1956-2026: Seventy Years of Dialogue between Human and Machine Intelligence

In the summer of 1956, when pioneers such as John McCarthy and Marvin Lee Minsky first proposed the concept of "artificial intelligence" at Dartmouth College, they optimistically predicted that within a decade, machines would possess human - level reasoning abilities.

Seventy years have passed. Although this prediction has not been fully realized, the evolution trajectory of AI has been far more magnificent than originally envisioned - from the golden age of symbolic reasoning to the dormancy of the "AI winter", from the revival of machine learning to the explosion of deep learning, and now in 2026, when AI is fully integrated into industrial infrastructure.

The history of these seventy years reveals a key law: every breakthrough in AI stems from the collision of ideas, cross - border integration, and global collaboration. In 1997, Deep Blue's victory over Garry Kasparov marked a hybrid breakthrough of brute - force computing and sophisticated algorithms. After 2010, the explosion of the deep - learning revolution was due to the triple convergence of big data, GPU computing power, and neural network architecture innovation. Standing at this new starting point in 2026, as cutting - edge trends such as generative AI, AI4S, and embodied intelligence are emerging at an accelerated pace, as the international competition and cooperation landscape reshapes the global innovation ecosystem, we need more than ever a high - density platform that can gather top - level ideas, connect global resources, and stimulate cross - border innovation. "So, what key buttons has the East pressed in this seventy - year - long dialogue?" The answer lies on the banks of the Huangpu River.

01/ Echoes of Seventy Years: The Answer from the Huangpu River

Shanghai's AI practices provide rich Eastern interpretations for this global dialogue.

This city has not only nurtured pioneers in large - scale foundational models such as MiniMax and Jieyue Xingchen. In vertical fields, United Imaging Healthcare integrates AI into medical imaging diagnosis, Squirrel AI creates a personalized education system, and Xiao i Robot focuses on government affairs intelligence.

In the consumer - grade market, Luobo Intelligence and Huawei jointly created the "Smart Dumb" emotional companion hardware, exploring the "cultivation" relationship beyond the instrumental nature between humans and AI. XREAL cooperates with Google to deepen the lightweight AR ecosystem, promoting the evolution of AR devices from display tools to daily spatial computing terminals.

More notably, the Shanghai - made robot "Zhiyuan" broke the Guinness World Record for "the longest walking distance of a humanoid robot", marking a hard - core breakthrough for China in the field of embodied intelligence. These seemingly scattered innovation achievements together outline a complete ecological picture of Shanghai as an important global AI node.

However, in this long - term AI competition that highly depends on computing power, data, and capital, any single innovation node faces challenges in resource integration and global connection. Especially for AI enterprises seeking international development, how to efficiently connect with the global market, capital, and talent has become a threshold that must be crossed.

02/ Echoes of Seventy Years: A New Chapter for Two Cities

When Shanghai's AI industry needs a broader international stage for its accumulated achievements, Hong Kong, China, with its unique role as a "super connector", has come into view.

This city is rapidly emerging as an Asian AI hub. Currently, it has gathered about 500 AI - related organizations, 290 AI enterprises, and 180 investment institutions, forming a high - density innovation ecosystem.

Hong Kong's advantages go far beyond just numbers. Its capital market ranked first globally in IPO fundraising in 2025 with HK$286 billion, becoming one of the preferred listing destinations for technology and AI enterprises. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong government announced an investment of HK$3 billion to establish a special AI funding program, and to build an AI research and development institute and a super - computing center.

On one side is a solid industrial "foundation", and on the other side is a powerful international "interface". All they need is an opportunity for a historic handshake. This opportunity arrived as scheduled with the sea breeze from Victoria Harbour. In 2026, the first high - density thought - provoking event in the AI field, "WAIC UP! Global Year - End Summit", came to Hong Kong. This is not only the first time that the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) has held its annual meeting in Hong Kong but also a historic handshake between Shanghai's AI industry practices and Hong Kong's international hub functions.

The conference brings together five major ecological brands under WAIC - the innovation incubation engine WAIC Future Tech, the industry docking hub WAIC CONNECT, the thought - inspiring window WAIC UP!, the youth science and education platform WAIC Young, and the global cooperation stage AI GRAVITY. This multi - dimensional and three - dimensional platform design ensures that participants with different backgrounds can find their own value positions.

For AI entrepreneurs in Shanghai and the Chinese mainland, this summit not only provides a display stage but also lays out a broader global AI cooperation network. From the listing channels of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to the landing support of the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency, from the R & D facilities in the Science Park to the incubation ecosystem in the Cyberport, these links that used to take months to establish can now be initially connected within a single day. However, connecting resources is just the first step. At the critical point of paradigm shift, what is scarcer than resources is the "mental map" to foresee the future.

03/ WAIC UP! Connecting the Next Seventy Years

The Historical Depth and Cutting - Edge Vision Brought by the International - Class Speaker Line - up

Now, we are standing at another critical point of paradigm shift: from single - modality to multi - modality, from the cloud to the edge, from tools to partners... Grasping these AI trends cannot rely solely on closed - door R & D but requires more the inspiration of ideas from the shoulders of giants. The morning session, "WAKE Thought Awakening", is designed for this purpose.

· Piero Scaruffi, as the director of the Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and a preacher of the Silicon Valley spirit, has witnessed the entire cycle from the rise and fall of expert systems to the explosion of deep learning. His insights into the periodic laws of AI evolution will help participants avoid repeating historical mistakes and maintain a clear judgment between hype and substance.

· Steve Hoffman, as the founder of Founders Space and a godfather of Silicon Valley venture capital, has incubated hundreds of AI startups. He will share the secrets of transforming from the laboratory to the market, revealing which technological trends truly have commercialization potential - this is the key to avoiding the "false prosperity" like that of expert systems in the 1980s.

· Professor Zhu Xiaobo, as the chief engineer of the "Zuchongzhi" quantum computer, represents the next frontier of the AI computing power revolution. The combination of quantum computing and AI may reproduce the disruptive acceleration that GPUs brought to deep learning in 2010, which is the strategic high - ground for understanding AI development in the next decade.

· ……

As the history of AI shows, Deep Blue's victory in 1997 was not only a technological breakthrough but also reshaped people's understanding of "intelligence". The explosion of ChatGPT in 2023 was not only a product success but also triggered a global discussion on the path to AGI. The value of these thought leaders lies not only in conveying information but also in providing a thinking framework. Participants will obtain not fragmented technical details but the ideological cornerstone for constructing a worldview in the AI era.

The Three - Dimensional Resource Network of the Entire Industry Chain

The popularization of low - code/no - code AI platforms enables non - technical experts to build intelligent applications. However, the real challenge lies in: how to transform technical capabilities into industrial value? How to find the best application scenarios for AI in vertical fields? The afternoon session, "UP Expansion and Leapfrogging", precisely addresses these needs. Through a three - dimensional perspective of vertical application cases, business practices, and overseas expansion strategies, it constructs a complete closed - loop. Through a three - dimensional perspective of vertical application cases, business practices, and overseas expansion strategies, it constructs a complete closed - loop. Through a three - dimensional perspective of vertical application cases, business practices, and overseas expansion strategies, it constructs a complete closed - loop. 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