Roundtable Discussion on 5G and AI at iQIYI World Conference 2019

At the 2019 iQIYI World Conference, iQIYI founder and CEO Gong Yu, CTO Liu Wenfeng and other senior executives highlighted the transformative impact of frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). A round‑table forum titled “5G + AI” was organized, featuring iQIYI Vice President Xie Danming, iQIYI Smart CEO Xiong Wen, Prof. Sun Jun (Director of the Deep Video Lab at Peking University), and Mr. Feng Yi (General Manager of China Unicom’s 5G Innovation Center), moderated by Meng Hong, founder of Quantum Bit.

The discussion covered several key points:

Opportunities brought by 5G: Meng Hong opened the dialogue by asking about the opportunities 5G creates. Sun Jun noted that 5G’s low latency and high interactivity enable unprecedented scenarios. Xie Danming emphasized that 5G’s high bandwidth will drive widespread adoption of 4K/8K video streams, increasing the share of video traffic from over 60% to potentially 80‑90%.

Feng Yi described 5G as a “future staple” for operators, providing the bandwidth and latency needed to fuse with AR, AI, sensors, and other technologies. He highlighted practical benefits such as improved transmission of 8K video and the possibility of wireless connections for home devices.

AI’s role in the industry: The panel agreed that AI is already integral to video recommendation, quality enhancement, and VR interaction. Sun Jun explained that AI powers content recommendation, video quality up‑scaling, and is the core of computer vision and speech interaction. Xiong Wen added that AI is essential for VR, turning it from a luxury into a necessity.

Feng Yi illustrated how AI can reduce operational costs for telecom operators, improve network planning, and enable intelligent services such as real‑time image recognition for security cameras.

Xie Danming shared challenges in AI deployment, stressing the importance of expectation management with business units and the iterative nature of AI model improvement.

Looking ahead, the speakers envisioned a future where 5G and AI together create a seamless blend of the physical and virtual worlds. Xiong Wen described a scenario with two parallel identities—one in the real world and one in a virtual world—both supported by 5G and AI. The panel concluded that while the combination of 5G and AI holds great promise, widespread realization will still require time and continued innovation.