Deepfakes and smartphone eyecare tech in focus at GSMA MWC Shanghai

Honor CEO George Zhao speaks at the Mobile World Congress in Shanghai

Global tech companies have been gathering in Shanghai in China this week for GSMA Mobile World Congress (MWC) to showcase the latest mobile technology - with a focus this year on AI, the future of 5G and driving industry collaboration.

"MWC has something for everybody, whether it's AI-embedded consumer electronics, AR glasses, or the newest AI solutions," said John Hoffman, CEO of GSMA.

Last year's event attracted nearly 37,000 people from 115 countries and territories, including policymakers and business leaders from the mobile ecosystem and beyond. This year's is expected to deliver a higher number of visitors as global economies recover from the pandemic and return to travel.

HONOR is among the companies at the event that Euronews spoke to about AI advancements. It's Magic V2 device won the "best smartphone in Asia" award on Thursday at the expo.

The global technology company's chief executive officer, George Zhao, spoke to Euronews following the announcement and explained how its human-centric AI, AI Defocus Eye Protection and AI Deepfake Detection has helped put the company ahead.

"Taking eye protection from prevention to creating technology that can lead to relief for consumers, HONOR's AI Defocus Eye Protection has been shown to decrease users' transient myopia by 13 degrees on average after reading for 25 minutes, with some users experiencing a maximum reduction of 75 degrees."

On mitigating deepfakes, Zhao further explained how the tech company has introduced AI Deepfake Detection. "To help prevent fraud and detect digitally manipulated content, AI Deepfake Detection examines frame-by-frame information such as eye contact, lighting, image clarity, and video playback to identify flaws that are imperceptible to the human eyes."

In parallel with the opening of MWC Shanghai, GSMA published an industry call for collaboration between governments and industry to support the full development of 6 GHz for mobile, "to ensure a spectrum roadmap is delivered for mobile operators, and to put in place clear timelines for equipment and handsets to be ready at scale".

The GSMA statement has been co-signed by 36 companies including operators, equipment and chipset vendors globally.