Era of artificial intelligence dawns in Taiwan
2017/10/27
In March 2016, artificial intelligence program AlphaGo developed by Google DeepMind beat Lee Se-dol, a champion South Korean professional Go player, 4-1 in Seoul. A year later, AlphaGo defeated Ke Jie, the world No.1 from mainland China at the time, 3-0 in the scenic town of Wuzhen on the other side of the strait.
Will AI replace and even do harm to humankind? In recent years there have been considerable relevant debates such as those between Tesla Inc. founder Elon Musk and Facebook Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg. These burgeoning controversies indicate the advent of an AI era.
AI-related software and technology are emerging like sunlight at dawn, illuminating a brand new world with very different daily life patterns, industrial operations and scientific skills, according to Lee Lin-shan, a distinguished professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University in Taipei City.
AI is defined as computer programs that perceive environments and take actions to maximize the chance of succeeding in a task spanning such areas as language translation, policymaking efforts and visual perception.
In 2006, the article “A Fast Learning Algorithm for Deep Belief Nets” published by Geoffrey E. Hinton, a professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Toronto, marked a true rise of the AI wave.
Through a multilayered neural network of deep learning, computers are capable of observing, learning and reacting like humans when receiving messages in the form of images, text or sounds.
With the huge accumulation of data and a deep learning algorithm, as well as advanced hardware items from such providers of graphics processing units as Nvidia Corp. in the post-Moore’s Law era, the time is ripe for the advancement of AI development, according to Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee.
In a global AI study released in June by Pricewaterhouse Coopers Taiwan, it was stated that AI boasts one of the largest commercial revenue potentials in the world and is expected to generate US$15.7 trillion and add 14 percent to global gross domestic product by 2030.
Lin Hsuan-tien, formerly an associate professor at NTU’s Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, now works as the chief data scientist for Appier Inc.—a provider of AI platforms aiming to help enterprises solve challenging business problems.
“In the future, AI can work in any place where there are data accumulated,” Lin said. “That’s what ‘AI plus’ means.” AI technologies have seen increasing use in areas like biomedicine, financial services, health care, robotics and smart living.
Earlier this year, Taiwan AI Labs was founded by Ethan Tu in Taipei. A former senior researcher at Microsoft Corp., Tu is well-known for creating text-based communication platform PTT that has grown into one of Taiwan’s most influential online forums since its launch in 1995.
At a media conference announcing the lab’s formation, Chen said 2017 should be considered the first year for major AI development in Taiwan. The country is working to integrate AI expertise and resources from the academic, private and public sectors, the minister said.
In May, the Artificial Intelligence X Internet of Things Special Interest Group was established in Taipei comprising information communication technology-related enterprises and groups including Compal Electronics Inc., Cyberon Corp., Merry Electronics Co., Microsoft Taiwan Corp. and ROC Information Service Industry Association.
Morris Chang, CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., said while major international players claim greater R&D capabilities in AI technology, the opportunities for Taiwan lie in applications.
Google Taiwan General Manager Jian Li-feng agrees with this view. “It’s never too late for local applications,” he said, citing medical services as one area brimming with potential. “Local efforts pave the way for going international.”
Lin said the academic sector in Taiwan has long produced outstanding research results in the field of AI technologies and built a strong talent base, which needs greater access to the private sector on the international stage. The chief data scientist is an outstanding example of what can be achieved when a homegrown talent advances from university to the front line of commercial applications.
Chen said the government is working to strengthen AI expertise and innovation-based growth in line with major state investments in digital infrastructure. The international community, he added, features high-tech giants such as Facebook and Google making initial major investments this year.
“It’s not a slow start for Taiwan,” he insisted. “We’re catching up with international advances.”
Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=7&post=123811)
