China has unique advantages for the development of artificial intelligence (AI), and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could benefit greatly from this fast-evolving technology, according to industry leaders.

Speaking at the 2020 APEC SME Business Forum held recently in Shenzhen, Chen Kuan, CEO of InferVision, stressed the important role AI is playing in providing medical care to areas where resources are scarce and explained how the technology is increasingly outperforming human physicians in treating specific diseases. 

"The first demand that we see is, in fact, the capable doctors; the resources are actually very scarce, especially in rural and remote areas," Chen said during a panel discussion, adding that AI is being used to replicate those capabilities.

However, today's industrial robots cannot navigate demands freely and have yet to meet market expectations especially in industrial robotization, Keyman Guan, CMO of You-I-Bots Robotics, pointed out.

"On a realistic point of view, development is not fast enough, at least not fast enough to reach the market expectations," Guan said.

The participants agreed the security of data and privacy is crucial in the new AI era. 

"In order to protect our privacy, the first step we need to take is legislation," Cao Weichuan, product director of Intelligent Ally Technology, said, explaining that China is already on its way to carrying out a series of regulations to protect its citizens' data. 

He Ying, vice president of 4th Paradigm, said new algorithms and privacy tools are being developed to overcome security challenges.

The panel discussion concluded with all four of the guests echoing the significance of AI's social responsibilities in today's world. 

"The commercial value has to come from the social value it creates for the society," Chen noted.