Canton Tower Science & Technology Conference kicked off in Guangzhou on May 25th, lasting for two days. Themed "Embrace the Unknown! Think Different!", the conference has attracted over 110 renowned scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, and experts from various fields around the world to Guangzhou to exchange their ideas of technological development and seek high-quality development paths. The Father of the Metaverse and the Queen of artificial intelligence also appeared at the conference.
IDC data shows that the expenditure on AI will reach $154 billion in 2023 globally, and AI-related industry expenditure will exceed $300 billion by 2026. A new trend of artificial intelligence is sweeping across the globe.
Father of Metaverse: Metaverse is an "old" idea from 30 years ago
Neal Stephenson, the father of the metaverse, and author of the science fiction masterpiece Snow Crash, made a virtual appearance by video at the conference and delivered a speech.
He said that Metaverse is an "old" idea in his work 30 years ago, but recent breakthroughs in game engines, networks, display technology, decentralized finance, and artificial intelligence have prepared Metaverse to become an area to grow rapidly in the next decade. He also hopes to have more exchanges with Chinese colleagues. From the perspective of investors and consumers, China enjoys a high passion for technology, games, and entertainment, and he looks forward to working together with China to make a better future possible.
Queen of AI: Eliminating People's Fear of AI with Knowledge
Justine Cassell, SCS Dean's Professor and former dean in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, and also Director of Institut national de recherche en informatique et en automatique (INRIA), gave a speech on "From Large Language Model to ChatGPT: The Language Revolution of the AI Era."
She said that a large language model (LLM) is an AI system that requires data, models, and algorithms of thousands, tens of thousands, or even more. Transparency is one of the cores for the development of AI and large language models in the future for it will allow people to understand their operation clearly and eliminate the fear of technology with knowledge. To achieve this, it is necessary to provide young people with technical education, AI economy education, psychological education, and so on.
Zheng Yongnian: Achieving high-quality development through continuous industrial upgrading with technology innovation
Zheng Yongnian, Chairman of the Guangzhou Institute of GBA delivered a speech on "How Technology Innovation Promotes China's High-Quality Development". Continuous technological progress requires three conditions: a large number of universities and institutions engaged in basic scientific research, a large number of enterprises and institutions capable of transforming basic scientific research into application, and financial services to support basic research and its application. Scientists' and engineers' academic interests and pursuits drive them to conduct basic scientific research, while the government should provide them with the conditions for their pursuits. In brief, the government is responsible for supporting basic scientific research, enterprises are engaged in technology transfer, and venture capital supports the transfer financially.
元宇宙之父“亮相”广州
“元宇宙之父”“来了”，人工智能女王也来了！5月25日，为期两天的2023小蛮腰科技大会暨AIGC人工智能峰会在广州开幕。本届大会以“迎接未知！Think Different！”为主题，吸引全球110多位知名学者、企业家和投资人等各领域专家共聚广州，交流探讨科技发展，找寻高质量发展路径。
IDC数据显示，2023年全球人工智能支出将达到1540亿美元，到2026年AI相关产业规模支出将超过3000亿美元。人工智能领域的新一轮发展热潮正席卷全球。
云宇宙之父：元宇宙是30年前的“老”想法
元宇宙之父、科幻作家、科幻巨作《雪崩》作者尼尔·斯蒂芬森通过视频方式“亮相”大会并发表致辞。
他表示，“元宇宙”是他在30年前的作品中的一个“老”想法，但最近在游戏引擎、网络、显示技术、去中心化金融和人工智能方面的突破，为元宇宙在未来十年内成为一个主要增长领域创造了潜力。他也希望能够与中国的同行进行更多的交流，从投资者和消费者的角度来看，中国有着对技术、游戏和娱乐的很高的热情，期待着能够一起努力，使更美好未来成为可能。
人工智能女王：用知识消除人们对AI的恐惧
有着“人工智能女王”之称的卡耐基梅隆大学计算机学院讲席教授、前副院长，法国国家信息与自动化研究所研究主任贾斯汀·卡塞尔以“从大语言模型到Chat GPT：AI时代的语言革命”为主题发表演讲。
她表示，大语言模型（LLM）是一种AI系统，它需要几千、上万甚至更多的数据融入、模型和算法的融入。对于AI、大语言模型来说，未来的发展要素之一是透明度，让人清晰了解它的运作原理，用知识消除恐惧。为此，要为年轻人提供技术教育、AI经济属性教育、心理学教育等。
郑永年：用不断的技术进步上的产业升级去实现高质量发展
广州粤港澳大湾区研究院理事长郑永年发表“科技创新如何推动中国高质量发展”主题演讲。其中提到，可持续的技术进步包含三个条件：必须有一大批能够从事基础科研的大学或机构，必须具有一大批能够把基础科研转化成应用技术的企业或者机构，必须具有能够支撑基础研究和应用技术的金融服务、金融支持。基础科研来自于科学家、工程师的学术兴趣的爱好和追求，国家要给他们提供条件去追求他们的兴趣爱好。政府负责基础科研，企业负责技术转化，风投支撑技术转化。
文、图丨羊城晚报全媒体记者 李钢、邹丽珍
翻译丨白心怡
责编丨古司祺
