DeepBlue Technology, a leading Chinese firm in the AI technology industry, announced its dynamic entry into the Greek market with artificial intelligence (AI) applications that will radically change public transportation, payment methods, retail and the overall contemporary urban environment during a press conference in Athens on June 26.

DeepBlue Technology official, Dr Kun Tang, who is president of China's Academy of Biological Sciences, was interviewed by the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) on the company and its plans in Greece.

DeepBlue has already expanded to Europe through Italy and Luxembourg. Why did you choose Greece as your next stop?

We chose Greece because of a few reasons:

1. Greece has a long history of research and development, stretching way back from ancient times. Greek culture is one of curiosity and experimentation, values that we hold very highly when developing new technologies in artificial intelligence for public use. We believe that having this common values when embarking on new R&D will bring to us new perspectives and will augment our products and technologies.

2. Greece is very strategically located as a gateway between Asia and Europe, and is also along the traditional Silk Road. This means that Greece has always had a positive value in both European and Asian civilizations, and we believe that in the new economy, this strategic position and value will shine on the global stage. We want to be here to get ready and rise together with Greek society and economy. Already Greece's ports are the busiest in the Mediterranean region, and Greek manufacturing and research and development holds a lot of promise and potential in the future.

3. Greece can be a good case study of transforming society through AI technologies, because Greece presents a distinctly unique blend of the old and the new. Greece is a developed yet traditional society. There are old cities and histories here that are also in need of upgrading and transformation for use in the new digital age. Building a culture of digitalisation and projects like DeepBlue’s AI CITY framework can help Greece achieve maximum value and efficiency here for its citizens and city revitalization projects.

4. We have good partners here in terms of research, manufacturing and business development, and we think we have the right team to take on this challenge at the right time. We look forward to solving this challenge in front of us together with our partners, local and city governments, and of course, our clients here in Greece.

What are some of the issues in Greece that your technologies are looking to solve?

Firstly, in the big picture, Greece has had some poor performance in terms of economic performance, in part because of global flows, but also because it has not diversified much as a country in terms of exports and industries. So bringing technological research into the country will give the country a focus that hopefully will lift up the economy and make it into a point of attraction that will encourage positive technology adoption with the populace.

More specifically, we want to help Greek cities jump the technological curve so to speak, and bring Big Data, AI and cloud technology to help digitise the landscape and prepare it for higher tier technology such as 5G when the time comes. To do so, we need to work with city governments, businesses and everyday citizens to all play a part in realising a true AI city for the future. Having good tech infrastructure is essential because it will light the beacon that will attract even more talent into Greece, creating a positive upward spiral for Greece.

Another issue we can help with is autonomous vehicle adoption. There are a lot of scenarios that will require robotic assistants in the future, such as in production and manufacturing, schools, and even at home. DeepBlue has deep expertise in creating and developing such robots, so we hope to use our technology to create useful and local products to provide solutions in these specific areas.

What products are you looking to sell into Greece, and why?

We would like to bring our flagship products, namely our Panda Bus and AI CITY management systems to Greece, in addition to our other products. We think these products are some of what Greece will need to advance into the future in terms of tech, and also that these products will have the most impact in everyday Greek life. We are in the business of serving humanity through AI, so through our products we hope to let Greeks see that AI technology will be used to serve and perform alongside humans, to bring a fuller life to people through technology.

Where do you think AI technology can make the biggest impact here in Greece, and why?

In Greece, I think starting on fundamental AI research can make the biggest impact. This is because it is not so much a technology change, but even more so a mindset change. This will bring a societal change, and AI will be an important part of this change. Building AI requires people to look differently at the world, and if Greece can produce more such people and products then I think Greece will be in a very good place in the 21st and 22nd centuries. However, let me go into more detail here into what obstacles Greece needs to overcome in order to achieve this vision.

Greek’s higher education system has suffered from infrastructural issues such as the lack of development due to poor economic performance over the last few years, but I believe the potential to do really well is still lying dormant within the many labs and lecture halls all across the country. Relative to the population size, Greeks consistently outperform many other countries in math and engineering competitions. This means that people have interests and will take the step to perform, given the chance. The government will need to find a way to activate this potential and bring back the talent that is needed to conduct high-end research and development, both in the public and private sector.

In addition to the universities, research is also very dependent on supporting networks such as education systems, private venture funding such as OpenFund and Open Coffee which invests in startups, entrepreneurs and basically people who use the research to make products. There needs to be a whole vibrant ecosystem for research to flourish and perform, and fostering this environment is something that Greece can do and learn from partners such as China.

In terms of AI, Greece is still young and in the learning phase. There is a need to interact more with other international institutions, and create opportunities for talent to receive instruction from the cutting-edge AI research out there. Of course, having direct foreign investments and projects locally will also boost AI research in Greece, but depending on such opportunities is not recommended and should be viewed as the exception rather than the norm.

In your opinion, what are some of the major impacts that AI will have on the Greek way of life?

In Greece, AI can help reduce farming labour, and improve the yields of crops such as olives and dates grown locally. It might also help livestock farmers to use data to predict and track their livestock to improve the prestige and branding of Greek products such as cheese, milk and meats.

In the cities, AI hardware can be used to retrofit buildings, schools, and parks and other public places with data points, so that we can effectively digitalise the city and provide important data for city planners and administration officials to see how to better improve the cities. Also, with foresight perhaps, these same people can help plan for an AI future in Greek cities, such that there will be dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles, robots, and other new forms of technology.

For people, AI will be a part of their lives, as they will use their palm veins to register their unique identities for everyday use within the cities to take the bus, enter the office, and perhaps even see a doctor. We hope AI in this case will be as invisible as electricity to bring even more convenience to people's lives.

What are some of the infrastructural efforts that Greece can make to help people adopt technology?

Regarding AI, Greece needs to be able to do two things to build a robust AI industry here. One, there needs to be a strong public infrastructure supporting AI. I'm talking about things like fast and consistent internet connectivity, cheap data plans, high mobile and laptop penetration rates, coding and programming being taught in schools, and so on. These efforts will go a long way to make Greece an attractive place for both local and foreign businesses to start getting people to adopt technology. When there is business, there will be knowledge transfers, and hopefully Greek people will be able to compete on a global stage when it comes to AI and become early and experimental adopters of new technology.

Second, the people need to be open to AI, and so education is key. All over the world, people do not know how to react to AI and its development. In Greece, similarly people are confused and fearful. However, in order to excel at something, public buy-in is important, and both government and societal support need to be present in order to encourage Greek citizens to dare to try and develop AI businesses. Who knows, one day in the future we will be using some part of Greek technology in our everyday lives.