Taking pictures of an empty plate is becoming popular in the canteens(食堂)at Shenzhen University(SZU), a report by Shenzhen Economic Daily showed.
According to the Daily, Tencent is now working with SZU to introduce AI technology to a campaign on WeChat to encourage "clear your plate". The campaign is to reduce food waste and encourage students to save food.
After finishing a meal, students can take photos of their plates and send them to the AI system. Once their photos are accepted, students can get a reward. Tencent's AI Lab provides technological support for the campaign. It takes only 40 milliseconds for the system to check a photo.
A total of 20,000 students at SZU took part in the second phase of the campaign on Monday and Tuesday. And the food waste has dropped greatly after the campaign was started.
"By using AI technology to encourage the 'clear your plate' campaign, our university can have a better understanding of students — main role in the campaign so as to carry out a rewarding system for keeping students interested in it," said Xu Xiaoling from SZU's student department.
The service has also been used in other universities in China, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Academy of Art in Zhejiang Province and Jishou University in Hunan Province, attracting over 100,000 students so far.