China urges consensus on global AI governance
我国呼吁就全球人工智能治理达成共识
China is ready to work with other countries around the globe to promote artificial intelligence to better serve global development and the well-being of humanity, moving toward a brighter intelligent future, Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday.
Li made the remarks in Shanghai when addressing the opening ceremony of the 2024 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance.
With the theme "governing AI for good and for all", the three-day event has gathered government officials, heads of international organizations, business leaders and researchers from around the world.
The meeting followed the United Nations General Assembly's unanimous adoption on Monday of a resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity building that was proposed by China and co-sponsored by over 140 countries.
Li highlighted the significant progress in AI development since the inaugural World AI Conference in 2018, and acknowledged the new challenges AI poses in areas such as law, security, employment, ethics and morality.
He underlined the urgent need for in-depth discussions and consensus-building among nations on global AI governance, and called for collective efforts to seize opportunities and address challenges.
It is important to strengthen partnerships on basic research and talent exchanges and collectively safeguard the security and stability of industrial and supply chains, he said.
The premier emphasized the importance of promoting inclusive development to bridge the AI development gap, and urged joint actions to create an open, fair and nondiscriminatory environment for AI development.
Alignment of development strategies, governance rules and technical standards in the AI sector should be strengthened, and governance frameworks and standard specifications with broad consensus should be formulated to ensure safe, reliable and controllable AI development so that it is always in line with the fundamental interests and values of humanity, Li said.
Around 1,000 domestic and international representatives attended the opening ceremony, including Luis Roberto Barroso, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank, and Gerd Muller, director general of the UN Industrial Development Organization.
The event adopted the Shanghai Declaration on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence. The UNIDO Global Alliance on AI for Industry and Manufacturing Center of Excellence, which will be based in Shanghai, was also launched at the opening ceremony.
Sassine Ghazi, president and CEO of Synopsys, a global leader in semiconductor electronic design automation, silicon intellectual property and application security, said the pace of AI innovation must be carefully balanced with the need for responsibility in how AI is developed.
"The best approach to achieve the balance is to work together globally," Ghazi said. "Global collaboration will enable people worldwide to benefit from the incredible advances that AI is bringing while ensuring that those amazing new capabilities are deployed responsibly."
Transport minister: China makes progress in international logistics
交通部长：我国在国际物流领域取得进展
China is making progress in promoting international logistics, the transport minister said on Wednesday in Beijing.
For instance, the country has proactively expanded the international logistics network and made significant progress. International maritime routes connect major ports worldwide, with container vessels servicing over 100 countries and regions globally. China has consistently ranked at the forefront of global maritime connectivity for several years, according to Li Xiaopeng, the transport minister, at a news conference.
In terms of air freight transportation, China's international air cargo services reach more than 60 countries and regions worldwide, with Hong Kong and Shanghai standing out as the world's top and third-largest international air cargo hubs, he noted.
Additionally, agreements on international road transport have been signed with 22 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, while the China-Europe freight train service has linked over 220 cities across 25 European countries.
In addition, efforts have also been made on enhancing the service capabilities of international freight transport, and received progress in all perspectives including maritime shipping, air transport, international express delivery and international road transport, Li said.
A comprehensive international logistics service system has been established, with international maritime shipping handling over 95 percent of China's import and export cargo volume. International air cargo services have emerged as the primary mode of transportation for high-value and time-sensitive goods. Last year, a total of 3.11 billion international and cross-border mail and express deliveries were completed, providing robust support for the rapid growth of cross-border e-commerce.
In addition, 17,000 China-Europe freight train services were operated last year, carrying 1.9 million containers. Meanwhile, international road transport saw a 105 percent year-on-year increase in freight volume last year.
Tourism getting a high-tech boost
高科技促进我国旅游业发展
To better integrate the culture and tourism industry into the nation's digital economy, the Chinese government recently unveiled its Action Plan for the Innovative Development of Smart Tourism, calling for more immersive and personalized experiences for tourists by using new technologies.
In May, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Data Bureau jointly issued the plan, which outlines eight specific tasks to facilitate smart tourism, a buzzword in China's culture and tourism industry fueled by new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality.
It says that by 2027, the scale of the smart tourism economy will have further expanded; smart tourism infrastructure will be more sophisticated; the supply of high-quality smart tourism products will be more abundant; and smart tourism services and experiences will be more convenient and comfortable.
Wang Heyun, a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said at a news conference in Beijing on June 27 that the action plan is the first guideline to focus on smart tourism, and it is expected to inject fresh impetus into the high-quality development of the culture and tourism industry.
"On the one hand, digital technology has innovated the combination of culture and tourism, enriching the content of tourism products. On the other, smart tourism makes traveling easier and enhances visitors' experiences, catering to the diversified needs of tourists," Wang said.
At a recently opened digital exhibition at the Hunan Museum in Changsha, Hunan province, technologies such as 3D and holographic projections that can be viewed with the naked eye offer immersive experiences and visual feasts inspired by popular artifacts from the museum's collection. The exhibition, which doesn't display any actual relics, is the museum's first innovative and digital endeavor to showcase its archaeological findings, said Duan Xiaoming, the museum's director.
"We tried to offer an interesting and immersive experience by employing new technologies. I believe it's a new trend for archaeological shows," Duan added.
Although tickets for the show are priced at 108 yuan ($15) — about the cost of a good lunch for locals — many visitors were still willing to wait in a long line for the experience.
Other sites have also embraced the technologies.
The Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Gansu province, home to one of China's finest Buddhist art displays, opened its VR experience center in September to provide an immersive and interactive experience. Priced at 40 yuan per person, the VR experience has drawn large crowds and garnered a great deal of praise in posts shared by tourists on their social media platforms.
The experience allows visitors to explore a cave that is seldom open to the public for preservation reasons. Using VR, they can closely examine the murals within the cave, and even interact with the figures depicted in the murals by using VR and AR technology.
At the Deji Art Museum in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, visitors can travel back 1,000 years to experience a day in ancient China by "walking" into a 110-meter-long painting inspired by An Era in Jinling, an ancient piece of painting depicting prosperous street scenes in Nanjing, which was called Jinling during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Wearing electronic bracelets, visitors can "create" their own "digital avatars" that can interact with characters in the painting, talk to street vendors, pet cats and dogs and even set off fireworks.
The digital exhibition has attracted hordes of tourists. It was also taken to France in May and received a positive response from the French people, said Ai Lin, the museum's director.
"Going digital with high technology is inevitable. We must actively embrace the trend," Ai said.
It's a trend that is certainly being embraced by travelers.
According to the National Smart Tourism Development Report 2023 released by the China Tourism Research Institute in November, more than 80 percent of visitors surveyed said they were willing to spend more money to experience travel blended with technology. Furthermore, more than half of the people polled said they hoped to experience better tourism services with smart tech.
Dai Bin, director of the China Tourism Research Institute, said that big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies have helped reduce the amount of time tourists spend planning their travels. After reaching their destinations, tourists should get assistance to help them delve deeper into the nature, culture and development of the local area, which should be the direction of smart tourism development.
"Technological services have not yet fully met the rising demands for high-quality travel experiences. Therefore, intelligence has become a new trend in the tourism industry," Dai added.
Tourist destinations have taken action and invested a lot in immersive experiences for visitors by using high-quality technology. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism revealed its first batch of 30 smart tourism immersive experience venues in November.
The number of such pilot programs has increased to 42 this year. They have been implemented in museums, libraries, scenic areas, historical districts and other traditional cultural and tourist sites.
Some of these venues have set up special exhibition spaces to enable tourists to have experiences they could never have had otherwise. For example, the Sanxingdui Museum in Sichuan province's Guanghan allows visitors to virtually travel to a prehistoric civilization thousands of years ago and play the role of an archaeologist.
Some scenic areas stage shows to let tourists better immerse themselves into local cultures.
"Using technology to create immersive experiences is a good way to meet the diverse needs of tourists. Blending digital technology into new products at tourist sites is a big factor in driving spending," said Deng Ning, a professor of culture and tourism at Beijing International Studies University.
She mentioned that in addition to embracing digital advancements, it's important to maintain or improve certain offline services to cater to the needs of older adults.
The action plan also stresses the importance of improving the level of senior-friendly services in the digital era. It calls for the proper preservation of offline services for special groups like the elderly and supports smart online service platforms tailored to their travel habits.
Maintaining manual service counters that offer offline ticketing and other services for domestic and international tourists is also critical, the plan says.
From: Chinadaily.com.cn
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