GUANGZHOU, China , May 29, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference 2023 and Artificial Intelligence Global Conference (AIGC) officially kicked off in Guangzhou on May 25. This conference thoroughly followed the guiding principles of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the guiding principles of important speeches and instructions General Secretary Xi Jinping made during his inspection visit to Guangdong. The theme of the conference is "Think Different!" Over 110 well-known scholars, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world gathered in Guangzhou to discuss scientific and technological development and seek a high-quality development path. Jiang Zhitao, Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Zhu Dongfang, President of Asia Digital Group, delivered a speech at the conference. Neal Stephenson, a science fiction writer and author of science fiction masterpiece Snow Crash, delivered a video speech.

Set a model, explore the unknown, and seek high-quality development

This year's Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference takes place from May 25 to 26. Guided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the People's Government of Guangdong Province and the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality, the conference was co-hosted by Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Bureau and Asia Digital Group. It includes the opening ceremony ad main forum, 10 parallel forums, closed-door think tank meetings, Canton Tower the Best awards ceremony, venture capital and exhibitions.

In recent years, Guangzhou has released the impetus and vitality of scientific and technological innovation. It has made systematic plan to boost national strategic scientific and technological strength, and built the "2+2+N" scientific and technological innovation platform system. The "human proteome navigation plan," one of China's three international big science research plans, has been approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology for implementation. The number of high-tech enterprises and small and medium-sized tech enterprises in the city has exceeded 12,300 and 16,700 respectively. Guangzhou is making steady progress in high-quality development, underpinned by strategic scientific and technological power and major platforms. Guangzhou is at the forefront of the world in terms of comprehensive strength in scientific and technological innovation. It ranks tenth in the world in the "Nature Index – Science Cities." "Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong" science and technology cluster has ranked second in the global innovation index for three consecutive years.

Zhu Dongfang said that the trend of development led by scientific and technological innovation has become a global consensus, and that countries around the world desire to harness scientific and technological innovation to cultivate new economic growth areas. Guangzhou has always been in the forefront of the country in terms of plan and development in the field of science and technology. It is also one of the best in the world in this regard. It is hoped that the Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference will promote science and technology progress in Guangzhou and China, and bring it in line with global science and technology developments.

Pool wisdom, discuss hot issues, and seek the future of science and technology

IDC data shows that global AI spending will reach US$154 billion in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%, and AI-related industry spending will exceed US$300 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27% from 2022 to 2026. A new wave of development in the field of artificial intelligence is sweeping the globe.

In Guangzhou, the artificial intelligence industry represented by enterprises such as PCITECH, Rootcloud, Cloudwalk, and Pony.ai has developed rapidly. In 2020 and 2021, Guangzhou was successively approved as a national pilot zone for innovative development of new-generation artificial intelligence and an pilot zone for innovative application of artificial intelligence. Guangzhou issued the Guangzhou Three-Year Action Plan for High-quality Development of Artificial Intelligence Industry Chain (2021-2023). In the four competitive areas of intelligent manufacturing, intelligent driving, smart medical care, and smart city, it has worked to consolidate, reinforce, upgrade and stabilize the industrial chain, with remarkable results in industrial innovation. It ranks at the forefront of the country in terms of comprehensive strength. According to the China Urban Artificial Intelligence Development Index Report (2020-2021), Guangzhou ranks fourth in the country in terms of comprehensive strength of artificial intelligence.

The participating experts gave keynote speeches on technological innovation and high-quality development, manufacturing development in the intelligent era, the value and significance of artificial intelligence, the large model development and industrialization, unmanned driving, the international development of enterprises, science and technology-enabled higher education, and so on. In the summit dialogue themed "Bravely embracing the unknown in the age of uncertainty," participants communicated about and discussed topics such as scientific and technological innovation, hard technology, artificial intelligence, and the development of the Bay Area, and sought definitive development in the age of uncertainty.

Justine Cassell, Research Director of Inria, France, and Chair Professor and former Associate Dean of the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, delivered a speech entitled "From large language model to ChatGPT: The language revolution in the age of AI." She said that the large language model (LLM) is an AI system that requires integration of numerous data, models and algorithms. It allows people to predict what the next word will be in the dialogue, what the structure of the next sentence will be, and what will happen in the dialogue. For AI and LLM, one of the development factors is transparency, so that people can understand how it works and overcome fear with knowledge. In view of this, young people should receive education on technology, AI economic attribute and psychology. At the same time, government support is essential for development. In China, governments at all levels have provided encouraging and supporting policies for young entrepreneurs, so that young people become the most innovative innovators and are able to develop more innovative artificial intelligence.

Li Peigen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivered a keynote speech entitled "Go Beyond." He said that human beings excel themselves as we enter this era, and that everyone may need to continue to excel themselves in the future. The metaverse will definitely be used in industrial manufacturing, because it at least helps us gain a stronger sense of space and immediacy. Virtually all enterprises will undergo a new round of transformation in the integrated environment of the multiverse. Artificial intelligence technology, which is now used in industry, surpasses human thinking in some fields. The future relationship between man and machine may be HAD. HAD standards for human-aided design, in which the computer is dominant, while the person is auxiliary. We as humans must ask ourselves what our capabilities are beyond AI. We must make AI our tool to improve our creativity and work efficiency, thus truly achieving harmony between man and machine.

Zheng Yongnian, Chairman of the Guangzhou Institute of GBA, delivered a keynote speech entitled "How technological innovation promotes China's high-quality development." He said that in order to escape the middle-income trap and achieve high-quality development, it is necessary to upgrade industries through continuous technological progress. Sustainable technological progress requires three conditions: 1. There must be a large number of universities or institutions engaged in basic scientific research. 2. There must be a large number of enterprises or institutions that can translate basic scientific research into applied technology. 3. There must be financial services that can support basic research and applied technology. Basic scientific research originates from the academic interests of scientists and engineers. The state should help them pursue their interests and hobbies. The government is responsible for basic scientific research, and enterprises are responsible for technology commercialization, while venture capital supports technology commercialization.

Also present at the opening ceremony were Lee Young, South Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups; Antonio Muñoz Martinez, Mayor of Seville, Spain; Ni Mingxuan, President of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou); Xiong Xiaoge, founding Chairman of IDG Capital; Chen Xudong, Chairman and General Manager, IBM Greater China; Zhu Jiaming, Economist, Chairman of the Academic and Technical Committee, the Digital Alliance Institute for Digital Finance Research, Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; He Xiaodong, Vice President of JD Group, Dean of JD Explore Academy and IEEE/CAAI Fellow; Lou Tiancheng, Co-Founder and CTO of Pony.ai; Li Peilun, Chairman and CEO of LUN Partners Group, and others.

The inauguration ceremony of the Global Technology Industry Alliance was held at the main forum. The project signing ceremony was also held simultaneously, involving a total of more than 10 companies. It again demonstrates the platform value of the Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference.

It is reported that the parallel forums of this year's Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference include AIGC Summit, China-Russia Cross-Border E-commerce Development Forum·Guangzhou, The Dream of Carbon Neutrality in the Industrial Internet, Space-Air-Ground-Sea Comprehensive Digitalization Forum, China AI Talent Summit Forum, International Venture Capital Conference, Chinese Enterprise Digital Transformation Summit Forum, New E-Commerce, New Social Media and New Consumption Forum, Women's Action for Science and Technology Innovation, etc. At the same time, the conference brings together enterprises in entrepreneurial and innovation projects, intelligent hardware, VR/AR, information technology, software services, and new media services at home and abroad.

Source: Asia Digital Group