While there is already a consensus in the market that the global economy is slowing down and companies are finding it harder to turn a profit, the tech industry continues to grow off the back of new technological innovations. In 2015, US technology powerhouse NVIDIA took the lead in making 2015 the year of artificial intelligence, and the current mainstream view in the global high tech industry is that we are about to face an onslaught of AI. No analysis of which tech stocks to invest in this year will be complete without a focus on AI companies.
The beginnings of AI development can be traced back to 1950, although adoption in the early stages was slow. Despite the sluggish start, the popularization of graphics processing units coupled with a parallel increase in computing speed and larger cloud storage capacity has today created an increasing number of applications for AI technology. Focusing on Taiwan, there are no “pure” AI stocks comparable to NVIDIA, but AI requires a huge supporting framework behind the scenes, and Taiwan’s high tech industry will provide much of the infrastructure and equipment needed to make AI a reality.
First and foremost, AI requires a massive amount of big data to be processed in the cloud. The large variety of calculations requires cloud computing, but also data centers, high-performance computing chips, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) and audio recognition technology to name just a few of the specialist areas. All of this basic infrastructure needs to be in place in order for AI end products like popular smart speakers such as Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s HomePod or Xiaomi’s Mi AI Speaker to function. In the near future, a raft of other products will enter the market, providing a diverse array of products preloaded with AI technology.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
Chip designer Global Unichip Corp is bullish toward the AI market, which it projects will increase by approximately 50 percent year-on-year between the next 3-5 years. Thirty percent of this growth is expected to come from ASIC. Global Unichip Corp also says it believes AI will be the driving force behind revenue growth for the company in the years to come.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
全球經濟與企業獲利成長力道放緩,已是市場共識。但科技產業持續朝新技術發展,二○一五年美國科技大廠NVIDIA帶頭開啟AI(人工智慧)元年,人工智慧浪潮來襲,目前已是全球科技業的顯學,明年科技股投資焦點,絕對少不了人工智慧。
Photo: AP
照片: 美聯社
人工智慧早在一九五十年就開始發展,但遲遲無法真的落實。隨著繪圖處理器開始普及,加速平行運算速度,雲端儲存空間放大,AI應用越來越發達。就台股來看,並沒有像NVIDIA純度那麼高的人工智慧相關個股,但人工智慧背後需要龐大的架構,要有許多基礎建設與相關配備才能實現,台灣科技業多參與其中。
人工智慧首先要有雲端處理龐大數據,進行各種演算,需要雲端、資料中心、高速運算(HPC)晶片、客製化晶片(ASIC)、聲學、音學辨識技術等,在相關基礎建設完備後,AI終端產品應運而生,像是近來熱門的智慧音箱亞馬遜Echo、蘋果HomePod、小米小愛同學就是代表,未來還會有更多AI智慧產品,呈現百花齊放的局面。
創意電子看好人工智慧市場未來三至五年約有百分之五十年複合成長率,其中百分之三十的成長率將來自ASIC,人工智慧將是創意未來營運成長一大主力。
(自由時報記者卓怡君)
Follow up
讀後練習
Big data refers to the use of advanced analytical techniques on extremely large data sets to provide end-user organizations with detailed information on peoples’ likes, dislikes, habits and behaviors. This rich mine of information can be employed by companies to obtain more information on customers (and potential customers) which allows products and marketing to be tailored and targeted more accurately than was previously possible.
Data can be obtained from “open source” such as publicly available comments, posts and tweets published online, or be purchased from third-party data aggregation companies.
However, there are risks inherent with the use of big data, such as security breaches, where customers’ data, having been stored without using proper encryption or data randomization techniques, is released into the public domain by hackers. Additionally, the use of big data can result in false analysis due to an overload of information — determining what is relevant data and was is just “noise” can be difficult.
(Edward Jones, Taipei Times)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: As well as Eid al-Fitr, Southeast Asia is celebrating the Water Festival this week. B: And this year, Thailand is expanding the celebration between April 12 and 16 for the event, officially known as the Songkran Festival, expecting to make 24.3 billion Thai baht in tourism revenue. A: Does Taiwan celebrate the Water Festival? B: Some local cities and counties do have similar activities. A: Let’s go experience the festival then. A: 除了「開齋節」外,東南亞「潑水節」本週也盛大登場! B: 泰國今年從4月12日到16日擴大「宋干節」連假,預估觀光收入可高達243億泰銖。 A: 台灣會慶祝「潑水節」嗎? B: 有些縣市會舉辦類似活動。 A: 那我們也去體驗一下吧。 (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)