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On July 6, the three-day 2024 World AI Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance (WAIC 2024) concluded. Themed "Governing AI for Good and for All," 107 forums were held, exploring AI's role in scientific research and industrial development. The closing marks the beginning of a new journey, as AI exploration continues.
Promoting "AI for Good" Through Global Consensus
During the three-day event, 1,300 global leaders from over 50 countries and regions gathered together, including nine recipients of the Turing Award, Fields Medal, and Nobel Prize, as well as 88 top academicians from around the world. The seeds of inspiration they planted are sure to take root and grow in the near future, becoming a powerful force driving technological advancement and civilizational progress.
The rapid advancement of AI technology has greatly benefited economic and social development but also introduced risks such as deepfakes, privacy concerns, and intellectual property disputes. Promoting AI development and safety, along with addressing global governance and ethical issues, are pressing topics that require consensus through dialogue and cooperation.
AI governance is not a challenge that any single country can face alone. Amandeep Singh Gill, the UN Secretary-General's Envoy on Technology, stated at the conference's opening that AI is extremely important, and relying solely on market forces, dispersed national efforts, and multilateral forces carries too much risk. If we want to fully reap the benefits of AI and achieve sustainable development goals, international cooperation is essential.
Echoing this theme, ministerial officials from over 30 countries and leaders of international organizations held an important dialogue on AI governance at this year's conference. They exchanged views on AI development, safety, and governance, expressing a commitment to cooperation. Their goal is to build an open, fair, and effective governance mechanism to promote the healthy, safe, and orderly development of AI.
Many international experts have expressed their views on global AI governance. Gaël Varoquaux, research director at French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (Inria) stated, "We believe there needs to be international global governance because both the internet and AI can easily cross borders." Sassine Ghazi, president and chief executive officer of Synopsys, emphasized that global collaboration can enable people around the world to benefit from the significant advancements brought by AI while ensuring that innovation is practiced responsibly.
The participating experts also stated that global AI governance cannot be separated from the support of cutting-edge technologies. Regarding AI safety governance, Turing Award winner Chi-Chih Yao believes that AI safety governance should not be a patchwork, addressing one issue at a time as it arises. Instead, it is necessary to explore beneficial general artificial intelligence that aligns AI with human interests. During the design phase, mathematical principles should be incorporated to ensure that all decisions made by robots are human-centered. Robots must communicate with humans to understand their needs.
Accelerating"AI Empowerment" through Frontier Exploration
Development and safety are the two wings of AI. Based on safety and governance, exploring the forefront of AI and promoting better empowerment for industrial development is also a key topic of this year's conference.
AI is the wisdom engine of scientific exploration and the catalyst driving industrial development. In early 2023, a cover article in Nature presented a pessimistic view of the current state of research paper development, stating that "scientific progress is slowing down."
However, it is comforting that AI is reshaping a new paradigm of scientific discovery. As experts discussed in the forums, large models compress world knowledge internally, and the uncertain generative properties may help humanity break through knowledge silos across different disciplinary domains to achieve innovative exploration. For instance, astronomy, as a discipline with massive data, represents one of the best scenarios for AI application and driving scientific discovery. Artificial intelligence, with its extraordinary data processing capabilities, unveils the mysteries of the universe's depths.
AI for Science is also driving a new paradigm shift in scientific research. Scaling laws have transformed AI, but relying solely on compressing and summarizing massive amounts of data is not enough to achieve general artificial intelligence.
AI is rapidly penetrating various industries, integrating deeply into production and operations to reduce costs, enhance efficiency, boost competitiveness, foster new business models, and reshape traditional industries.Experts note that in the intelligence era, AI empowers humans, tools, and resources, accelerating knowledge discovery, expanding human capabilities, and driving industrial digitization and transformation.
Embodied intelligence based on humanoid robots is currently one of the frontier interdisciplinary hotspots in academia and industry. It represents an important developmental direction towards general artificial intelligence.
Building an "AI Ecosystem" Through Continuous Efforts
The conference shone brightly with elite scholars and industry leaders from around the world. Attendees experienced AI's charm through exhibitions from over 500 companies, showcasing 1,500 exhibits and more than 50 new product debuts, marking historical highs. Nearly 100 large models and 18 humanoid robots, including China's first open-source full-scale general humanoid robot, were prominently displayed, making AI innovations truly eye-opening.
Talent is the primary resource for the development of artificial intelligence. The construction of a talent ecosystem, highlighted by the “Three Awards, Three Competitions”, has become an essential part of WAIC. This not only serves as authoritative recognition of outstanding achievements in the AI field but also gathers powerful momentum to drive global AI technological progress, enabling more young people to ride the wave in their AI journey.
WAIC is a key platform for observing global AI development and building an AI ecosystem. Governments, enterprises, universities, research institutions, and capital collaborate to create a favorable environment of resource sharing, complementary advantages, and collaborative innovation. This synergy accelerates technological advancement and industrial upgrading, drawing global attention to AI.
Although WAIC 2024 has concluded, it marks the beginning of a new journey. Next year, WAIC 2025 will bring together friends from around the world to explore AI's boundless possibilities.
Contact Info:
Name: Sharon Gong
Email: Send Email
Organization: Donghao Lansheng (Group) Co. Ltd.
Website: http://www.worldaic.com.cn
Release ID: 89135443
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