Coronavirus outbreak to further strain global AI information exchanges already under pressure from tech war
- Baidu said 28 papers submitted by its own authors had been accepted by AAAI-20, though alternative arrangements may now have to be made
As artificial intelligence scholars from around the world gather for a top-tier conference in New York that convenes Friday, one group of nationals will be largely absent.
The Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, organiser of AAAI-20, said in an email reply that it expects “a very large number” of participants based in China to be unable to attend the conference due to the current coronavirus outbreak, although it did not elaborate how many.
The AAAI has asked the AI community to help with setting up “remote participation” for the event and has stepped up efforts to find replacement speakers for those affected, according to a statement posted on its website.
AAAI-20 is not the only tech-focused event that expects to shrink in size due to the global impact of the virus. Korea’s LG Electronics decided to withdraw from the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile technology fair scheduled for Barcelona, Spain, later this month, while Chinese telecoms giant ZTE announced on Wednesday that it would cancel its press conference at MWC while going ahead with other events “as planned”.
There is concern that the rapidly spreading pneumonia-like illness might further constrain global tech exchanges in the AI community amid the ongoing tech war between the US and China.
“Until it stabilises, the coronavirus outbreak is likely to exert a significant impact on myriad forms of technical and business exchanges,” said Brock Silvers, Hong Kong-based managing director of Adamas Asset Management. “Technology has improved remote communications, but nothing can replace face-to-face meetings.”