Special Column: AI Society Innovator’s Cup
Author: Hermione He, Cherie Hou, Raquel Chen, Christy Zha
Event Overview and Key Objectives
Artificial Intelligence, its mere presence echoes almost with an omnipresent and omnipotent influence. Despite its powerful impact, public discourse and entrepreneurial endeavours with regards to its application within the Social Impact sector are still in their early stages.
Serving as a passionate response to the 2024 AI for Social Innovation Initiative initiated by the World Economic Forum in Davos, the AI Society’s Innovator’s Cup (AISI24) hosted by Blue Shirt Technology (Shirt.AI) and the Global Shapers Community Shanghai, aims to accelerate progress with regards to the application of Artificial Intelligence within the Social Impact sector.
The Competition aims to create an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future through its multifold initiatives to encourage innovative and interdisciplinary ideation. Key activities include industry mentorships, industry workshops, and its flagship AI Innovation Competition, fostering an energetic environment for the genesis of a number of Social Impact initiatives which leverage AI to further their impact and growth. Central themes around which these social ventures explored encompassed Inclusive Community, Education Development, Rural Revitalisation, Healthcare, and Environmental Protection.
Event Schedule
(Data Source: Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China)
Key Projects in Incubation
AI+EQUITABLE EDUCATION
MILUO
MILUO is an integrated platform aiming to empower persons with disabilities through AI-enabled training. The platform aims to create equitable opportunities for persons with disabilities with educational initiatives in employment and entrepreneurship for the demographic segment, along with 4D visualisations for experiential education.
AI + PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Emergence
Emergence is a personalised LLM aiming to enhance the understanding of oneself through deep-level engagement. It aims to provide the user with key insights pertaining to personal emotions, motivation, personality, and other implicit and subliminal information concerning oneself, enabling the user to better understand key drivers influencing everyday living, reaching the state of inner solace.
AI+ SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION
Green Platter
Green Platter is a consumer-focused, AI-driven application aiming to promote sustainable consumption. The project employs a virtual health cook to design healthy and easy-to-implement recipes, adhering with key principles of healthy consumption. The project has successfully secured key strategic partnerships with local and high-quality agriculture farms, aiming to create a one-stop service platform for consumers with relation to high-quality food source.
AI + Ethnic Cultural Design and IP Creation
Wonderous Weavers
Wondrous Weavers aims to create innovative ethnic cultural products with the assistance of AI technology. The project aims to integrate AI through product design and production, with the mission to protect and extend the legacy of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) within China. The project also aims to create Youth Communities via online and offline channels to reinforce the sense of national identity, with the goal of elevating the cultural profile of ethnic communities at scale through innovative and technologically-empowered solutions.
Special Guest: AISI Chairman - Daniel Zou
Daniel Zou, founder of Blueshirt Technology, also the chairman of AISI. As a young technology entrepreneur, he has been featured in several Chinese mainstream media such as People’s Daily, China News Network, and China Daily. He is absolutely a slash youth with titles as ex-McKinsey consultant, Asia Pacific Young Entrepreneurs, TEDx curator, Harvard Venture Capital guest speaker, Pioneer Cup national finalist judge, Nanyang Technological University entrepreneurship mentor, National Chinese U30, and so on.
Driven by a lifelong interest in technology and business, Daniel has continuously built his experience. AI has been a central theme throughout his career. In the early days, when AI was not widely adopted, he trained Microsoft’s bot to play games like Tetris to enhance its skills. Prior to founding Blueshirt Technology, he launched four startups across various sectors, including education, FMCG, and TMT. After graduating, he leveraged his experience in digital transformation within the consulting field to gain insights into future business trends, which led him to start his own venture. In 2021, he founded Blueshirt Technology.
Daniel also serves as the Secretary General of Alumni & Angels, an early-stage venture capital organisation focusing on seed to pre-A round investments in TMT, consumer, healthcare, and Web 3 projects across Southeast Asia, China, and the United States. The organisation brings together over a hundred investors, exchanges, L1/2s, and project teams, including the CEO of Singtel. Through his interactions with distinguished investors at Alumni & Angels, Daniel reaffirmed the critical importance of accurately predicting technological trends, a key motivation behind the founding of Blueshirt Technology.
As a finance-oriented founder, Daniel is responsible for finance and marketing within the company. He has assembled a professional team of algorithm experts, including PhDs and professors from the industry and Nanyang Technological University, to support their technology. Additionally, they have developed solution teams for different scenarios to help clients solve real-world problems, such as customising sales AI models for insurance companies. Their core competitive advantage lies in their team of algorithm scientists and their ability to tailor solutions.
Daniel initiated AISI, the platform for young talents who share a passion for technology, AI, and entrepreneurship. He advises,
“Before pursuing entrepreneurial success, first ensure that you are a good fit for entrepreneurship. Consider whether your personality, characteristics, and abilities can cope with the challenges involved in starting a business.”
Here are some tips he provides for starting a business:
People: Forming a team, acquiring customers and resources, and establishing a supply chain.
Money: Seeking investment and developing a business profit model, clarifying the source and use of funds.
Direction: Determining the positioning of the company or team, and defining the pain points and long-term goals.
He emphasizes that with these three elements, tools provided by AI and the internet can significantly aid entrepreneurship. Currently, many solo entrepreneurs rely on these tools throughout the entire process of product development, marketing, and service.
“You don’t need numerous partners; AI can take on digital employee roles such as AI finance, AI sales, AI customer service, and more. AI can also assist in writing product or operational documents.”
More to Learn About
Blueshirt Technology
Driven by its down-to-earth Corporate Culture, Blueshirt Technology is one of the leading ventures providing an ecosystem of AI enterprise solutions services.
Founded in 2021, Blueshirt Technology focuses on six key Operational Segments, including AI, Application Development, Web Development, Advertisement Service, Digital Marketing and Enterprise Service.
The organisation’s Enterprise Service project Shirt.AI was established in 2023. Key AI Applications include Shirt AI Toolkit as an all-in-one AI toolbox integrating text/image generation and mind-mapping functions, as well as Shirt.AI Lighthouse providing sales solutions for the E-Commerce and Insurance industry. In addition, the organisation aims to support its enterprise clientele to build their own AI applications without code via its Shirt.AI Sparko platform, as well as providing media-related services and educational training through Shirt.AI Media and Shirt.AI Edu respectively.
Official Website: https://www.bluelsqkj.com/
Global Shapers Community Shanghai
Global Shapers Community Shanghai has been one of the first Global Shapers Hubs created within China. The organization aims to drive public discourse and action within the Social Impact realm, with the goal of advancing progress by leveraging the the collective impact of its membership, seeking to tackle the most pressing issues facing the world today within a wide array of Impact Realms including Arts & Culture, Education, Climate & Environment and Sustainable Development.
Official Website: https://www.globalshapers.org/hubs/shanghai-i-hub/
