from -20 to 50 degrees Celsius. It can adapt to the natural environmental requirements of over 97% of cities in China, increasing delivery distance by 35% and reaching a maximum of 5 kilometers. JD's intelligent preliminary screening robot can check a person's electrocardiogram, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and provide body condition indexes and nutritional supplement recommendations through comprehensive analysis of the immune and respiratory systems, among others. At the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, new artificial intelligence products were showcased.

In recent years, artificial intelligence has accelerated its empowerment of various industries, including intelligent logistics, intelligent healthcare, and intelligent manufacturing.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that China's artificial intelligence industry is booming, with the core industry reaching a scale of 500 billion yuan, more than 4,300 enterprises, and continuous emergence of innovative achievements in intelligent chips, development frameworks, and general-purpose large models. Supercomputing, intelligent computing, and cloud computing are working together, and China ranks second in computing power. The deep integration of artificial intelligence and manufacturing has resulted in the construction of over 2,500 digital workshops and intelligent factories, promoting the digitalization, intelligence, and green transformation of the real economy.

Technology companies are the main force behind the development of the artificial intelligence industry. Tian Feng, Director of the Sensing Intelligence Research Institute at SenseTime, stated in an interview with the Economic Reference News that the layout of Chinese technology companies in the field of artificial intelligence revolves around "Five News": "new infrastructure" (AI chips, intelligent computing centers, basic large models), "new terminals" (AR glasses, autonomous driving cars, robots, etc.), "new interactions" (AR metaverse), "new services" (AIGC, ChatGPT-like products), and "new ethics" (large model ethics, generative AI governance).

"China has a huge market for generative artificial intelligence users. At the same time, we have the world's second-largest digital economy and platform economy, and through the application practices of platform enterprises, it is also easy to form a generative artificial intelligence application ecosystem," said Pan Helin, Co-Director and Research Fellow at the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center of the International Joint Business School of Zhejiang University.

Flourishing application of large models

Recently, large models have triggered a new wave of intelligence. At the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, more than 30 large models, including Huawei's "Pangu," SenseTime's "Ririxin," and NetEase's "Fuxi," made their debut, with many general-purpose and industry-specific models appearing for the first time.

The "China Large Model Map Research Report" released by institutions such as the Ministry of Science and Technology's Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Research Center shows that China ranks second globally in the number of large models developed. Some vertical professional large models are continuously being implemented, with deep advantages in areas such as biopharmaceuticals, remote sensing, and meteorology.

"Our basic large models are catching up with the world's leading level in terms of training efficiency, and they are rapidly evolving into industrial large models. Large models are rapidly integrating into application scenarios such as intelligent connected vehicles, AR glasses, digital humans, social software, live-streaming e-commerce, and medical services," said Tian Feng.

"At the application level, the biggest advantage of large models is their strong generative and emergent capabilities. They can not only enhance consumer experiences in personal consumption scenarios but also help companies reduce costs, increase efficiency, and create business value in industrial scenarios," said Peng Hu, Chief Analyst of Hard Technology Industry at CITIC Securities Research Department.

Pan Helin stated that current generative artificial intelligence applications in China are relatively concentrated, and in the future, there is a need to broaden the applications of artificial intelligence, focus on high-quality data accumulation, and attempt to achieve technological independence in computing chips. It is necessary to consolidate the foundation for the development of artificial intelligence while promoting a diversified range of applications.

Collaborative efforts to promote innovative development in the industry

With the continuous exploration of downstream applications of generative artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence will deeply penetrate people's lives and production activities.

Xu Xiaolan, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently stated that efforts will be made to accelerate the research and formulation of industrial policies for the artificial intelligence industry, guiding various sectors to pool resources and form development synergy. Greater efforts will be made in technological innovation of artificial intelligence, accelerating the advancement of software and hardware compatibility, and constructing a full-stack industrial chain from intelligent chips to algorithm frameworks to large models. Leading ecological-oriented enterprises will be cultivated, and a group of specialized and innovative "hidden champions" will be nurtured. Support will be provided for open-source community construction, and a competitive industrial ecosystem will be built.

At the local level, Shanghai has proposed actively promoting large model technology innovation and application, providing systematic support for technology research and development, computing power supply, data set construction, and public service needs. Innovative regulatory methods that adapt to the characteristics of large models will be explored. Xuhui District in Shanghai has proposed 15 supportive policies, including focusing on technology foundations, supporting independent innovation in key areas such as general-purpose large models and vertical large models, and supporting the layout of cutting-edge fields such as embodied intelligence and autonomous intelligent entities. It will comprehensively promote the integration and empowerment of generative artificial intelligence technology in fields such as healthcare, finance, social networking, and intelligent connected vehicles.

"The fundamental goal of artificial intelligence development is to be implemented in industries and serve people," said Tang Daosheng, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent Group and CEO of the Cloud and Smart Industries Group. It is necessary to work with various partners to leverage high-quality models and powerful computing capabilities to unleash the efficiency of enterprises' "golden data" and assist in the innovation and development of industries.