IP PEOPLE: A Talk With Wang Xiaogang At SenseTime: Leverage Leading AI For Good-Part 2

IP PEOPLE: In 2021, SenseTime was ranked among the top 10 global intelligent driving patent holders and launched SenseAuto, an intelligent automotive application platform. What is the main competitive advantage of SenseTime?

Wang Xiaogang: The smart auto industry is undergoing a transformation from "manufacturing" to the "manufacturing + service" model. To make automobiles more intelligent, all parties in the industry chain need to work closely to figure out how to use technologies to enable intelligent application scenarios for automobiles in a cost-effective manner. Backed by its research experience and industry-leading full-stack AI capabilities, SenseAuto leverages the SenseCore A I infrastructure to integrate algorithms, computing power, and platforms, drastically reducing the cost of factors of production in AI and enabling efficient, low-cost AI innovation and implementation at scale.

SenseAuto now leads the industry in AI productivity, with a full range of products developed, namely SenseAuto Pilot, SenseAuto Cabin, SenseAuto RoboX, SenseAuto Connect and SenseAuto Empower. A sound testing and data accumulation system has taken shape. Furthermore, SenseAuto can be integrated with other business domains of SenseTime. For example, SenseAuto debuted the world's first AR[1]powered self-driving minibus at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference.

Through cooperation with many leading auto companies at home and abroad, SenseTime has gradually mastered the entire technical process of auto makers and quality standard system, laying a solid foundation for further technology implementation. By 2021, we signed contracts with more than 30 automobile companies, and we have been selected as the supplier to pre-install our SenseAuto products for more than 23 million automobiles.

In the smart auto industry, a robust quality system can ensure safe driving and enable seamless interactions. SenseAuto has maintained strict quality management since it ventured into the smart auto industry in 2016. SenseTime got the ISO 9001 certification in 2016, and was certified with ASPICE CL1 and CL2 in 2019 and 2020 respectively, making it the first AI company in Asia to obtain the ASPICE certification.

In the first quarter of 2022, we upgraded our organizational structure and established the SenseAuto Business Unit. We will step up our efforts to develop the smart auto business and stay committed to developing SenseAuto into the most influential AI-powered platform and leading the intelligent transformation of the automobile industry.

IP PEOPLE: Talent has always been an important resource that AI companies around the world scramble for. We have learned that SenseTime's R&D team accounts for 70% of the total number of employees, which is a rather high percentage among tech companies. So, how does SenseTime develop R&D teams to stimulate innovation?

Wang Xiaogang: Talent development has been a top priority of SenseTime since day one. We invest a lot of resources to build a training system that fits the career development paths and the life cycle of employees. To support employees' career advancement, our career development center provides professional training programs for employees at different stages and in different positions. For talent hired through campus recruitment, we offer various training programs such as AI Pilot and AI Pioneer, and integrate general training with on-the-job training to help employees improve their job competency. For new hires recruited through other means, we provide various online learning programs and offline centralized training.

We organize a team of top experts to develop mini-courses in various disciplines, which, along with the general training and soft skills courses taught by experts, can comprehensively enhance the capabilities of employees. Besides, we have designed a leadership development system for managers at different levels based on SenseTime's leadership models and abundant internal and external resources. We have also developed an online learning platform. By continuously empowering employees, we strive to build a learning organization in the new era and promote the development of employees and the company.

IP PEOPLE: AI is currently one of the top buzzwords in the tech world. Many global tech giants have made tremendous investments in the R&D of AI. How would you characterize China's AI development when it is benchmarked against the highest level in the world?

Wang Xiaogang: Although a latecomer in AI development, China has introduced a series of policies to support the development of AI. The AI industry in China is characterized by rapid growth in basic technology research and fast expansion of the group of AI researchers. Take SenseTime for example. In terms of quantitative output, we had 11,494 global patents as of the end of 2021, a 96% increase compared to 2020, of which 78% were invention patents. SenseTime has published more than 600 top papers on deep learning for computer vision (the "by-products of innovation"), ranking first among companies around the world.

In terms of AI technology implementation, the huge domestic market provides favorable conditions for "AI+"—the integration of AI and industries—and generates considerable needs for AI applications. Nonetheless, we should realize that we still fall short of systematization, basic theory, and original innovation, and that we still fall behind our peers overseas in the hardware ecosystem and AI technology toolchain.

IP PEOPLE: What efforts should we continue to make in the future?

Wang Xiaogang: We should uphold long-term thinking, take seriously the development of key talent, and underline the originality of research. Bringing together top talent and maintaining a talent pool is essential to the development of China's AI innovation. We should also explore application scenarios and use existing applications to drive the development of original technology. The Chinese market can quickly adopt new technologies and applications, and spawn new demands for scenarios within a short time. As we facilitate the application of a technology, we would generate more demands for further advances in the technology.

IP PEOPLE: Years ago, you said that AI would bring new opportunities to humanity. And as the industry evolves, how will AI technology impact humanity in the future?

Wang Xiaogang: Through the joint efforts of academia, enterprises, government, and other relevant parties in the past few years, AI is rapidly penetrating into manufacturing and people's everyday life, driving numerous intelligent transformations. Based on AI infrastructure and breakthroughs in big data technology, AI has accelerated our pursuit of truth. It is the AI[1]enabled change in the innovation paradigm that has freed humans from their dependence on self[1]awareness for the first time.

We should also notice that technological innovation often comes from the demolition of existing knowledge. It is, therefore, necessary to set rules for technological development, establish an ethical framework for technology, and guide the direction of development to stimulate technological innovations that bring positive changes.

If we want AI to bring universal benefits, inclusiveness, and fairness, we must substantially reduce the cost of the factors of production, so that resources such as education and healthcare that were previously not accessible can be made available to the whole society in a better, more affordable, and fairer manner. At the same time, we must care for the disadvantaged. Only in this way can we use technology to better benefit all human beings and leverage AI for the greater social good.

Source: IPR Daily-IP PEOPLE

Editor: IPR Daily-Selly