I am in the free trade zone|Zhangjiang "dreamer": this is the stage for innovation, but also the "blessed land" to realize the dream

Source: China News Network

Zhongxin Wanghai, October 1 -- "Biological version of ChatGPT" can generate macromolecular drugs with "one click" and conduct verification experiments; Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven sign language large model digital human avatar hearing impaired personal translation, whether it is to assist in accompanying doctors or daily life, it can be competent; Put on a cool-looking "mechanical armor", paralyzed patients can get rid of the sick bed and go out for activities... These fantastic ideas, in the hands of Zhangjiang's "dreamers", are gradually becoming reality.

Ten years ago, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai Free Trade Zone) was launched, and two years later, the 37.2 square kilometers area of the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park was included in the free trade zone. When the power of science and technology is superimposed on the advantages of free trade, the Zhangjiang area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has become an innovation stage and a "blessed land" for countless "dreamers".

When the power of science and technology is superimposed on the advantages of free trade, the Zhangjiang area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has become an innovation stage and a "blessed land" for countless "dreamers". The picture shows the Zhangjiang area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Official photo courtesy of Pudong New Area, Shanghai

The emergence of ChatGPT has made ordinary people feel the "magic" of AI. "Drug development is a long and complex process, with long cycles, high investment and high risks, and people are always looking for ways to speed up and increase efficiency." Wang Mingtai, vice president of XtalPi, told Chinanews.com that whether AI can be used to "one-click medicine" is a problem that practitioners in the biomedical industry have been exploring.

According to Wang Mingtai, relying on current technology, AI can predict and design molecules, but in order to truly become a drug, it will take a long verification experiment. "These experimental steps are cumbersome and meticulous, and if only traditional methods are used, a large number of R&D personnel's time and energy will be consumed on some simple and repetitive basic work." Wang Mingtai said that as a result, XtalPi proposed the innovative idea of "intelligent computing, automated experiments, and expert experience", and built the largest intelligent automated drug R&D team of "dry and wet fusion" in China.

In XtalPi's Drug Innovation R&D Center, you can see such a scene: in independent automated robot workstations, robotic arms move back and forth, left and right, and molecules generated by AI design are being synthesized. They act as tireless assistants to help researchers accelerate the acquisition of the "rising star" of ideal drug molecules.

"Zhangjiang is a highland of innovation and a stage for self-expression." In Wang Mingtai's view, the rapid growth of XtalPi is inseparable from Zhangjiang's industrial advantages. "Whether it is a top multinational pharmaceutical company or a start-up enterprise in the biomedical industry, they are all gathered in the Zhangjiang area." Wang Mingtai said that at the same time, as an AI-driven biomedical company, upstream and downstream partners can find people, meet and speak in Zhangjiang, "so that more innovative 'sparks' can collide." ”

"Pudong New Area actively promotes the development of artificial intelligence industry around basic support, scientific and technological innovation, forward-looking layout and other aspects," according to Xia Yuzhong, deputy director of Shanghai Pudong New Area Science and Technology and Economic Commission, by the end of 2022, there are more than 600 key artificial intelligence enterprises in Pudong, and the scale of artificial intelligence enterprises on the scale exceeds 120 billion yuan, and the Pudong artificial intelligence industry is showing a trend of agglomeration and leading development.

"Zhangjiang is our 'blessed land'." Zhang Chaohua, CEO of Stacking Digital, sighed.

In his view, for the metaverse industry where Diejing Digital is located, Zhangjiang has gathered a complete industrial layout from the front end to the terminal; On the other hand, the official here attaches great importance to the opening and cultivation of the industrial ecology. "For example, the Metaverse Industry Alliance established by Zhangjiang last year can allow enterprises in different positions in the industrial chain to jointly explore cutting-edge topics in the metaverse and help enterprises break through the pain points and difficulties in the industrial chain." Zhang Chaohua said.

Zhang Chaohua said that a series of policies in the Zhangjiang area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone have not only allowed start-ups such as Diejing Digital to reap dividends in the fields of intellectual property protection, tax incentives, and talent introduction. More importantly, this "test field" also provides opportunities for science and technology enterprises to explore the transformation of high and new technologies into business scenarios.

The digital twin city in the 4.1 square kilometer core area of Zhangjiang is a project that relies on the self-developed digital twin base system to carry out application practice. Based on the real-time rendering engine, the digital twin city summarizes massive data of "people, places, things, things, and emotions", and can realize immersive 3D navigation and regional traffic flow simulation. According to Zhang Chaohua, this digital twin base system has now walked out of Zhangjiang and into the urban operation center platform of Shanghai's multiple districts.

By opening up the chain of "production, education and research", Zhang Jiang presses the "accelerator key" for the transformation of innovative achievements. According to Zhang Chaohua, the cooperation between Dijing Digital and ShanghaiTech University is about to produce another "fruit" - sign language large model digital human.

The main way for hearing-impaired people to obtain information is visual, and the way of self-expression is sign language. People with hearing impairment need volunteers to accompany them when they go to the hospital, from pre-diagnosis to registration to consultation, examination to payment to dispensing and taking medicine. "Each volunteer can only serve 8 to 10 deaf people a day. There are only 28 such volunteers in Shanghai. Zhang Chaohua said.

"The big language model of artificial intelligence jointly developed by us and ShanghaiTech University first collects the sign language and lip movements of deaf and mute people, and then cleanses and trains multimodal data to realize the basic sign language model." Zhang Chaohua introduced that in the future, this "sign language ChatGPT" refined from a large model can realize automatic recognition and conversion between sign language, speech and text. "I hope that with the help of technology, the hearing-impaired can see a doctor smoothly, handle various businesses, and freely integrate into social life like able-bodied people." Zhang Chaohua said.

Wearing "mechanical armor", you can make the lost function of the body "lost and regained", which is the dream of Gu Jie, the founder of Shanghai Fourier Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. And Zhangjiang is the "place of dreams" chosen by Gu Jie.

In 2015, Shanghai's first rehabilitation robot start-up named after French mathematician Fourier was founded in Zhangjiang, aiming to bring the "healing magic" of "robots" to the disabled or elderly with reduced mobility.

"We found an incubator in Zhangjiang, which provided us with a very convenient physical space where my entrepreneurial partners and I could focus all our energy on breaking through core technologies." Gu Jie said that whether it is government guidance funds or investors' venture capital, "In Zhangjiang, it is not difficult to find funds for good projects." ”

Zhangjiang Robot Valley, where Fourier Intelligent is currently located, is one of the first batch of characteristic industrial parks in Shanghai and a centralized bearing area for "intelligent manufacturing" hardcore industries. Many intelligent robot partners in the park, including ABB and other robot head enterprises, innovative enterprises and innovative institutions, are both good neighbors and good partners.

The left hand is real financial and policy support, and the right hand is like-minded industrial partners. "We have found the most suitable industrial innovation ecology for growth in Zhangjiang." Gu Jie said.

In the 8 years since taking root in Zhangjiang, in the hot land of the free trade zone, Fourier Intelligent has completed the transformation from a "dreamer" to a unicorn enterprise. Up to now, the company has more than 30 listed products, exported to more than 40 countries and regions around the world, and settled in more than 2,000 hospitals and institutions. (China News Network reporter Li Shuzheng)