On June 5, under the guidance of the China Association for Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the People's Government of Zhejiang Province, sponsored by the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence and the People's Government of Hangzhou City, organized by the Preparatory Group of the People's Government of Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, and specifically implemented by the Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City Management Committee of Zhejiang Province, The 2021 Global Artificial Intelligence Technology Conference (GAITC 2021) opened grandly in Hangzhou.

This conference continued to strengthen the platform value of "internationalization, high-end, and industrialization". It consists of three sections: conference, exhibition, and competition. While achieving the three goals of technical exchange, achievement display, and talent mining, it takes a global perspective as the main goal. The prosperity of local and regional smart industries will gather intelligence, open the way for the development of our country's digital economy, and pave the way for the promotion of global scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation.

International AI Pageant illuminates the National Pilot Area

The conference was held in Hangzhou for two consecutive years. In just two years, the digital capital and the science and technology event have grown together. Hangzhou has become the national AI innovation and Application Pilot area this year. The international nature of the Global AI Technology Conference has also become more prominent. For Hangzhou, even Zhejiang and Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone offer more intellectual resources and opportunities for collaboration.

On the morning of the 5th, Academician Dai Qionghai, Counselor of the State Council and Chairman of CAAI, Zhou Guohui, Vice Chairman of Zhejiang Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Liu Xin, Mayor of Hangzhou, Secretary Zhang Zhenfeng, Member of the Standing Committee of Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Secretary of Yuhang District Committee, Academician Li Deyi, Honorary Chairman of CAAI, Academician Wu Zhaohui of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Zhao Chunjiang of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and other guests attended the event.

In his speech, Zhang Zhenfeng said that Yuhang District, as the first city in Hangzhou to build the nation’s digital economy, attaches great importance to the development of cutting-edge industries such as artificial intelligence, we sincerely hope that people with lofty ideals from all over the world will come to this land to innovate, start businesses and create and pursue their dreams and finally realize their dreams.

Academician Dai Qionghai said he believed that the holding of the Congress will further deepen the cooperation between the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence and the Hangzhou Future Science and Technology City, and produce greater radiation effects through the grafting of superior resources between the two sides, for the regional policy-making, industry upgrading, innovation and entrepreneurship, attracting talent, ecological construction and so on to provide all-round support services.

 Zhou Guohui pointed out that over the years, Zhejiang has earnestly implemented the national science and technology strategy deployment, and has introduced a series of policies and plans, including the action plan for the development of artificial intelligence, around the construction of a digital economy system, a regional cluster of AI industry has been formed with Hangzhou as the core, and Yuhang District in particular represents the rapid development of AI industry.

Innovative Pioneer Talent Crowned the Highest Honor Stage

After the opening ceremony, the first Global AI Innovation Contest award ceremony was held. There were 18 winning teams walked onto the honor stage and crowned with honor and received congratulations in the presence of guests.

The competition lasted for more than 5 months. More than 15,000 contestants from 21 countries and regions participated in the competition, covering 528 Chinese universities and 136 overseas universities. It was a world-wide artificial intelligence technology competition that not only fully reflected the youth innovative ability of scholars has unearthed a group of innovative pioneers, and has also provided greater opportunities for the promotion and transformation of outstanding projects.

Chinese and Foreign Academicians and Experts Gather for the Theme Forum

The conference was co-hosted by Professor Sun Fuchun, CAAI Vice Chairman, CAAI Deputy Supervisor Professor Ma Shaoping, Ant Group Chief AI Scientist Dr. Qi Yuan, Zhejiang University Professor Zhuang Yueting, CAAI Vice Chairman Professor Wang Guoyin, and CAAI Vice Chairman Professor Liu Hong Host.

As one of the highlights of the conference, the keynote presentation was an annual gathering of cutting-edge AI ideas from China, Europe and the United States. Six Chinese and foreign academicians and two industry experts shared their latest achievements.

This Morning, academician Chinese Academy of Sciences offered his thoughts on “How to break through the prior hypothesis of machine learning?”, by Michael I. Academician Jordan shared the topic of “Integrating machine learning and microeconomics”, and Chinese Academy of Sciences Academician Wu Zhaohui presented his research on “From AI to CI: the development of brain intelligence”, academician Dai Qionghai, chairman of CAAI, analyzed the exploration of “Intelligent decision-making inspired by brain cognition”.

In the afternoon, Academician Wendy Hall of the Royal Society of England brought an observation of "AI: a view from the UK". Chairman Liu Qingfeng, Honorary Vice Chairman of CAAI, elaborated on "the latest developments and application practices of artificial intelligence technology", which was done by Academician Zhao Chunjiang of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. After the research presentation of "Smart Agriculture Outlook", Dr. Qi Yuan, Chief AI Scientist of Ant Group, discussed the topic of "Artificial Intelligence and Risk: From Innovation to Implementation and Governance".

Industry-University-Research Colludes Industry Cross-industry Innovation

Look forward to the future in the dialogue, look forward to the future together. The Global Artificial Intelligence Technology Conference set up each year’s peak dialogue, are the current hot topics of a multi-dimensional solution, representing the common concern of the industry.

After the presentation by 8 guests of the theme forum, CAAI Vice Chairman Professor Liu Hong, Huawei Ascend Computing Business CTO Professor Zhou Bin, Ping An Group Chief Scientist Dr. Xiao Jing, Meituan Vice President Mr. Xia Huaxia, Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Professor Li Xiaolin, NVIDIA China Mr. Lai Junjie, Senior Director of District Engineering and Solutions, and Mr. Sun Lilin, Founder/CEO of Matrix Element, and 7 representatives from academia and industry started a peak on the topic of "How does the new generation of AI empower industry cross-industry innovation?" dialogue. Through this cross-border dialogue, the guests explored more ideas and possibilities for enterprises to use digital technology to achieve redevelopment and re-growth. 

After the peak dialogue session, Professor Shi Yuanchun, Secretary-General of the Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award Committee and Director of the Intelligent Human-Computer Interaction Research Center of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Tsinghua University, brought an interpretation of the "Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award".

On the same day, the 2021 Global Artificial Intelligence Technology Expo set up six major exhibition areas, including core exhibition areas, autonomous driving, service robots, CR/VR, intelligent vision systems, and future science and technology city enterprises. 51 outstanding exhibitors were selected, iFLYTEK, Alibaba, Baidu, Microsoft, Nvidia, Kuaishou, Volcano Engine, Dongfeng Motor and other well-known domestic and foreign companies have all appeared, Weilan Technology, Yunji Technology, Trunk Technology and other new technology talents are on the same stage as "Hyun Technology", Ruhr Technology, Universal Ubiquitous, Moredian Technology  and  RoboCT Technology more than 20 outstanding enterprises of the future science and technology city, also made their appearance at the exhibition.

Following the trend of digital and intelligent technology innovation, the expo gathered the technological achievements of the entire industrial chain of the intelligent industry, and intuitively presented the development direction of industrial intelligence.

During the two-day conference, 31 Chinese and foreign academicians gathered online and offline, and more than 260 artificial intelligence experts, scholars and technology leaders from home and abroad, discussions and clashes of ideas around topics such as artificial intelligence theory, technology, application, ethics, and security, the 22 upcoming forums will provide a comprehensive overview of the industrial context and future prospects of smart technology for socio-economic development. At the same time, the first international conference on Artificial Intelligence held at the same time, the sixth session of the National College of Artificial Intelligence Dean/Dean Forum will also continue to be exciting.

The Dazzling Pearl of Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor

As a new engine of technological change, artificial intelligence (AI) has provided an important driving force for the transformation of China’s economy into an innovative one. With the acceleration of the construction of the “Hangzhou Highland” for the development of a new generation of artificial intelligence, the vitality of Hangzhou’s artificial intelligence industry and scientific research has also been quickened, and in the Yangtze River Delta integration and promote the development of artificial intelligence innovation plays an active role.

This is the second time that The Global Artificial Intelligence Technology Conference has landed in the future technology city. In recent years, the future science and technology city has always taken the artificial intelligence industry as an important development direction, steadfastly advancing the development strategy of “Talent leading, innovation driving and integration of production cities”, and accelerating the construction of “One city, three places and three centers”, it will focus on creating artificial intelligence industry-related innovation carriers such as Zhejiang Laboratory, Alibaba DAMO Academy and artificial intelligence town, and gradually form an artificial intelligence industry chain of ever-increasing scale and level. At the same time, we will continue to improve the ecology of innovation and entrepreneurship, and enhance the ability of service enterprises. In the future, more AI efforts will take root in the future tech city, creating a comprehensive national science center core for Yuhang District, to create “Facing the world, leading the future, serving the country, driving the province’s source of innovation” provide a stronger impetus.