JiangTao,SeniorVicePresidentandco-founderofiFlytekNIYANSHUOWhenChinesePremierLiKeqiangsaid,“Hello,PrimeMinisterBorissov,”inChinesetoasmallmachine,hiswordswereimmediatelytranslatedintoBulgarian.PremierLiwasintroducinganartificialintelligence(AI)translatingmachinedevelopedbyaChineseenterprisetotheleadersofCentralandEasternEuropeancountrieswhileattendinganexhibitionontheresultsoflocalcooperationbetweenChinaandthe16CentralandEasternEuropeancountriesonJuly7.
BulgarianPrimeMinisterBorissovwasveryimpressedbythesmalltranslator.PremierLiboughtthedeviceonthespotandpresentedittoBorissovwithdelight.BorissovthenspokeasentenceinBulgarianandhiswordswererenderedintoChineseinnotime:“Thankyou,China’spremier!”
ThemachinedevelopedbyiFlytekCo.Ltd.canquicklyandaccuratelytranslatebetweenChineseand33otherlanguagesincludingEnglish,Japanese,Korean,French,Spanish,GermanandRussian.Itcanprovideauto-translationservicesinrealtime,makingdailycommunicationduringtravel,workandmedicaldiagnosismoreconvenient.ThetranslationdevicewasreleasedbyiFlytekinBeijingonApril20.
SincethecompanywasestablishedinHefei,capitalcityofeastChina’sAnhuiProvince,in1999,itsmarketvaluehasincreasedfrom3millionyuan($449,000)to80billionyuan($11.97billion).IthasbecomethelargestlistedintelligentspeechandAIcompanyintheAsia-Pacificregionandagloballeaderinseveraltechnologiesincludingspeechsynthesis,speechrecognitionandnatural-languageprocessing.ThenewdevicetestifiestoiFlytek’sinnovativeabilityandgrowth.
Fromnewcomertochampion
IFlytekwasoriginallytheMan-MachineSpeechCommunicationLaboratoryoftheUniversityofScienceandTechnologyofChina.SupportedbytheStateHi-TechDevelopmentPlan,or863Program,thelabmadesynthesizedvoicesclearandnaturalthroughitsindependentlydevelopedsystemin1998.
“Ithoughtwecoulddevelopsomeproducts,sinceourtechnologywasalreadyfunctional,”recalledJiangTao,co-founderandSeniorVicePresidentofiFlytek.Attheendof1999,iFlytekwasestablishedwith3millionyuanofregisteredcapital.Thegoalofthecompanywastomakeallmachinesanddevicessuchasmobilephones,computers,televisions,carsandtoysabletolistenandspeakashumansdo.
However,thegrowthofthecompanywasnotassmoothasJianghadimagined.Infact,thecompanymadenoprofitsfrom1999to2004,anditevenfailedtopayitsemployeesforsometime.
ItsfirstproducttargetingtheconsumermarketwasiFlyBook,asoftwareenablingpeopletooperatecomputersthroughvoice.
“Afterthesoftwarecameout,wefoundthatpeoplehadnosuchdemandsincetheywereaccustomedtousingthekeyboardandmouse,”saidJiang.Heexplainedthatthehouseholdbandwidthwasnotwideenough,whilecloudcomputingandthemobileInternetsystemwerenotfullydevelopedyet,sotheproductwasafailure.
IFlytekmademanysimilarattempts,whichwerequestionedbymanystakeholdersandthepublic,butwasunabletoidentifyacleardevelopmentpathuntil2001.Atthatpoint,thecompanyheldaconferenceinChaohu,AnhuiProvince,announcingitsgoaltodevelopintelligentspeechproducts.
“Intheinitialphase,thegreatestpressurewefacedwashowtofindamarketforourkeytechnologies.Thecompanywasonthebrinkofcollapseduringthatperiod,”Jiangrecalled.
ItwasattheChinaHi-TechFairin2000heldinShenzhen,southChina’sGuangdongProvince,thattheintelligentspeechtechnologypresentedbyiFlytekattractedtheattentionofHuaweiTechnologiesCo.Ltd.,aleadingglobalinformationandcommunicationstechnologysolutionsprovider.HuaweidecidedtomakeabulkpurchaseofiFlytek’sintelligentspeechtechnologyandintegrateitintoitsproducts.
“Thatwasourfirstbucketofgold.Hence,wedevelopedournewsalesmodel,whichiscallediFlyInside,whosepurposeistosellourspeechtechnologies,whichareintegratedintootherproducts,”saidJiang.In2004,iFlytekwasfinallyabletomakeendsmeet.
AnotheraspectofiFlytek’sgrowthcamein2005fromringtones,whichwerepopularamongChineseconsumers.Atthetime,mobileoperatorshadaproblem:Howtoenableuserstofindwhattheywantedfromthousandsofsongs.
IFlytekdevelopedaringtonesystemthroughwhichuserscouldcallinandfindthemusictodownloaddirectlybysayingthenamesofsongsorsingers,orevenpartsofsongs.ThesystemwasquicklyadoptedbyChinaMobile,ChinaUnicomandChinaTelecom,thethreemajortelecommunicationoperatorsinChina.Duringthatperiod,almostallthespeechservicesrelatedtomusicandringtonesofthesethreecompanieswereprovidedbyiFlytek.Asaresult,thecompanyexperienceda130-percentincreaseinitsnetprofitsforthreeconsecutiveyears.In2007,iFlytek’sannualrevenueexceeded200millionyuan($29.94million).
IFlytekthenbegantodevelopitsownproductsandapplications,withitsindependentproductandmarketdevelopmentcapabilitiescontinuouslyimproving.In2008,thecompanywaslistedontheShenzhenStockExchange.
Inrecentyears,iFlytekhasmadeseveralbreakthroughsinintelligentspeechandhasbecomealeaderintheindustry.Ithasrankedfirstforseveralconsecutiveyearsintopglobalcontestsonspeechsynthesisandhasachievedthegoalofenablingcomputerstoimitatehumanspeechthroughdeeplearningmethods.
LiuQingfeng,ChairmanofiFlytek,presentedformerU.S.PresidentBarackObamawithavideoproducedwiththecompany’sspeechsynthesistechnologyin2017.Inthevideo,ObamagivesaspeechinEnglish,butalsomakesafewremarksinperfectChinesethankstothetechnology.
Asforspeechrecognition,iFlytekrankedfirstinallindicatorsinthefourthCHiMESpeechSeparationandRecognitionChallengein2016,themostinfluentialspeechrecognitioncontestintheworld.Comparedwiththe2015champion,theiFlytekproducts’percentageofmistakesdeclinedby50percentandbroketheworldrecordbyalargemargin.In2017,theprecisionofiFlytek’sonlinespeechrecognitionplatformreached98percent.Continuousadvanceshavealsobeenmadeinitsdialect-recognitionfunctioncovering22dialects.
Fromlistenerandspeakertothinkerandlearner
In2013,iFlytekinitiatedaSuperBrainPlan,intendedtoadvancetheabilitiesofmachinesfromlisteningandspeakingtothinkingandlearning.
Accordingtotheplan,machinescanusedeeplearningtechniquesforallrulebasedandlogicalissuesrelatingtohumanbrainworktosolvepracticalproblems.“Theycanhelphumansinallaspects,”saidJiang.
InNovember2017,iFlytek’sintelligentdoctorassistantreceivedaveryhighscoreontheNationalPhysicianQualificationExamination,becomingthefirstAIsystemintheworldtopasssuchanexam.Thisindicatesthatthesystemhasbeenequippedwiththeprofessionalknowledgeandskillsrequiredtobeaphysician.
DoctorsattheAnhuiProvincialIntelligentHospitaldemonstratedhowtheintelligentdoctorassistantcanhelpmakediagnosesandprovidetreatment.Afterobtaininginformationaboutapatient’sconditionthroughseveralmedicalexamssuchasinquiryandmedicalimaging,anAIdoctorassistantwillhelpwithdiagnosisandgivefeedback.DoctorscanthenmakeafinalassessmentbasedontheAIdoctorassistant’ssuggestionsandtheirowndiagnosis,savingconsiderabletime.
“IFlytek’sAIdoctorassistantsystemhasbeenabletohelpdoctorswithdiagnosisatcommunity-levelhospitals,”saidJiang.“ThiscansolvetheproblemoftheunevendistributionofmedicalresourcesinChina.Afterall,doctorsattophospitalsarestillinshortsupply.”
Thecompany’sachievementsineducationtechnologyarealsoquitenotable.Currently,machinesdevelopedbyiFlytekhavereachedanexpertlevelintermsofcheckinghomeworkandexampapers.TheiFlytekmachinescanprocessobjectivequestionsandevensubjectivequestionssuchasessays.
“Machine-basedhomeworkcheckingnotonlysavesteachers’timebutalsoenablesteacherstocollectstudents’learningdataintheprocess.Thishelpstailorteachingtostudents’individualaptitude,asConfuciuspointedoutmorethan2,000yearsago,”saidJiang.Inschoolsusingthemachines,thehomeworkforstudentscanbedifferent,whichimprovesstudents’learningefficiency.Students’averagetimespentonhomeworkperdayhasdeclinedby1.5hours,Jiangsaid.
Atpresent,iFlytek’sintelligenteducationproductshavebeenwidelyappliedin31provinces,autonomousregionsandmunicipalities,aswellasoverseasmarketsincludingSingapore.Thecompanyhascooperatedwithmorethan13,000schoolsandservedover80millionteachingstaffandstudents.
Inthejudicialfield,judgesusuallyneedtoreadloadsoffilesbeforemakingjudgmentsbasedontheirexperience.NowtheAIsystemcanassistjudgesbyanalyzingfilesinsecondsandprovidingthemwithsuggestionsonthreemainaspects:charges,prisontermsandfines.
TheintelligenttrialsystemlaunchedbyiFlytekhasbeenappliedinmorethan400courtsandmorethan1,000tribunalsacrossChina.Theintelligentcourtproductshavesavedcourttrialtimeby30percentonaverageandhaveenabledtrialrecordstobe100percentcomplete,improvingthequalityandefficiencyofjudges’work.
“Thethirdindustrialrevolutionthattookplaceinthepastdecadesmainlysolvedtheproblemofmutualconnection,suchasthepeople-to-peopleconnection,thecommodity-peopleconnectionandtheinformation-peopleconnection.However,itdidnotsolvetheproblemofinformationprocessingafterconnection.Inthedecadestocome,throughAItechnology,peoplecansignificantlyreducethecostsofinformationprocessingafterconnectionandimprovetheproductivityofthehumanbrain,”Jiangconcluded.
AniFlytekstaffmemberdemonstratesanAIapplicationforcarsLIUJUNXICopyeditedbyRebecaToledoCommentsto