AI to give fillip to new industrial revolution

Critical juncture

Global consultancy Accenture said in a report that Chinese enterprises are at a crucial juncture of breakthroughs in AI, as generative AI and other rapidly evolving technologies usher in a future for business where the physical and digital worlds are inextricably linked.

According to the report, 91 percent of the business executives surveyed in the country agreed that AI foundation models will play an important role in their organization's strategies over the next three to five years.

"As generative AI will have far-reaching impact, business leaders must act immediately and scale up investments in data, talent and customized AI models to meet the unique needs of enterprises," said Yu Yi, technology lead for Accenture Greater China.

Most Chinese executives agreed that generative AI will spark significant creativity and innovation and usher in a new era of enterprise intelligence, Yu said.

They also pointed out that their companies expect quick large-scale analytical abilities and accelerated innovation as the two major benefits from the use of AI models.

Pan Helin, co-director of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University's International Business School, said although LLMs have significant potential for applications in a wide range of sectors like culture, retail, healthcare and education, their real value comes from the consumer market, and the ultimate goal of LLMs in industrial applications is to benefit the general public.

Noting that the process of training large AI models necessitates higher requirements for computing capacity, algorithms and quality of data, Pan said, "Chinese AI companies should increase investment in basic scientific research, including mathematics, statistics and computer science, to gain a competitive edge in the global AI chatbot race."

Moreover, the commercial use of the revolutionary AI chatbot has triggered controversy and concern about how to promote the healthy development of generative AI.

Chinese authorities issued a 24-point guideline for managing generative AI services in August. The country encourages the innovative development of generative AI and supervises the technology using methods compatible with innovation and development.

These measures support use of the technology in various fields to produce positive and high-quality content, and encourage the independent innovation of basic technologies, including generative AI algorithms, frameworks, chips and software platforms.

A group of Chinese companies and research institutions have opened their AI-powered LLMs to the public after receiving approval from the authorities on Aug 31.

"Making LLMs available to the public will boost iterations and upgrades, and promote technological advances as well as their large-scale commercial use," said Lu Yanxia, research director at IDC China.

Lu said Chinese tech companies' continual advancements in AI models will further promote the popularization of LLMs among the public, and bring about fresh business opportunities for domestic AI servers, cloud computing and chip companies.

The LLMs also necessitate a higher demand for data and knowledge in professional fields, and for talent that can fine-tune specialized models based on diverse industrial demands, she said.

Global consultancy Boston Consulting Group said generative AI will replace human beings in doing a large number of repetitive, simple and basic tasks, thus reducing costs and improving operational efficiency.

Although AI brings new development opportunities, challenges abound as data security tops in priority, and more efforts are needed to ensure that the technology is used safely and responsibly.

"It is important for banks to establish a responsible AI system and ensure fairness, accountability, transparency, privacy and security in the application of generative AI," said Sun Wei, partner of BCG and core leader of the BCG financial institutions practice.

She also called for greater efforts to formulate a code of conduct for employees who use generative AI tools, guide them to reasonably judge and use the content output by machines, and establish management mechanisms concerning risk control and liability affirmation.

fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn