The Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) unveiled a record-breaking Artificial Intelligence (AI) modelling system called Wu Dao 2.0. This AI model breaks the world record as a super-large-scale pretraining model with 1.75 trillion parameters and appears to be among the world’s most sophisticated AI language models.
The AI model aims to enable machines to think like humans and achieve cognitive abilities beyond the Turing test which is a test of a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour indistinguishable from a human. When a computer convinces a sufficient number of humans into believing that it is not a machine but rather a human, the computer intelligence passes the Turing test.
The AI achieved excellent results in nine benchmark tasks in the pre-trained model field and was close to breaking the Turing test in simulating conversational speech, writing poems, understanding images and text summaries, answering questions, as well as painting.
The language models are an informal indicator of countries’ advancement in AI research which is a key aspect of tech competition amongst many countries. Whoever develops the most potent language model will be best positioned to corner future markets and spread influence. AI models also reflect the data and biases of their programmers which means that English and Chinese language models are set to dominate.
China’s first AI-powered Virtual Student
According to an article, Hua Zhibing is China’s first virtual student powered by the AI model. She officially registered and became a student of Tsinghua University and will be studying in the computer laboratory. She can learn continuously, compose poetry, draw pictures, and will learn to code in the future. In contrast with other AI models, Wu Dao 2.0 can learn different tasks over time, not forgetting what it has learned previously. This feature seems to bring AI yet closer to human memory and learning mechanisms.
Hua Zhibing also has some ability in reasoning and emotional interaction. The researchers hoped that the virtual girl will have higher emotional intelligence and be able to communicate like a human. The virtual student said she would learn and improve every day in areas such as her logical reasoning abilities. According to the AI developer, Hua Zhibing will grow and learn faster than an average actual person. If she begins learning at the level of a six-year-old this year, she will be at the level of a twelve-year-old in a year.
However Hua Zhibing cannot completely study and live like ordinary students at the moment, and she also will not experience emotional issues. The developers hope that she will master skills first and then seek breakthroughs in reasoning and emotional interaction.
As reported by OpenGov Asia, China jas been making plans for an (AI) research institution to explore the frontiers of AI research and make breakthroughs in key technologies. Chinese researchers, hi-tech enterprises and local governments are together actively striving to strengthen original innovation.
China has attached great importance to institutional innovation and high-level engineer and research team building. By taking a problem-oriented approach, they set up teams to overcome challenges. Science and technology development, cultivation of major talent resources, and innovation are crucial driving forces. The combination of the three can help achieve sci-tech self-reliance and self-improvement at higher levels.
China will work with research institutions and enterprises upstream and downstream to strengthen weak parts of our industry chains and achieve breakthroughs in photosensitive chips, core algorithms, sensors and other key technologies.
The Chinese leadership has called for enhancing the overall efficacy of the national innovation system. The reformation of the sci-tech system is designed to work toward a basic system supporting innovation in all aspects. The combination of concentration on basic research, innovation and industrial application is crucial to developing robust and innovative industries.
