The "geek culture" in China could help Americans get a better appreciation of the technological innovations in that country, according to Jack Zhang, founder and CEO of GeekPark, a Beijing-based tech innovation advocacy forum. He noted that the concept of "geek" in China is different from what Americans think.
According to Zhang, being called a geek is a compliment in China as someone who is "super cool" and knowledgeable about technology, and doesn't mean being weird or socially awkward.
Zhang hopes to inform Americans that technological advancements have changed Chinese society and culture in recent years, and on how the two countries can learn from each other. He added that people in the U.S. misunderstand what's happening in China.
In the last 10 years, China was changed drastically by the Internet and mobile technology from a country with very basic social services systems and an immature media industry to one where anyone can order whatever they want online and have it delivered for free in 24 hours.
Today, the Chinese are getting 10 times more information, which means society will be more open and equal, and people will be more intelligent.
Zhang said that he's not aware of how much money the Chinese government is spending in this area but a "new era of intelligence" is happening in China with a great private sector investment in artificial intelligence and new technology like IoT.
A report released in December by the National Security Agency and the Department of Energy of the United States expressed concern that China may surpass the U.S. in the area of high-performance computing by 2020.
Last October, the National Science and Technology Council of the U.S. revealed that China published about 350 scientific papers on artificial intelligence in 2015.
Zhang said Americans can learn from Chinese companies like Mobike to build intelligence into products, and create more advanced products.
Mobike is a dock-less city bicycle-sharing system that allows people to leave their bikes wherever they want because these have built-in intelligence that gives the operator information on where the bicycle is located, its status, and the usage.
However, Zhang admits there are still many things China can learn from the United States in technology innovation, bringing technology into business, and the spirit to try different things, which is called the "Silicon Valley spirit."