Shanghai using AI to enhance the experience of tourists

Shanghai plans to roll out AI-powered simultaneous interpretation headphones to enhance the experience of overseas tourists, part of a broader push to apply artificial intelligence across the city's culture and tourism sectors.

It was revealed on Thursday at the launch of the Shanghai AI+ Culture and Tourism MaaS Platform in Xuhui District. The platform integrates a variety of AI tools, including voice, text, and video models, to help cultural and tourism services improve efficiency and cut costs.

By utilizing the city's large models and computational resources, integrating cultural and tourism resources, and optimizing services, the platform guided by cultural and tourism authorities of Xuhui aims to create a citywide and multi-demand-oriented public service MaaS platform.

These technologies are already being used in areas like short play production, smart tourism tools, and intelligent navigation at scenic spots.

"AI is becoming a productivity tool," said Yan Yijun, vice president of public affairs at AI company MiniMax. "It enables even non-professionals to produce high-quality videos and lowers barriers across the industry."

AI can also help create interactive experiences at tourist attractions, and assist artists and studios in producing cultural tourism videos that highlight local features and tell unique stories.

To further fuel the already booming inbound tourism market, simultaneous interpretation headphones for overseas tourists based on AI technology will be released, enhancing their domestic travel experience.

The acoustic model can support the interpretation of 32 languages, covering some minor languages. The headphones will be put into mass production from June, according to Yan.

It will be trialed at cruise ship scenes first among passengers and gradually expanded into tourist information centers and scenic spots.

"In the future, we expect numerous AI application and implementation scenarios for the culture and tourism industry," said Yan. "What makes this industry special is its great fit for multimodal large models, which excel in visual presentation and interaction. Compared to other fields, culture and tourism has a more significant application potential for these models. It's also more tolerant of errors due to its relaxed and entertaining nature, allowing for more flexibility in accepting the accuracy of large models."

The launch took place at the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, which aims to become the world's largest incubator for AI development. The center is already home to over 100 startups working on technologies ranging from humanoid robots to next-generation AI models. President Xi Jinping recently visited the center and spoke with young innovators.

SenseTime, a major provider of AI capabilities, will provide a tourist guide service at West Bund in Xuhui under a cooperation agreement.

"Based on our V6 large model, tourists can scan buildings in real time with their phones and ask questions to get AI explanations as friendly as tour guides. Before arrival, they will obtain a customized route with personalized suggestions and tips on photography spots, hidden gems, and tourist attractions based on large models," said Wang Tingting, deputy general manager of SenseTime Shanghai.

To encourage cultural and tourism enterprises to adopt multi-modality services such as text and video, the platform will provide various token quotas and video production support for enterprises in Shanghai.

Xuhui launched its "AI + Culture and Tourism Ecosystem Growth Plan" at the same time. The district is accelerating its AI industry strategy by aligning deep tech with rich cultural and tourism assets. The initiative aims to unleash the combined strength of both sectors, positioning the district as a world-class hub for AI-integrated cultural innovation.

At the event, cutting-edge AI + tourism applications were unveiled, and the AI + Culture and Tourism Industry Base located in Caohejing area was launched.