Chinese internet search giant Baidu is very much looking forward to working with Indian institutions in the current decade, its co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer Robin Li said.
“India is one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the world and it is a very large developing country next to China. Both countries have seen fast growth in the last few decades and over the next decade, there will be more opportunities for us,” he said at IIT Madras’ tech fest, Shaastra 2020.
Mr. Li was speaking on the topic “Innovation in the age of AI.”
He termed the decade, which had just gone by, as an internet economy, while the coming decade will be an ‘intelligent economy’ powered by AI.
Mr. Li also predicted that in the next 10 years, people would be less and less dependent on mobile phones.
“Because, wherever you go, there will be surrounding sensor infrastructure that can answer your question and that can serve you. So, you don’t have to pull out your mobile phone,” he pointed out.
This will be in contrast to the previous decade where people were more dependent on mobile phones for everything right from payments, food delivery, retail to ride-hailing, Mr. Li said.
AI as virtual assistant
He also highlighted various use cases for AI as a virtual assistant across sectors.
“Banks find it difficult to open branches. They can use virtual assistance to help customers open accounts. Even people are more comfortable dealing with virtual person than real person,” Mr. Li said.
AI is transforming banking and insurance, customer services, education and pharma industry, among others, he said.
For instance, Mr. Li said AI can help customers choose a suitable tariff plan in telecom services, which would be difficult for a real person to suggest in quick time. AI is enabling pharma industry accelerate drug development, he said.
According to Mr. Li, AI is also transforming transportation and reducing traffic delays by 20-30% in China and also can help reduce accidents.
It has also helped in finding missing people and already 9,000 missing people had been found, he said.
Mr. Li also pointed out that AI can make one immortal
“When everything about you can be digitised, computers can learn all about you, creating a digital copy of anyone,” he said.
