On November 17, 2018, the fifth plenary conference of the 7th Council of Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence was successfully held in Chengdu. All the members attending conference collectively studied the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping on artificial intelligence in the ninth collective study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, announced the list of 10 co-opted members in 2018, reviewed and approved the report on attach-unit-changing and renaming of the branches, and heard the annual summary report of the Society Secretariat and branches. Li Deyi, the president of CAAI and the academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, made the deployment of CAAI in 2019. Tan Tieniu, vice president of CAAI and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, presided over the conference. There are 189 members in total in the current board of directors. 154 of them attended the conference, which reached 2/3 of the total number. So the conference is valid.

Li Deyi, president of the CAAI and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, emphasized that in order to thoroughly study the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping and effectively promote the rapid development of artificial intelligence in China, we must first recognize three situations, including the development of global artificial intelligence, the comparison of artificial intelligence between China and the United States, and the industrialization of artificial intelligence.

Representatives in all ages spoke enthusiastically and agreed that the spirit of the speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping should be implemented, the important strategic significance of accelerating the development of artificial intelligence in China should be understood, and the historical responsibility of the CAAI and each director of CAAI should be perceived profoundly.

Huang Heyan, the vice president of CAAI and professor of Beijing Institute of Technology, announced 10 co-opted members of CAAI in 2018: Professor Chen Jie from Tongji University, Professor Chen Enhong from the University of Science and Technology of China, Academician Dai Qionghai from Tsinghua University, Professor Huang Xinhan from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Dr. Rui Yong from Lenovo, Dr. Wang Haifeng from Baidu, Academician Wu Zhaohui from Zhejiang University, Professor Xu Xinhe from Northeastern University, Academician Zhao Chunjiang from National Agricultural Information Technology Research Center, and Professor Zhuang Yueting from Zhejiang University.

Ma Shaoping, the vice president of CAAI and a professor at Tsinghua University, announced the report of the changing of the affiliating unit and renaming of the branch, which was reviewed and approved by the conference. Specifically: the intelligent robot professional committee changed the affiliating unit; the machine game professional committee changed the affiliating unit; the intelligent CAD and digital art professional committee changed its name to the intelligent creative and digital art professional committee.

Yang Fangchun, executive vice president of the Society and professor of Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, reported on the work report of the branches of CAAI and proposed the construction plan of the special committee and the working committee. At present, Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence has 44 branches (excluding the branches under construction), 37 special committees, and 7 working committees. The scale and influence are among the top in the associations under the jurisdiction of the China Association for Science and Technology.

On behalf of the Secretariat, Wang Weining, Secretary General ofCAAI, reported on the key work in 2018. Up to this year, the number of members of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence has exceeded 25,000, the number of enterprise members has reached 150, the number of projects has expanded to 15, and the number of academic exchanges has exceeded 1,500. All aspects of work have shown rapid growth.

In 2018, CAAI achieved remarkable results in three dimensions: pioneering construction, solid organizational construction, and continuous brand improvement. Created three major projects: “AI Think Tank”, “Artificial Intelligence Lecture Hall”, “National College Artificial Intelligence College Dean/Dean Director Forum”; Five major CAAI brands “Three Sessions and Two Awards” (The 3rd Global Artificial Intelligence Technology Conference, the 4th China Artificial Intelligence Conference, the 8th China Intelligent Industry Summit Forum, the 8th Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award and the CAAI Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award) have significantly improved in scale, level, connotation and influence. In particular, CAAI was selected as “World-class Society Construction Project” by Chinese Association for Science and Technology, which marks a new milestone in the development of the Society.

At the end of the conference, Chairman Li Deyi deployed the key tasks of CAAI in 2019:

First, strengthen internal strength cultivation, construct artificial intelligence think tanks, and send professional voices to the whole society;

Second, promote the construction of professional committees and working committees, clear positioning, and enrich types;

Third, continue to build and expand the brand activities of CAAI, and further enhance the influence of CAAI;

Fourth, strengthen the construction of the membership team and provide support for the 2019 re-election work.

So far, the 5th plenary conference of the 7th Council of Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence was successfully held. Guided by the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech, CAAI will stand at a new starting point, set new goals. In the new journey of creating a world-class association, CAAI will fuel up and store power for the development of artificial intelligence of China and the realization of The Two Centennial Goals.