By Allen Guo, General Manager for the Philippines, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence
As we ushered in 2023, Artificial Intelligence (AI) claimed the spotlight, dominating headlines and capturing interest of diverse industries in the Philippines. Its influence has permeated sectors ranging from media, finance, energy, and customer service. This surge in adoption begs a vital question: is AI a friend or a foe?
The answer lies with how AI aligns with businesses’ priorities, particularly for sustainability. A recent study commissioned by Alibaba Cloud revealed that 98% of businesses in the Philippines prefer to collaborate with cloud vendors committed to sustainability. This result underscores a growing commitment to green practices within the business community.
AI-driven sustainability solution: Alibaba Cloud’s Energy Expert
As a response to businesses’ growing demand for sustainability, Alibaba Cloud launched its Energy Expert solution globally last year. This innovative solution utilizes advanced analytics and AI technologies to guide businesses toward carbon neutrality. Energy Expert intelligently evaluates carbon emissions, environmental impacts, and energy-efficient strategies, paving the way for sustainable growth and offering a glimpse of a future where AI becomes a crucial ally in preserving the planet.
At international events like the first Olympic Esports Week, Alibaba Cloud partnered with event organizers to achieve sustainability goals. The Energy Expert was piloted to identify the sources of the carbon emissions from the temporary venue construction and operation of the event, quantify the carbon footprint generated by a venue and visualize the venue’s sustainability performance via an integrated dashboard and online reports. This AI-driven approach led to the adoption of renewable energy sources and minimized power consumption.
Energy Expert’s dashboard shows carbon footprint of temporary construction at the Olympic Esports Week
Since its global launch, Energy Expert has aided over 2,900 businesses and organizations in saving energy and reducing carbon emissions across its operations. Its latest partners include the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), and the International Canoe Federation (ICF).
Sustainable and inclusive AI at Hangzhou Asian Games
The 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023 served as a notable stage for Alibaba Cloud’s AI prowess. During the event, the Energy Expert introduced a sustainability web application encouraging participants to adopt a low-carbon lifestyle, raising awareness on eco-friendly behaviors such as green travel, waste sorting, recycling, and food waste reduction. This initiative, supported by AI, allowed participants to earn carbon points redeemable for rewards.
Moreover, the web application featured the Carbon Footprint Snapshot, a user-friendly tool enabling users to easily assess the environmental impact of common items. By uploading images of everyday objects users can gain insight into these items’ carbon footprint, thanks to Alibaba Cloud’s cutting-edge AI algorithm. This not only enhances environmental awareness but also expands users’ understanding of the impact of everyday items.
Alibaba Cloud’s sustainability web application helps participants of the Asian Games adopt low-carbon behaviors.
Another remarkable AI innovation during the Asian Para Games was Alibaba Cloud’s AI Digital Avatar, Xiaomo, which played an essential role in promoting inclusivity, especially for the hearing-impaired community. Xiaomo became accessible as a mini-app integrated into Alipay, the payment platform, serving as a sign language interpreter for two-way translation between sign language and spoken Chinese. During the Asian Para Games, Xiaomo enabled hearing-impaired participants to communicate with volunteers, seek medical assistance, and access essential services, enhancing their overall experience.
Alibaba Cloud’s virtual avatar supports two-way translation between sign language and Chinese spoken language
Xiaomo’s influence extended to media broadcasts and information dissemination, providing real-time sign language translations during video broadcasts and incorporating sign language in the Asian Games Organizing Committee’s news announcements. This demonstrated the broader impact of AI in breaking down communication barriers and ensuring inclusivity, highlighting its potential as a force for positive change.
Alibaba Cloud’s Commitment to Sustainability
As Alibaba Cloud continues to advance not only its cloud services, but also state-of-the-art technology in artificial intelligence, sustainability remains a top priority.
In this era of advanced technology, Alibaba Cloud is unwavering in its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, with a specific pledge to power its cloud computing infrastructure with 100% clean energy by no later than 2030. In the past financial year, Alibaba Cloud made notable carbon reduction progress, among which it has achieved a significant increase in the utilization of clean energy in its self-built data centers from 21.6% in 2022 to 53.9% in 2023.
While attaching a great importance to sustainable and inclusive AI solutions, Alibaba Cloud has unveiled a comprehensive range of AI products and services to meet the rising demand for Generative AI development. This includes AI computing platforms, acceleration services, and AI-centric applications, all aimed at helping customers create their own Generative AI applications in a more efficient, security-focused and cost-effective way. It’s partnering with industry leaders and collaborating with Red Hat to deploy Red Hat OpenShift on their platform, supporting digital transformation for enterprise customers.
As advanced technology and AI continues to impact various societal pillars – from businesses, to academia, and public sectors – Alibaba Cloud’s vision remains clear: a future with AI that is not only a friend but also a guardian of our planet.
