(Yicai) July 4 -- China should pay special attention to the foundational upstream disciplines of artificial intelligence, albeit efforts are required across the chain, according to a renowned mathematician.

Basic disciplines, including mathematics, are the most important part of AI development in the future, Shing-Tung Yau said to Yicai in an exclusive interview at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai today.

"Due to the specialty of mathematics, we may not see significant results in the short term, but AI is inseparable from mathematics," he said. "It will be quite an obstacle if we do not develop mathematics."

The breakthroughs made by AI in the past two years have brought a lot of benefits to both theoretical and experimental sciences, but the basic principles still need thorough studies by math masterminds, per the 75-year-old expert.

Yau was the first Chinese to win the Fields Medal, the highest honor in the international community of mathematicians, in 1982. Since 2009, he has been the director of the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University. In 2021, he led the establishment of Tsinghua University's Qiuzhen College that specializes in cultivating math talents.

"We have outstanding students who can engage in basic research in upstream AI, and we want to let them join the task force," said Yau.

The three-day WAIC and a High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance will feature more than 200 speakers, including nine winners of the Turing Award, the Fields Medal, or a Nobel Prize.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine