The First China (International) Robotics Debate Competition commenced in the Beijing E-Town on Oct 26 to 27.

Fourteen teams from institutions, including Tsinghua University, Hubei University, and the High School Affiliated with Renmin University of China (Beijing E-Town), along with companies such as Noetix Robotics and Booster Robotics, embarked on a "human-machine debate" journey. This event marks another innovative practice by Beijing E-Town in promoting cutting-edge robotics applications.

The preliminary rounds adopted a human-machine debate format, where each team had to field both a human debater and a robot debater. The debates focused on forward-looking topics such as "Is the use of AI in learning and writing by college students beneficial or detrimental?" "Do social robots and AI pets provide better intimate relationships for humans?" and "Will brain-computer interface technology lead to a society filled with conflict or one that is healthier?"

Some robots responded fluently, while others delivered their arguments thoughtfully after careful consideration. Judges scored the robots based on five criteria: logical reasoning, linguistic expressiveness, multimodal interaction, skill demonstration, and adaptability on the spot.

"The robots' understanding of deep semantics and their ability to engage in multi-turn conversations with humans are not only highlights of this competition but also core challenges faced during the initial development phase," said Zhu Junsong, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Ningxia University. "We spent two months systematically training the robots' human-machine dialogue capabilities. By employing semantic training, continuously iterating dialogue algorithms, and introducing keyword interaction strategies, we gradually improved the robots' conversational performance. Throughout the process, there were both the hardships of technical breakthroughs and the enjoyment of human-machine collaborative exploration". 

The robot debate competition tests the machines' deep understanding of natural language, their ability to quickly retrieve and integrate vast amounts of knowledge, their rigorous construction of complex logic, and even their subtle capture of emotional nuances. At the same time, this competition serves as a nationwide technological enlightenment movement, effectively popularizing AI and robotics knowledge and inspiring public enthusiasm for science.

As an important hub for the robotics industry in Beijing, Beijing E-Town has gathered over 300 robotics and intelligent manufacturing ecosystem companies, with the industry's scale exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion). Since the beginning of this year, Beijing E-Town has undertaken many innovative initiatives, such as hosting the world's first humanoid robot half marathon and the RoBoLeague robot soccer tournament, continuously promoting the integration and development of robotics technology and industry.

In August this year, Beijing E-Town released the "Ten Measures for Humanoid Intelligent Robots", providing substantial support in areas such as research and development, talent, and funding.

Beijing E-Town welcomes entrepreneurs, university professors, and students to bring their outstanding projects to start businesses and pursue careers here!