(Yicai Global) July 9 -- Entertainment at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference that kicked off in Shanghai today was provided courtesy of four virtual celebrities developed by leaders in the AI industry including the US’ Microsoft and China’s Baidu and Xiaomi.

Microsoft’s AI system Xiaoice composed its own music, a skill that it had learnt through its human classmates at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

"By learning from skilled human artists, Xiaoice uses AI creativity to empower humans,” said Li Di, vice president of the firm’s Search Technology Center Asia and chief of the Xiaoice Team. “This coincides with the value of this conference.”

Electronics giant Xiaomi’s smart speaker Mi Ai, first introduced in 2017, made her singing and dancing debut at the opening ceremony.

Internet titan Baidu’s conversational AI system DuerOS also made an appearance. The video background was designed to reflect the lyrics and the lively and cheerful nature of the song, the Beijing-based firm told Yicai Global.

“We hope that people can feel the beauty and positive energy that DuerOS brings when he sings. This is part of Baidu’s original intention of using AI technology to make people's lives better,” it added.

Video sharing platform Bilibili, which promoted its virtual star Yousa at the conference, is an ideal platform on which to promote the virtual celebrity industry, said Fan Yibai, director of the virtual idol business department of Chaodian, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Bilibili.

“Its many young users not only have higher acceptance for such content, but also a passion for derivative works, which is very suitable for the incubation of virtual idols,” he added.

Editor: Kim Taylor