Expert: AI to dominate unicorns in next 10 years

Intelligent robots dance at the main venue for 2016 Qingdao International Beer Festival in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. A total of 1,007 robots danced together more than one minute, setting a new Guinness Record. (Photo/Xinhua)

Artificial intelligence field will embrace most unicorns - tech companies valued at $1 billion or more - in the next decade, and China offers unique opportunities to the industry, said Kaifu Lee, CEO of a technology incubator Innovation Works.

"In the next 10 years, most unicorns are bound to be AI companies... 50 percent of jobs, such as stenographer and security personnel, will be replaced by AI technologies," said Lee at a conference organized by high-tech media 36kr on Tuesday.

China enjoys a competitive advantage in the field, according to Lee.

Chinese people are good at learning AI technologies, as industry data shows Chinese wrote 43 percent of the papers on this industry. And Chinese AI companies could give full play to local advantages, compared to world-leading ones aiming to enter Chinese market.

In addition, the government has mapped out policies to support the development of AI, for example unmanned vehicles.

The conference invited more than 30 unicorns, plenty of start-up leaders and venture capitalists, including Legend Holdings Ltd, China Vanke Co Ltd, online video website Youku, Matrix Partners China and GGV Capital.

"For every unicorn here, or those who are striving to be a unicorn, you must learn AI technologies to give your business a well-deserved boost," Lee said.