Baidu Consults Science Fiction Writers for AI Research Project

Baidu has launched a research project on artificial intelligence (AI) called the Verne Plan, and brings together scientists and science fiction writers to turn imagination into reality. China's Internet giant Baidu has launched on April 1 a plan to set up a consulting team that included science fiction writers in its research on artificial intelligence (AI), China Daily reported. The report said that the Baidu Verne Plan is expected to bring together the world's best science fiction writers and leading scientists with the aim to help turn imagination into reality. According to Baidu, they have already invited six people to be the first group of advisers in the team for the project named after the 19th-century French novelist Jules Verne, adding that some of Verne's ideas, such as helicopters, had been realized in the 20th century. Some of the science fiction writers included in the team of five advisers are Liu Cixin, the first Asian author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel last year for his book "The Three-Body Problem," and David Brin, an award-winning author from the United States.