AboyasksanAIrobotforhelpatasubwaystationinNingbo,ZhejiangProvinceZHANGPEIJIANFugitiveMa,whowaswantedbythepoliceforrobbery,neverimaginedhewouldbeapprehendedwhileataconcertsurroundedbythousandsofpeople.The49-year-oldsuspectwasarrestedwhilewatchingfamousChinesesingerJackyCheunginJinhua,eastChina’sZhejiangProvinceonJune9.AbigCheungfan,MahadmadethetriptoJinhuaallthewayfromShanghaiandsoonlearnedthetruemeaningofthesaying,“nowheretohide.”
“IwouldnothavecomehereifIknewit[wouldendupthisway],”sighedMawhenhewasbroughttothepolicestation.Accordingtothearrestingofficers,Mawastotallysurprisedandkeptaskingthepolicehowtheycouldidentifyhimamongthelargeaudience.
Thesecretbehindthearrestistheartificialintelligence(AI)surveillancesystemsinstalledatthestadiumwheretheconcertwasheld.WhenMaenteredthegateoftheStadiumofJinhuaSportsCenter,facialrecognitioncameraspickedhimupbycomparingfacialfeaturesofconcertgoerstoacriminaldatabase.Theinformationwasthensenttothepoliceforaction.
Actually,itwasnotthefirsttimethatacriminalsuspectwasspottedatCheung’sconcerts.FromApril7toJuly6,CheungheldfivesoloconcertsinNanchangandGanzhouinJiangxiProvince,JiaxingandJinhuainZhejiangProvince,andHohhotinInnerMongoliaAutonomousRegion,andsixsuspectswerecaughtinthesameway.
“Everybodyneedstobeentertained,includingcriminalsuspects,”jokedCheung.
“WithourAItechnology,thiscanbedonewithinmilliseconds,”explainedSunJianfeng,ProductManagerofIntellifusionInc.,anAIcompanyheadquarteredinShenzheninsouthChina’sGuangdongProvince.“WiththegreatprogressofAIalgorithmsinrecentyears,theAItechnologyismuchmoreaccurateinvisuallyrecognizinghumanfacesthanhumaneyes.ThistechnologyhasbeenwidelyusedinmanyareasinChina.”
Moresecuresociety
PublicsecurityisoneofthesectorsthathaveseenmanybreakthroughsinutilizingAItechnology.China’ssecurityindustrystartedinthe1980s,andhasmaintainedrapiddevelopmentinrecentyears,withgreatdemandsfromthesectorssuchascitysecurity,transportationandfinance.
“ThankstothedevelopmentofInternettechnology,bigdataandtheInternetofthings,AIhasbeenwidelyappliedinChina’ssecuritysector,whichhelpsthepoliceinmaintainingpublicsecurity,”saidHuangYu,ajournalistofChinaEconomicHerald,whohasbeenfollowingChina’sAIdevelopmentforyears.
Startingin2015,IntellifusionbegantocooperatewiththepoliceofLonggangDistrictinShenzhentoinstallitsAIfacialrecognitionsystemShenmu(DeepEyes)insubwaystations,railwaystations,communitiesandsupermarkets.Withinthefirstthreemonthsafterthesystemwasinstalledinthedistrict,itassistedthepolicetosolvetwomurdercases.
“Sofar,oursystemhasbeeninstalledinmorethan20provincesandmunicipalitiesacrossChina,andhaveassistedthepolicetosolvemorethan4,000cases,”saidSun.
AccordingtoSun,withtheAIsysteminstalledinthoseplaces,thekeyfacialinformationonthepeoplewhopassthesecameraswillbecapturedandsenttothedatabaseintheservers.Byclassifyingallthesedata,thesystemcanquicklydifferentiatepeopleandprovideusefulinformationwhenneeded.
“Thistechnologyhelpsimprovetheworkefficiencyofthepoliceasitcanrecognizethewantedsuspectsamongtensofthousandsofpeopleandtracktheirmovements,”saidSun.Forexample,whenachildwaskidnappedinthepast,thepolicehadtopersonallywatchallthesurveillancevideos,whichusuallytooktime.Onmanyoccasions,thepolicedidnotknowwherethechildandthekidnapperweregoing.“Butnow,oursystemcansearchforthechildacrossthewholecityandtrackhimorherinrealtime,”saidSun.Lastyear,thesystemhelpedthepoliceinLonggangfindakidnappedchildwithin15hours.FacialrecognitiontechnologydevelopedbyBYD,aChineseautomakerWANGPENG
AconsumerinasupermarketinHandanCity,HebeiProvinceusesfacialrecognitionsystemtopayHAOQUNYINGEasierlife
Besidespublicsecurity,facialrecognitiontechnologyisalsousedinmanyotherareaswhichmakeseverydaytasksmoreconvenient,likepayingwithasmartphoneandusingbankingservice.InQingdao,eastChina’sShandongProvince,BeijingMegvii,anAIcompanyspecializinginfacialrecognitiontechnologyapplication,ishelpingdevelopafacialrecognition-basedpayingsystemforthecity’ssubway.Citizenscanregistertheirfacialinformationinthesystem.Whentheytakethesubway,theydonotneedtobuytickets.Thecamerasinthesubwaycanrecognizethem,andtheycanpayautomaticallyonline.
“Withthissystem,passengersdonotneedtostopanywherewhentheytakethesubway,”saidZhaoChuanqi,COOofthecompany.ThesystemisexpectedtocomeintoserviceinQingdaoattheendoftheyear,makingthecitythefirstinChinawherepassengerstakesubwaybyscanningtheirfaces.
Fastdevelopment
FacialrecognitionisonlyonepartofAItechnologythathasdevelopedrapidlyinChinaoverrecentyears.AccordingtothePlanfortheDevelopmentoftheNewGenerationofArtificialIntelligenceissuedbytheStateCouncilofChinaonJuly8lastyear,ChinahasbuiltasolidfoundationforAIdevelopment.AseriesofmeasuresandpolicieshavebeenadoptedtoencourageAIdevelopmentintheaspectssuchasAIR&D,applicationpromotionandindustrialdevelopment.Forinstance,ChinahaslaunchedkeyprojectssuchasIntelligentManufacturing,andissuedaThree-YearActionPlanfortheInternetPlusAIinMay2016.
AccordingtothePlanfortheDevelopmentofNewGenerationofArtificialIntelligence,China’sAIdevelopmentinvocalrecognitionandvisualrecognitionisaheadoftheglobalpack,andChinamaintainsthecapacitytoleapfrogdevelopmentinself-adaptivelearning,intuitivesensing,comprehensivereasoning,hybridintelligence,andswarmintelligence.
Afteryearsofdevelopment,ChinahascreatedasoundenvironmentforthegrowthofAIbusinesses.Accordingtothe2018ReportofAIDevelopmentinChinaissuedbytheChinaInstituteforScienceandTechnologyPolicyatTsinghuaUniversity,byJune,thenumberofAIcompaniesworldwidetotaled4,925,ofwhich1,011wereontheChinesemainland,puttingChinainthesecondplaceworldwide,nextonlytotheUnitedStatesthatregistered2,028AIcompanies.InChina,BeijingboaststhelargestnumberofAIcompanies,reaching395,farmorethanotherprovincialadministrativeregions.
Inaddition,ChinaranksNo.1intermsofscientificandtechnologicalpaperspublishedandthenumberofAIpatentsforinventions,accordingtothereport.
Thehumanfactor
“Inthecomingfiveto10years,AIwilldeeplychangeoursociety,ourstudyandlife,andthewayofoperationofeverysinglecompany,”saidJiangTao,SeniorVicePresidentandCo-founderofiFLYTEK,aleadingAIcompanyinChinaspecializinginintelligentspeechandlanguagetechnologies.
Accordingtohim,withtheimprovementofAItechnologyandincreasedvarietiesofAIproducts,peoplewillenjoyamorerelaxed,moreconvenientandeasierlife.“Inthenearfuture,AIwillaccessdeepintoourlife,justlikewaterandelectricity.”
JiangfirmlybelievesthatAIwillnotreplacehumanbeings,butwillimprovepeople’slivesbybeingcontrolledbyhumanbeings.Accordinghim,althoughAIcanperformtaskslikecalculating,memorizingandcollectingandsortingoutdatabetterthanhumans,itcannottaketheplaceofpeoplemakingdecisions.
Forinstance,inschooleducationwhereAIiswidelyappliedinChina,itisnowcapableofcorrectingstudents’homework,includingsubjectivehomeworksuchascompositions,likeateacher.Duringtheprocess,itcanalsocollectandmemorizeallhomeworkandexaminationdataofeverystudent.“ThisdatacanbeanalyzedbyanAIsystemaccordingtocertainrulesandbeusedforreferencebyteacherssothattheycanadapttheirteachingmethodstosuitindividualstudents,”saidJiang.“ButAIsystemscannotdecideonbehalfofteachersoractasateacher,asthisneedstheexpertiseofhumanbeings.”
Throughadeeplearningprocess,AIsystemscanonlylearntodoworkwithlogicalrulesandcandorepetitiveworktoassisthumanbeings,accordingtoJiang.Thus,peoplecanhavemoretimedocreative,inspiringandimaginativeworkandworkthatrequirescommunicationandemotion.“Currently,AIsystemscannotdothiskindofwork,”Jiangnoted.“AIsystemsandhumanbeingsshouldcollaboratetoimprovepeople’slives.Justlikeacarwhichwasinventednotforpeopletocompetewithit,buttocontrolit,sothatpeoplecouldmovefaster.”AmanpaysforhisitemsbyscanninghisfaceinaSuningstoreinNanjing,JiangsuProvinceLIYUZE
AICompaniesWorldwide
Facialrecognitionworksinthesameway.InCheung’sconcerts,theAIsystemcanspotsuspectsamongtensofthousandsofpeople,butitneedsthepolice’sfinalconfirmation.
OnAugust11,CheungwillholdaconcertinDongguaninsouthChina’sGuangdongProvince.Howmanymorecriminalswillbearrested?CA
**Commentsto
StrategicObjectivesDescribedinthePlanfortheDevelopmentofNewGenerationofArtificialIntelligence
Thefirststep:By2020,theoveralltechnologyandapplicationofAIinChinawillkeeppacewiththegloballyadvancedlevels,theAIindustrywillbeaneweconomicgrowthpoint,andAItechnologyapplicationswillbecomeanewwaytoimprovepeople’slivelihoods,stronglysupportingChina’sentranceintotheranksofinnovativenationsandcomprehensivelyachievingthegoalofamoderatelyprosperoussociety.
Thesecondstep:By2025,ChinawillachievemajorbreakthroughsinbasictheoriesforAI,sothatsometechnologiesandapplicationsachievegloballeaderstatusandAIbecomesthemaindrivingforceforChina’sindustrialupgradingandeconomictransformation,whileintelligentsocietybuildingmakespositiveprogress.
Thethirdstep:By2030,China’sAItheories,technologies,andapplicationswillachieveworld-leadinglevels,makingChinatheworld’sprimaryAIinnovationcenter;majorprogresswillbemadeinconstructinganintelligenteconomyandintelligentsociety,thuslayinganimportantfoundationforbecomingaleadinginnovativenationandaneconomicpower.