When the return capsule of the Shenzhou 19 manned spacecraft successfully landed at the Dongfeng landing site, Zhang Xiaohu, professor at the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Sun Yat-sen University, was very excited. The team led by him undertakes the task of developing astronauts' sports characteristics data acquisition software.

　　"This software completes the synchronous acquisition and intelligent analysis of relevant data through the image data acquisition unit installed in Tianhe core compartment, providing technical support for astronauts' motion characteristics measurement." On May 5, Zhang Xiaohu said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily.

　　This is Sun Yat-sen University’s new achievement in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). In recent years, the school has actively planned to promote the construction of relevant disciplines, talent training and scientific and technological innovation in the field of artificial intelligence, strive to gain the lead and continuously win competitive advantages.

　　Building a large and intelligent discipline education system

　　Can artificial intelligence and virus discovery go together? The answer given by Shi Mang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine, is: Yes.

　　Traditional virus discovery methods rely highly on existing knowledge. Faced with RNA viruses, which are highly differentiated, diverse and prone to mutation, the recognition efficiency is low.

　　In this regard, Shi Mang decided to find another way and ask for new methods from artificial intelligence. Shi Mang's team jointly developed the LucaProt algorithm with Alibaba Cloud, using AI to analyze protein sequence and structural information, and discovered more than 160,000 RNA viruses from global environmental samples, exploring new paths for virological research. The research results were published in the international academic journal "Cell" in October 2024.

　　"Artificial intelligence is not a simple branch of a single discipline or a traditional discipline, but a comprehensive, open and interdisciplinary field." Gao Song, president of Sun Yat-sen University and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, "To this end, we give full play to the advantages of comprehensive research universities and cultivate talents in the field of artificial intelligence with interdisciplinary disciplines." He gave an example, Xin Huajian, a core R&D member of DeepSeek, graduated from the Department of Logic of Sun Yat-sen University, effectively integrates logic with artificial intelligence to promote breakthroughs in basic theory.

　　In recent years, Sun Yat-sen University has laid out artificial intelligence-related colleges in the three campuses of Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Shenzhen, focusing on the three levels of "subject, basic, and application", and gathered nearly 20 colleges to jointly build a large intelligent discipline education system.

　　Sun Yat-sen University also established the Guangdong Provincial Artificial Intelligence General Teaching and Research Office, jointly with more than 100 universities and enterprises to promote teaching innovation through a hybrid teaching and research model, and offer general courses for artificial intelligence and logic for all students in the school. By building a large and intelligent discipline education system, the school breaks the barriers between departments, disciplines and majors, forms an artificial intelligence talent training system that integrates bachelor-to-doctoral education, and cultivates interdisciplinary talents suitable for the future development of general artificial intelligence.

　　Transform a large number of high-value technological achievements

　　At present, it is the critical period for lychees to bloom and fruit, and the bird team of Sun Yat-sen University has received many invitations from lychee orchards. Growers hope to connect to the "AI Butler" to improve the yield and quality of lychees.

　　Starting from 2023, Shi Qian, professor at the School of Geographical Sciences and Planning of Sun Yat-sen University, will lead the Feiniao team to start piloting the smart planting model of "AI+drone". "Agricultural conditions warning is conducted through remote sensing technology, low-altitude drone flight patrols, AI identification of crop growth, etc., and then big data is used to guide planting to achieve digital management of orchards." Shi Qian said that the orchard lychee output increased by an average of 20% after the pilot, and the quality has also been significantly improved.

　　This year, the orchard "AI Smart Butler" developed by Feiniao team was listed as a new technology and new model by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. It was promoted in the main lychee production areas in the province, and smart agriculture flew into the homes of ordinary people.

　　In the fields, there is the figure of Sun Yat-sen University's artificial intelligence, and in the front line of health, the school's wisdom is also available. Sun Yat-sen Ophthalmology Center of Sun Yat-sen University cooperated with Huawei to develop the first ophthalmology model ChatZOC, improving service efficiency by 75%. The National Supercomputing Guangzhou Center operated and managed by Sun Yat-sen University integrates supercomputing and intelligent computing to empower industrial innovation. Taking the biopharmaceutical industry as an example, the time for drug design and animal experiment verification has been shortened from 2 years to 49 days.

　　In recent years, Sun Yat-sen University has focused on the fields of cutting-edge exploration and industrial application of artificial intelligence, actively deployed major scientific and technological innovation platforms, and has built 5 national-level platforms and 24 provincial and ministerial-level platforms, and a large number of high-value technological achievements have been transformed into real productivity.

　　On the track of artificial intelligence science, Sun Yat-sen University is accelerating its progress. It is understood that the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Sun Yat-sen University, established in 2020, will launch 17 research centers to further coordinate and promote the cross-disciplinary integration of related disciplines in the school's intelligence field, promote scientific and technological innovation in the school's intelligent field, and form strategic support in talent attraction and education, system and mechanism, discipline construction, etc. (Reporter Long Yuemei, Correspondent Li Jianping)

[Editor in charge: Zhu Jiaqi]