A.I. - A helping hand for medicine in China

The use of Artificial intelligence (A.I.) in health care is growing rapidly in the world – valued at about RMB 3 billion (USD 600 million) in 2014 and estimated to reach RMB 969 billion (USD 150 billion) in 2021. Some new technology startups such as XtalPi and big enterprises such as Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba have begun to emerge and tap into the field of A.I. medicine.

In January 2020, Alibaba Cloud and The Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI), a China-based independent and not-for-profit research organization for new drugs and innovative technology, cooperate to develop an A.I. medicine research and development and big data platform, conducting data mining to provide important data support for new coronavirus scientific research. In July 2020, Tencent released the first AI-driven drug research and development platform - iDrug. They cover the A.I. model to the entire process of new medicine development.

Apart from the big Chinese enterprises, some domestic technology startups joined the competition in A.I. medical field. XtalPi, a Chinese pharmaceutical technology company, provides predictions on the physicochemical and pharmaceutical properties of small-molecule candidates for drug design. neoX Biotech, a China pharmaceutical company based on A.I. and computational biophysical technology, developed a technology for the early discovery of therapeutics by characterizing protein-protein interactions (PPI).

A.I. is with us every day - in our home, our workplace, our healthcare. We believe that those marketers who take the A.I. opportunity and deliver high-quality care and service will be the ones who win the market.

Virtual KOLs are on China stage

Virtual KOL is another emerging trend for brands’ promotion, with augmented reality(AR) becoming more astonishing. Lil Miquela, one of the well-known and very first virtual influencers in the world, has been featured in different product endorsements and luxury brands such as Calvin Klein and Prada. She reaches over 2.9 million followers on Instagram. So, what about the China virtual KOLs? Instead of collaborating with brands, they take few more steps further.

Bilibili, a Chinese video-sharing website as well as the largest virtual KOLs community in China, hosted a virtual concert called Bilibili Macro Link-Virtual Release 2020 (BML-VR). The event was China’s first concert consisting solely of Virtual YouTubers (VTuber). The online activity exceeded 10.87 million engagement.

Iqiyi, a Chinese online video platform, launched the virtual idol talent show "Dimension Nova". The program is similar to the real idol audition. The related topics on Weibo have more than 1.2 billion views.

Meanwhile, technology companies also step into the virtual KOL market. Xmov, a Chinese A.I. company focusing on computer vision and graphics, launched its own IP image in 2020. In May 2020, the virtual KOL “Ling Ling” is created. Ling Ling, a Chinese-style girl, has been showcasing in live-streaming and variety shows.

In the future, the advance in A.I. technology and AR will lower the cost as the production cycle can be shortened. Also, it can provide a more free creative environment to have high-quality content.

“Smart gears” inspired by Covid in Asia

Covid is still continuing its spread across the globe, Asian technology startups are trying to show how technology and innovation can help users to deal with the pandemic situation. Now, we are using face masks such as surgical masks, N95 masks, cloth masks, and washable masks to protect the wearer’s nose and month from contacting the virus. Apart from this, what kind of innovation and technology make life easier under Covid?

Air pocket, an in-house venture supported by Samsung from South Korea, is developing a mask that can let users store or release high concentrations of oxygens.

Iwavenology, a company specialized in IoT and UWB Technology from Taiwan, developed products called iDistance to help people keeping social distancing. It is a device that can be worn and used to detect locations. It will send an alert to the users if the distance between two devices is breached.

UBTech Robotics, an A.I. and humanoid robotics company backed by Tencent Holdings, developed robots that can take the temperature in hospitals and department stores to reduce the need for human interaction.

We are all looking forward to seeing more new innovative solutions to improve life in times of Covid.

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