InChina,thetermartificialintelligence(AI)wasincludedintotheReportontheWorkoftheGovernmentforthefirsttimeonMarch5,2017,andhassincebeenrecognizedasanationalstrategy.BeginninglastJune,Chinesetechnologycompanies,ledbyAlibaba,Tencent,andBaidu,viedtoreleasetheirrespectiveAIdevelopmentstrategies.OnJuly20,theStateCouncil,China’scabinet,setstrategicgoalsforAIdevelopmentinvolvingathree-stepstrategyoutlinedinthe“DevelopmentPlanningforaNewGenerationofArtificialIntelligence.”Since2017,bothAIinvestmentandfinancinghavecontinuedtorise.
“Asthemaindrivingforceofthenewindustrialrevolution,China’sAIdevelopmentisenteringanewphase,”saidProfessorLiFanzhang,deanoftheSchoolofComputerScience&TechnologyofSoochowUniversity,recognizingtherapiddevelopmentofAIinChina.
LiwasborninSeptember,1964,inXuanweiCityofYunnanProvince.Eversincehewasachild,hisrolemodelhasalwaysbeenChenJingrun,afamousChinesemathematician,hopingthatonedayhetoocouldcontributetothefieldofmathematics,justlikeChen.ItwasbasedonthisgoalthatLiFanzhangchosemathashismajorincollege.
Aftergraduation,Libecameamiddleschoolmathteacher.Helovedhisjob,workedhard,andwashighlyrespectedbyhisstudents.However,workingasamiddleschoolteacherwasleaguesawayfromhisacademicandscientificdreams.WhencomputersciencestartedtoburgeoninChinainthe1990s,Lidecidedtodiverightin.HewassoonadmittedtotheschoolofcomputerscienceandtechnologyoftheUniversityofScienceandTechnologyofChina,andreceivedamaster’sdegreeinengineeringin1995.HelatertaughtatYunnanUniversityandwasgivenanacceleratedpromotiontoprofessorin1999.In2000,hejoinedSoochowUniversity.
Lihaslongbeenengagedintheteachingandresearchofcomputerscienceandtechnology.HefirstproposedtheLieGroupMachineLearning(LML)systemtheoryandmethod,whichhasbeenwidelyusedinartificialintelligence.HealsoputforwardthetheoreticalframeworkofDynamicFuzzyLogic(DFL)systemfortheveryfirsttime,developedtheresearchcontentoffuzzylogic,andprovidedanewtheoreticalbasisformachinelearningrepresentationandreasoning.Becauseoftheseachievements,LihasgarneredarangeofawardsincludingthesecondprizeoftheJiangsuProvincialScienceandTech-nologyAwardandtheIEEEComputerSciencePioneerAward.
Astheheadofthe“LieGroupMachineLearningandDynamicFuzzyLogicResearchTeam”,Lihasfocusedhiseffortstoteambuildingandmanagement.
Talentisthecornerstoneoftechnologicaldevelopment.Foryoungteachersandstudents,Liputsemphasisoncultivatingtheirscientificresearchquality,innovativespirit,andability,andtriestoaddresssocialneedsinhisteachinginordertoenhanceeveryone’spracticalability.
Liadvocatesthatresearchersshouldguaranteetheforesightandimportanceoftheirresearchprojectsandthecorrespondingmethodsemployedintheprojects.
Inordertoincreaseinternationalpresenceofhisteam,Livaluestheacademicexchangesanddiscussionsonscientificissueswithwell-knowndomesticandforeignscholars.Heencouragesyoungteachersandstudentstoparticipateinacademicvisitsandexchanges.
Frommiddleschoolteachertodeanofauniversity,throughouthislife,Lihaspursuedwhatheloves.Despiteallthedifficultiesandfrustrationsalonghisjourney,hehasnotpausedorretreated.“Ifyouhaveadream,makeitreal.Itisnevertoolatetostart,”saidLi.OnNovember24,2017,theSuzhouArtificialIntelligenceSocietywasestablished,withLiasthefirstpresidentofthesociety.Nowadays,LimainlyfocusesonleadingthesocietyaswellashisownteamtopromoteAIdevelopmentinChina.C