The “WeChat-HKUST Joint Lab on Artificial Intelligence Technology (WHAT LAB)” jointly organized by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and WeChat held an unveiling ceremony on November 26th. The joint lab aims to improve human life service experience through artificial intelligence technology, while developing big data research and broadening knowledge areas. This cooperation will become an important milestone in WeChat and university cooperation.
The joint laboratory is located at HKUST and is led by Prof. Yang Qiang, Professor of Engineering and Professor of Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The research scope of the laboratory includes machine learning, natural language processing, robotics, data mining, and speech recognition. It brings together the top scientific research talents in China and Hong Kong, and uses the data materials of the WeChat platform to develop innovative applications of artificial intelligence.
The WeChat team is led by Mr. Zhou Wei, General Manager of Wechat Technical Architecture Department, who attended the event. The WeChat team stated that WeChat currently has 650 million monthly active users and tens of millions of public numbers and has become an indispensable chat software and social platform for people's daily lives. The WeChat team takes artificial intelligence and data mining as its future direction. Research in this field requires the support of the world's top research forces. This cooperation reflects the consistent support of the WeChat team for university innovation, and provides WeChat team and HKUST with a combination of theory and practice. The outstanding talents of both parties will work together to conduct research and expect to achieve the desired results of cooperation and strive to realize the vision of creating a smart human life.
The WeChat team continued that WeChat is committed to creating a rich ecosystem of the Internet. This time, the investment in the field of artificial intelligence further demonstrates WeChat's vision and determination based on the future.
Prof. Chen Fanchang, President of HKUST, said: "As a research university, HKUST is dedicated to the development of cutting-edge scientific research. Big data is one of the strategic development directions. WeChat is one of the most important online platforms in the world. The joint laboratory combines the advantages of both parties. The cooperation is of great significance." President Chan continued that Asia has a large number of Internet users and is an ideal place for artificial intelligence and big data research.
Professor Yang Qiang, director of the Joint Lab, said: "WeChat is one of the most important social platforms in the world. The artificial intelligence joint laboratory can not only enhance WeChat's intelligent service capabilities, but also enable it to maintain its leading position in the research and application of artificial intelligence. Professor Yang’s main research areas include machine learning, data mining and artificial intelligence. He is an IEEE fellow and the first Chinese academician of the International Association for Artificial Intelligence (AAAI Fellow). In 2012, he was invited by Huawei to participate in the creation of the Noah's Ark Research Lab for artificial intelligence and big data research. Professor Yang is the editorial board member of many international journals, including the founding editor of the IEEE Big Data Journal. He has organized several international conferences on artificial intelligence and data mining.