New partnership to leverage AI technology in medical fields

View of an office of iFlytek Co Ltd in Hefei, Anhui province, April 13, 2016. [Photo/VCG]

iFlytek Co Ltd, a Shenzhen-listed tech firm, has started a new partnership with the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, in a bid to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) technology in medical research and development.

Under the new partnership, the companies unveiled a medical AI research center in Beijing on Tuesday. The facility was designed to explore how to apply cutting-edge technology to medical treatment and training.

Research progress on brain science, neuroscience and other areas will then be first tested in the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences' affiliated hospital before being promoted at other medical institutions.

Cao Xuetao, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, said AI can help accelerate medical research by boosting computing capabilities, and it can also efficiently use limited resources by offering partly automated resources.

"We are highly complementary in competency and resources," Cao said.

"This is going to be a win-win cooperation."

As part of the agreement, iFlytek will assist the elite medical academy in cultivating talents with the use of voice-recognition-enabled products and services in classrooms.

Liu Qingfeng, chairman of iFlytek, said the partnership would also help to boost AI innovation through basic research, as well as help promote the growth of AI in China.

iFlytek is a leader in voice recognition technology in China. It has AI-enabled products and services which have been widely applied throughout the education sector, serving 80 million teachers and students around the country.