But the show host Taiwan is forecasting a boom for now. Premier Su Tseng-chang said in mid-May the government would help train 10,000 people every year to work in AI research and development. Taiwan, a global tech hardware hub since the 1980s, already has enough engineering knowhow to draw big-name Silicon Valley firms such as Google and Microsoft to open local R&D centers.
Computex 2019
Among the Computex exhibitors, Microsoft will show AI-enabled software and applications, said Mark Linton, general manager for Microsoft's partner-devices unit. AI features included in its Office 365 software already direct the PowerPoint program to make downloaded images "gel" into its presentations, he said.
"There's no doubt that AI is a transformative area of the technology industry, and over time it will prove to be a major investment area for Microsoft and I think the industry as a whole," Linton said. "And really the benefits that we're looking to get there is to make systems and applications smarter, more intuitive."
A lot of AI-linked gear is expected to surface this year at the show's InnoVEX segment. This zone for startups grew last year to 388 exhibitors, and 456 have registered for the event this week.
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Gartner anticipates that startup firms working with AI will overtake Amazon, Google, Microsoft and IBM this year in "driving the artificial intelligence economy" for businesses.
The Taipei show, now in its 38th year, expects to draw 5,508 exhibition booths, up nearly 10 percent over 2018. The number of exhibitors should rise 5%, the organizer said in a pre-show statement. (VOA)