AI 'cornerstone' of new industrial revolution

Generative artificial intelligence is set to play a pivotal role in driving China's industrial revolution and injecting fresh impetus into the country's high-quality economic growth, said industry experts and company executives.

Gao Xuefeng, founder and CEO of AI data infrastructure company Fabarta, said, "AI is a cornerstone of the new industrial revolution, but its full potential can only be realized through deep integration with real-world industry applications."

Gao made the comments on the sidelines of the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on Monday.

Gao outlined three critical stages for the intelligent development of industry-specific large language models — initial AI innovations in single-point applications, development of AI-driven industry application platforms powered by knowledge engines, and the final stage, which integrates precise knowledge with generalized knowledge from LLMs.

Despite the impressive performance of existing LLMs in text generation, dialogue and code assistance, Gao said challenges still remain in practical enterprise applications, such as inadequate reasoning capabilities, poor interpretability and data security issues, which often hinder the deployment of AI technologies in real-world settings.

To address these challenges, Fabarta has introduced an innovative product matrix based on its data-centric AI architecture, which includes a multimodal intelligence engine, an enterprise knowledge platform and a data lineage governance platform

Such products are able to facilitate the conversion and integration of local enterprise data with generalized knowledge from LLMs, addressing issues such as poor interpretability, weak reasoning, model hallucination and difficulties in data timeliness and access control.

"The development of AI technology has entered a new phase, shifting from a focus on models and algorithms to a focus on data and knowledge. The data-centric AI approach provides capabilities for integrating and processing multimodal data, better meeting the practical needs of enterprises undergoing digital transformation," Gao said.

Gao delivered a keynote speech at the fair.

The latest report by market consultancy Accenture said that generative AI can unlock an additional $2.86 trillion in economic value in China by 2038, and manufacturing, finance and supply chains were identified as the top three areas with the highest potential for AI-led reinvention.

In a separate interview, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Information Consumption Alliance, a telecom industry association, said that it is important to develop digital technologies represented by AI, which will inject fresh impetus into the country's economic growth and speed up digital and intelligent upgrades in enterprises.

In recent years, the Chinese government has prioritized AI development as a key driver of its technological revolution and industrial transformation. China will launch an AI Plus initiative, according to a government work report submitted in March to the national legislature for deliberation, so as to accelerate the adoption of AI technologies across various sectors.

"With both national policies and market demand driving the way, new quality productive forces and the AI Plus initiative are becoming crucial engines for China's economic development. Fabarta will continue to lead through technological innovation and collaborate with industries to advance the country's shift toward an intelligent and digital era, and contribute to its high-quality development," Gao said.

Looking ahead, he said that the company plans to deepen collaboration with State-owned enterprises as well as industry leaders, leveraging its expertise in LLMs and knowledge engines to advance AI technology and help businesses gain a competitive edge in their digital transformation.