Is it true that the most eye - catching part of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference with tickets priced at 2,000 yuan each is actually the robots?

It wasn't until I arrived at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) that I truly felt the so - called "growing festive spirit."

Let me put it this way. I took a taxi to the venue and found that the road leading to the conference hall was jam - packed with cars. It took me five minutes to crawl through a 100 - meter stretch.

While stuck in the traffic, I received a report from the front line: The tickets, which originally cost around a hundred, were being resold for one or two thousand.

After finally squeezing in and taking a look, I found it even more bustling than the Spring Festival fair in my hometown. What else could this be if not a festival? The "Spring Festival Gala of the AI world" really lives up to its reputation.

Generally speaking, after wandering around, I felt that if last year's WAIC saw the co - prosperity of AI and robots, this year the limelight has been completely stolen by robots.

What's the fun in a large - language model babbling on and on when there are robots performing live?

Take this robotic dog, for example. It was supposed to pick up bottles automatically, but in full view of everyone, it "made a mess."

At the ZHIYUAN Robot booth, a robot was handing out cola while wearing a special coating. It could detect your position as soon as you stretched out your hand. But humans just can't let robots have it easy, right?

Qianxun Intelligence presented a robotic arm that can fold clothes. No matter how you throw the clothes at it, it can fold them into neat squares.

Even if you take the clothes away, it will pick them up and start folding all over again.

But after watching these performances, my first thought was: Damn it! Why are humans so naughty? Instead of helping, they just cause trouble.

Although it's a bit naughty, if you were there, you'd probably couldn't help it either.

Of course, it's not just robots that can do work. "Excelling in both art and sports" is also a goal for robots.

Take this robot, for example. I thought it was going to play the drums, and I was even ready to dance. But it ended up playing "Blue and White Porcelain," which made me feel all the hardships and tears over the years...

At the Xingdong Jiyuan booth, there was a hip - hop dancing robot. Not only were its moves cool, but its feet were stomping so hard on the floor that it made a loud noise. I think it could even become a martial artist...

After the "art - student" robots, there were the "sports - student" ones.

Our much - anticipated Unitree set up a boxing ring on - site. There were crowds of onlookers, and it really felt like a real boxing match.

First, there was the classic robot - vs - robot fight. But it seemed like neither could really hurt the other. The closest moment to a clear winner was when one almost knocked itself down with a kick...

Later, there was a fight between a robot and a human. I have to say, it kind of felt like an adult bullying a child...

It seems that robots still need to improve in the field of martial arts.

In addition to humanoid robots, Deep Robotics presented their robotic dog, which demonstrated its ability to climb slopes on - site.

The small platform that is a bit of a struggle for humans to climb, the four - wheeled robotic dog climbed two in a row without even panting.

Moreover, there were also many robots shining in niche fields. For example, there was a humanoid - focused one that you could talk to, but it gave me the creeps...

There were also various sorting robots on the assembly line, companion robots, etc. It was truly a diverse display.

There was even a robotic dog responsible for security on - site. After "joining the workforce," it looked different from other dogs. In contrast, my golden retriever, Huoguo, just sleeps all day. It's so frustrating when you compare dogs...

What's most interesting is that at this year's conference, there were not only robots but also many more supply - chain manufacturers related to robots.

Take this robotic arm, for example. It can lift up to eight kilograms at a time.

There were also many suppliers of dexterous hands on - site, showing off their products.

Take this hand, for example. It can accurately imitate your gestures. So I gave it a "friendly" gesture. Let's just say, some people's behavior needs improvement.

We also interviewed an exhibitor on - site. We asked about the price of one of these hands, and it's around forty to fifty thousand. It's still a bit expensive.

Finally, apart from embodied intelligence, there were also many other things on - site.

For example, the smart glasses that are very popular this year. As soon as you entered, you could see a giant pair. My colleague insisted on taking a photo, saying that he witnessed the collision between the traditional and the innovative.

There were also AI products from various companies. There were intense competitions among the big players, and also some creative ideas from the small startups on the basement floor...

However, the discussion about this area seemed to be significantly less than that about robots. It's probably because there weren't any truly shocking new things on - site, and there were few highlights in the AI field.

I think it's because the AI application field has become highly competitive, and these applications have already been integrated into people's daily lives. For example, AI photo - editing and AI video - making are already very common.

Moreover, any little news in the AI circle spreads like wildfire across the internet, so there aren't really any new things left to showcase at the conference.

Of course, this year's WAIC invited big names like Hinton. His speech was quite interesting. He kept emphasizing that we should limit the development of AI for human safety, and many of his views were quite chilling.

For example, this PPT slide talked about the advantages of digital computing over the human brain. Generally speaking, digital computing consumes less energy and is more efficient. But if energy becomes cheaper in the future, will our brains become unnecessary?

Last year, large - language model manufacturers were divided into open - source and closed - source camps, and some even claimed that open - source models would become increasingly backward.

But this year, most of the doubts about the open - source camp have disappeared, and the vast majority of manufacturers have chosen to join. Everyone has realized that the key is to make the market bigger together.

In previous years, most manufacturers and users were simply chasing the "+AI" trend, fearing to miss out on this wave. But this year, as we stand at the peak of this wave, we've become more practical.

This change actually reflects that both the market and users have become more mature. After the initial frenzy, people are more concerned about the input - output ratio. AI can't just be a trendy label. It has to truly solve problems and improve efficiency to gain a foothold in the market.

Overall, I personally think that we're still in the upward phase of AI development, but the challenges are getting tougher. Domestic AI manufacturers need to work harder. I hope that in 365 days, everything will look completely different.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Chaping Frontier Department". Author: Bugu, Editors: Jiangjiang & Mianxian. Republished by 36Kr with permission.