The COVID-19 pandemic has affected almost every industry, including artificial intelligence (AI). CGTN sat down with Fu Yingbo, partner and president of China's AI company Megvii, to discuss how the pandemic has affected the AI industry.

'Black swan' and accelerator 

Fu described the pandemic as both a "black swan" and an accelerator for the AI industry.

"Under the challenge of the pandemic, lots of technologies and products that can help with epidemic prevention have emerged," he said, adding that products like non-contact temperature testing machines at supermarkets and train stations can improve efficiency and reduce the risk of human contact during the pandemic.

Challenges facing AI practitioners

The practitioner shared two challenges, the first one is the application of AI in different industries.

"As tech companies, we are good at, and confident, about the technology part," he said. "But when it comes to different industries, how to understand them, how to combine them with our technology, I think this is a challenge we need to break through."

The second challenge Fu thinks is facing the industry is talent recruitment and organization. 

"In order to make breakthroughs in cutting-edge technologies, we need to attract more talent. And in order to commercialize and industrialize our technology, we need a large amount of industrial experts to join the company."

Making breakthroughs in underlying technology faster and more efficient, and improving production and efficiency with achievements made in labs and institutes are also problems for AI practitioners to solve, he said.

"I think borderless communications and circulations in technologies are very necessary."

AI in the future

Fu describe AI as "electricity" in the future that it will become the most fundamental infrastructure in the society.

He told CGTN that he attended a forum with experts of 5G and AI recently and was asked to make metaphors about what their industries would be like in the next 20 years.

"The 5G expert said that they might be the information highway, or vessels of our society," Fu said. "And I said to echo your metaphor, AI in the next 20 years will be the blood of society or economic entity, it flows through the vessels of every aspect of our lives."

Videographer: Hu Hanpeng

Video editor: Wang Zhe

Cover image: Yu Peng

Producer: Wang Kailin

Chief editor: Wu Gang

Supervisor: Si Nan