AvisitortriesthevocalrecognitionsystematiFLYTEKBeijingOfficeLIUTINGWhenChinesePremierLiKeqiangspokethewords“Hello,PrimeMinisterBorissov”inChineseintoasmalltranslatingmachine,theywereimmediatelytranslatedintoBulgarianforBulgarianPrimeMinisterBoykoBorissov.
TheinteractiontookplaceonthemorningofJuly7,whileLiwasintroducingtheartificialintelligent(AI)-poweredtranslatingmachinedevelopedbyaChinesecompanytotheleadersof16CentralandEasternEuropeanCountries(CEEC),whowereattendinganexhibitionontheachievementsofChina-CEECcooperationinSofia,Bulgaria.
BorissovwassoimpressedbythesmalliFLYTEKtranslatorthatitpromptedLitopresenthimwithoneasagift.
ThetranslatorcanquicklyandaccuratelytranslatebetweenChineseand33otherlanguagesincludingEnglish,Japanese,Korean,French,Spanish,GermanandRussian.Itcanprovideauto-translationservicesinrealtime,makingdailycommunicationsduringtravel,workandmedicaldiagnosismoreconvenient.
ReleasedbyiFLYTEKCo.Ltd.onApril20inBeijing,thetranslatorwillnodoubtfurtherboostthe19-year-oldcompany’smarketvalue,whichhasincreasedfrom3millionyuan($449,008)to80billionyuan($11.97billion)since1999.EstablishedinHefei,capitalofeastChina’sAnhuiProvince,iFLYTEKhasbecomethelargestlistedintelligentspeechandAIcompanyintheAsia-Pacificregionandagloballeaderinspeechsynthesis,speechrecognitionandnatural-languageprocessing.
Longroadtosuccess
Beforebeingincorporatedasacompany,iFLYTEKoperatedastheMan-MachineSpeechCommunicationLaboratoryattheUniversityofScienceandTechnologyinChina.SupportedbytheStateHi-TechDevelopmentPlan,thelaboratoryenabledsynthesizedvoicestosoundclearerandnaturalthroughitsindependentlydevelopedsystemin1998.
“Ithoughtwecoulddevelopsomeproductssinceourtechnologywasalreadyapplicable,”saidJiangTao,theCo-founderandSeniorVicePresidentofiFLYTEK.Attheendof1999,iFLYTEKwasestablished,staffedbyex-laboratorypersonneland3millionyuaninregisteredcapital.Thecompany’smissionwastomakemachinesanddevicessuchasmobilephones,computers,televisions,carsandtoyslistenandspeakashumansdo.
Thefirstfiveyearshoweverwereastrugglefinanciallyasthefirstproduct,softwareenablingpeopletooperatecomputerswithvoice,didn’ttakeoffashoped.
TheturningpointcameattheChinaHi-TechFairheldinShenzhen,southChina’sGuangdongProvince,in2000,whentheintelligentspeechtechnologypresentedbyiFLYTEKattractedtheattentionofHuawei,aleadingglobalinformationandcommunicationstechnologysolutionsprovider.HuaweimadeabulkpurchaseofiFLYTEK’stechnologyandintegrateditintoHuawei’sproducts.
Jiangsaidthiswasthecompany’sbreakthroughmomentandiFLYTEKwasabletosettleitsoutstandingdebtsandreachedthebreak-evenpointin2004.
Thefollowingyearthecompanydevelopedaringtonesystemwhichenabledpeopletocallinandfindmusicoftheirchoicetodownloadasringtonesfortheirmobilephones.Thesystem,whichusedadatabaseofthousandsofsongs,provedsopopularwithChineseconsumersthatitwasquicklyadoptedbyChinaMobile,ChinaUnicomandChinaTelecom,thethreemajormobileserviceoperatorsinChina.Duringthattime,thespeechservicesrelatedtomusicandringtoneswerealmostallprovidedbyiFLYTEK.Thecompanywentontoseea130percentincreaseinitsnetprofitforthreeconsecutiveyearsfromthesebusinesses.In2007,theannualrevenueexceeded200millionyuan($29.94million).
ThisallowedthebreathingspacetofocusonitsR&DandledtoalistingontheShenzhenStockExchangein2008.
Inrecentyears,iFLYTEKhasmadeseveralachievementsinintelligentspeechandhasbecomealeaderintheindustry.ThecompanyrankedfirstinallindicatorsinthefourthCHiMESpeechSeparationandRecognitionChallengein2016,themostinfluentialspeechrecognitioncontestintheworld.In2017,theprecisionofiFLYTEK’sonlinespeechrecognitionplatformreached98percent.Continuousbreakthroughshavealsobeenmadeinitsdialectrecognitionfunctionthatnowcovers22dialects.AniFLYTEKstaffdemonstratesAIapplicationforcarsLIUJUNXIMachinescanthink
In2013,iFLYTEKinitiatedtheSuperBrainPlan,intendingtoadvancetheabilitiesofmachinesfromlisteningandspeakingtothinkingandlearning.
Accordingtotheplan,machinescanbeprogrammedtolearnrule-basedandlogicalthinkingrelatingtohumanbrainworkandsolvepracticalproblems.“Theycanhelphumansinallaspects,”saidJiang.
Thisplanwasappliedtothemedicalsector,andinNovember2017,theAIdoctorassistantbecamethefirstofitskindtopassanationalphysiciancertificationexaminationintheworld.
DoctorsatAnhuiProvincialIntelligentHospitalwereshownhowtheAIdoctorassistantcanhelpthemwithdiagnosisandprovidetreatmentinformationfortheirpatients.Doctorscanmakeafinalconclusionbasedonthesystem’ssuggestionsandtheirowndiagnosis,remarkablyspeedinguptheprocess.
AccordingtoJiang,“iFLYTEK’sAIdoctorassistanthasbeenabletohelpphysicianswithdiagnosisatcommunity-levelhospitals.ThiscansolvethechallengesofunevendistributionofmedicalresourcesinChina.Afterall,doctorsintophospitalsarestillinshortsupply.”
Inthefieldofeducationtechnology,iFLYTEK’sachievementsarealsoimpressive.Currently,themachinesdevelopedbythecompanyhavereachedanexpertlevelintermsofcheckinghomeworkandtestpapers.
“Machine-basedhomeworkcheckingnotonlysavesteachers’time,butalsoenablesteacherstocollectstudents’learningdataintheprocessandtailorteachingtostudents’individualaptitude,asConfuciussuggestedmorethan2,000yearsago,”saidJiang.Inschoolsusingthistechnology,everystudentdoesdifferenthomeworkapplicabletothem,whichimprovestheirlearningefficiency.Student’saveragetimespentonhomeworkperdaywasreducedby1.5hours,accordingtoJiang.
Atpresent,iFLYTEK’sintelligenteducationproductshavebeenwidelyappliedinallprovincial-levelregionsontheChinesemainlandaswellasoverseasmarketsincludingSingapore.Thecompanyhascooperatedwithmorethan13,000schoolsandservedover80millionteachingstaffandstudents.
Furthermore,workinthecourtsofjusticeisbeingassistedbyiFLYTEK’stechnologyasanAItrialsystemwhichcananalyzereamsoffilesinminutesandassistjudgesbyprovidingthemwiththreesuggestions:Whatchargesshouldbemade,thelengthofprisontermfordefendants,andhowmuchtheyshouldbefined.
TheAItrialsystemlaunchedbyiFLYTEKhasbeenappliedinmorethan400courtsandmorethan1,000tribunalsthroughoutChina.Ithassavedtimeincourttrialsby30percentonaverage,andenabledtrialrecordstobe100percentcomplete,remarkablyimprovingthequalityandefficiencyofjudges’work.
“TheThirdIndustrialRevolutionthattookplaceinthepastdecadesmainlysolvedtheproblemofmutualconnection,suchaspeople-to-peopleconnection,commodity-to-peopleconnectionaswellasinformation-to-peopleconnection.However,itdidnotsolvetheproblemofinformationprocessingaftertheconnection.Indecadestocome,throughAItechnology,peoplecansignificantlyreducethecostsofinformationprocessingaftertheconnectionandimprovetheproductivityofthehumanbrain,”saidJiang.
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