The 2nd International Intelligent Voice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Product Innovation Competition is officially launched on June 29. [Photo from WeChat account hefeigaoxinfabu]

The 2nd International Intelligent Voice and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Product Innovation Competition was officially launched at the 2019 Intelligent Writing Development Forum on June 29.

The competition aims to promote the development of intelligent voice and AI technology, increase exchange among innovators and entrepreneurs, and help products to enter the market.

To attract more high-quality projects, the first, second and third place winners will be awarded 500,000 yuan ($72,641.67), 250,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan respectively, a significant step up from the competition's previous session.

In addition to the cash prize, products will receive policy support from China Speech Valley, the only national industrial base focusing on intelligent speech and AI.

The competition will kick off in Hefei National High-tech Industry Development Zone and will be divided into two stages – a preliminary round and a final round. The registration will end in late August, and the award ceremony will be held in October.

This year's competition will consist of two groups – an enterprise group and a maker group. Enterprises, scientific research institutions, universities, social organizations and individual talents specializing in intelligent voice and AI products are eligible to participate.

The enterprise group is for enterprises that produce AI-related products, have independent intellectual property rights, and no property rights disputes (business registration time exceeds one year).

The maker group mainly targets those enterprises with business registration time of less than one year, talent teams and individuals.

The organizer of the competition invited a consultant team headed by Ni Guangnan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to provide professional guidance for the participants.

Ni pioneered the application of associations in the input of Chinese characters and is committed to the development of independent and controllable information technologies and related industries.

With his own experience and expertise, Ni will provide technical and industrial guidance for participating projects and products that use AI-related technologies, including natural language processing and Chinese information processing, adaptive autonomous learning, visual recognition technology, intuitive perception and integrated reasoning.

Yu Yaohuo, director of the Software Division of the Economy and Information Technology Department of Anhui province, said the first competition last year saw products in various fields such as education, medical treatment and transportation from more than 400 enterprises and teams from across the world. He expects there will be more participants this year looking to showcase recent achievements in the field.

Yu Yaohuo, director of the Software Division of the Economy and Information Technology Department of Anhui province, introduces the competition at the launch ceremony. [Photo from WeChat account hefeigaoxinfabu]