AI technology shines at international tech fair

New technologies like AI and blockchain will boost international business cooperation and smart city construction, industry officials told an AI forum during the ongoing China (Shanghai) International Technology fair.

AI, or artificial intelligence, and blockchain can help users own “data sovereignty” and improve data security, with trackable and secure features, preventing situations like the recent Facebook data misuse and leakage cases, Wang Tingting, chief executive of Xianglian Technology, told the AI forum held today at the fair.

A new, decentralized global AI data-sharing ecosystem, developed by Shanghai-based startup Xianglian, debuted in the city today, which is open to all global artificial intelligence companies and data contributors. For example, a Silicon Valley AI firm can easily access a huge volume of data to hone Mandarin voice recognition algorithms, which used to cost a lot of time and money, Wang said.

The development of AI and blockchain are used in smart city construction, which covers data-intensive applications like food tracking, road lamp control and river management, according to Shanghai INESA, a state-owned firm offering smart city systems covering 220 million people in the Yangtze River Delta region. 

“The smart city truly becomes a reality with new technologies like AI, compared with the ‘informatized’ city before,” Vincent Liu, chief computer and Internet analyst of the China Merchants Securities Co. said.

Huang Lianjin, a blockchain expert and former CTO of Huawei, said that blockchain technologies, with recorded data and trackable features, can be used to improve data security, which means people really own their data.

New technologies like AI and blockchain will change our lifestyles in the future and create new jobs like robot training and data marking, Xianglian’s Wang added.

The fair, one of the city’s biggest tech trade fairs held annually, will run through Saturday.

Zhu Shenshen / SHINE