The Shandong University - PaddlePaddle Artificial Intelligence Education Innovation Center was unveiled during the launch ceremony of the Baidu contest in the East China division of the 12th China Software Cup College Student Software Design Competition held in Jinan,Shandong province on March 25.

Jointly established by SDU and the Baidu-developed deep-learning framework PaddlePaddle, the center is committed to exploring a new paradigm for theregional integration of production and education, cultivating AI talents,as well asboosting the development of Shandong's industrial economy.

The Data Science Institute,as well asthe School of Mathematics and Statistics at SDU will undertake specific tasks for the center. Based on Baidu's deep-learning platform,as well as SDU's academic advantages and professional teams, the center will conduct frontier education and scientific researchbycombining teaching scenarios with industrial needs.

It will concentrate onthesix fields of education, medical care, production, sports and healthcare, e-commerce, as well asretail, and will nurture talents with specific expertise in AI algorithm engineering and intelligent consulting.

Ma Yanjun, general manager of the Baidu AI technology ecosystem, said that large-scale models have brought about changes in AI development paradigms and industrial upgrading. PaddlePaddle supports the development, training,and inference of large-scale models, making them more efficient and powerful. The deep-learning platform and large-scale models lay the foundation for intelligence and empower thousands of industries.

Launched in 2011, the China Software Cup competition aims to cultivate high-quality AI talents and create a benchmark for industry-university-research applications.

SDU has been exploring ways to promote the common development of schools, local governments, and enterprises in terms of talents, industries,and innovation. The public course imparting basic AI knowledge, known as Pilot Plan which was co-created by SDU and Baidu, has received warm welcome from all walks of life.

The Shandong University - PaddlePaddle Artificial Intelligence Education Innovation Center is unveiled in Jinan, Shandong province, on March 25.[Photo/sdu.edu.cn]