Hello everyone, I am very pleased to meet you all. Currently, the important trends in the technology sector are having a significant impact on the global economic environment. It is evident that the increasingly close integration with Artificial Intelligence (AI) plays a part in this change. However, our understanding of artificial intelligence has not yet touched on its vast potential and broad prospects for development.
Considering the potential applications of technology in different scenarios, our discussions are not limited to simple predictions. First and foremost, we must understand that in many industries, AI is not a single concept; it is as diverse as the myriad species in the biological world. When we view the diversity of animal intelligence in conjunction with machine intelligence, human intelligence will not be the only or central form. In essence, the gap between idiocy and genius is not as vast as we imagine; the universe of intelligence is made up of countless different formations, showing us that the pursuit of universal intelligence is merely a misguided notion. Similar to biological lineages, we are neither at the core of it, nor do we occupy the center of the solar system, the galaxy, or even the entire universe—nor does intelligence.
Considering our relationship with AI, one of the four patterns is that AI offers a completely new way of thinking, akin to a kind of artificial alien created and designed by us. These AIs’ intelligence might surpass human intelligence, possessing unique cognitive modes. Different from humans, existing as silicon-based beings, their differences from us are not flaws but rather characteristics, and even advantages. With their creative thinking abilities, these AIs might make decisions in ways completely alien to human thought; in the age of the internet, such unique cognitive abilities are crucial. AI can help humanity break free from traditional thinking, offering fresh perspectives.
It is noteworthy that we used to believe machines couldn’t possess creativity, but with the advancement of AI, we’ve discovered this is not true. AI’s creativity stems from human guidance, and the individuals performing this task are known as prompt engineers. Personally, I have worked with AI, researched, and tried to co-create with it over the past few years. In the new era, prompt engineers might become the new generation of artists, known as AI whisperers. They might spend over a thousand hours collaborating with AI, using the same AI tools as we do, but through creative guidance, they can lead AI to produce exceptional work. This excellence originates from their profound understanding of AI and the skills they have acquired, which are refined through extended periods of learning and practice, just like mastering any art form.
In the modern job landscape, the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) prompt engineers is gradually revealing its importance. They not only possess unique talents to understand the mechanics of AI, but their career prospects are also exceptionally bright, with top talents earning annual salaries as high as $300,000. The high salary reflects the stringent demands for engineers to practice extensively, accumulate deep knowledge, and build technical expertise.
In our daily life, we use a variety of open AI tools, and the application of these tools demonstrates the essential nature of prompts. AI engineers must understand the thought process of AI and guide it to follow their own train of thought step by step. It’s important to note that AI’s attention is very limited and it cannot handle long chains of thought, therefore engineers need to break down complex thinking into stages and input it gradually, thus assisting AI in completing highly difficult tasks.
AI cannot fully replace human work, but people who are better at using AI may replace other workers. Additionally, positive emotional feedback to AI, such as praise, seems to inspire it to provide higher-quality answers. This is also one of the tricks of using AI for tasks.
AI is more like an around-the-clock intern, where everyone can get a 24/7 continuous service assistant.
AI interns, similar to human interns, need to have their work double-checked after completion. However, the drafts and outlines they provide are of good quality, even though the answers are not always the most precise. The day-to-day work of engineers is to train AI with the most reasonable rather than the most precise answers from a large amount of human corpus.
In knowledge-based professions, research shows that about 50% of tasks can be completed by AI interns. The remaining 50% of the tasks can be drafted by AI and then optimized by humans. For example, programmers using Copilot can increase productivity by 56%; and authors, lawyers, consultants, and even administrative staff will see a significant improvement in work efficiency when using tools like ChatGPT. This boost in efficiency is particularly noticeable for entry-level positions or average employees.
Artificial Intelligence, like all skills, requires at least a thousand hours of practice and learning to master. In the future, salaries may be closely linked to an individual’s ability to utilize AI technology. Therefore, people will not be unemployed simply because of the advent of AI, although it will indeed affect the job content of certain professions.
In the next five years, I believe that AI will not completely replace humans, but those who have mastered the technology of AI may replace others. This is a global trend. Just like the current automated driving technology, which has not replaced drivers on a large scale, but we can foresee that the duties of drivers will change in the future.
Take a company in the United States as an example, they use generative AI to enhance customer service efficiency, such as telephone operators. Through this means, while some positions may be cut, the demand for technical support personnel is also increasing. In many cases, operators will focus on handling complex issues that AI cannot resolve.
It is precisely because AI has handled many simple tasks that humans can focus their attention on more complex problems, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and service quality. AI is an egalitarian technology, enabling enterprises with insufficient funds or in remote areas to provide customer service through AI.
The field of art has also gradually welcomed the application of artificial intelligence. Many artists, such as painters and musicians, have not been replaced by AI but instead use it as a source of inspiration for creation. The worlds of AI and humanity each have their own rules; what humans find simple may not be easy for AI, and vice versa. This logic is something we must keep in mind.
In terms of the relationship between generative AI and humans, I see it as a “+1” pattern. This is like the centaur in Greek mythology, symbolizing the cooperative relationship between AI and humans. Scientific research shows that relying solely on either humans or AI is insufficient; their combination is crucial.
To share a story: Esther Perel is a well-known American therapist with a vast record of therapeutic experiences. Her therapy cases have been developed into an AI model so that users can receive therapy through machine interaction. Although it is unknown whether she would be pleased with this AI version of herself, her books and podcasts have already helped many people, and AI could potentially help in an even broader sense.
Of course, current AI cannot yet fully handle specialized fields like pet therapy, but it certainly has paved new pathways. Although artificial intelligence doctors can’t completely replace human doctors yet, better medical outcomes can be achieved through human-machine collaboration. In areas with a shortage of medical resources, using AI for diagnostics might be much better than having no doctor at all.
The collaboration between artificial intelligence and humans has opened up infinite possibilities, not just confined to industries such as education, law, and driving. Their combined practice has shown synergistic effects. Artificial intelligence is not just an auxiliary tool; it can also become our partner, team member, coach, or even driving assistant. As mentioned in a book, a profound saying goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.” The truly powerful technologies are often those that become part of our lives.
In the past year, generative artificial intelligence has brought various exciting advancements. Among them, neural network technology has been successfully applied to artificial intelligence, a technology that isn’t new and has been adopted by companies like Netflix and Amazon, working on the principles of recognition and generation. Neural networks have now evolved into two entirely new concepts: large language models and conversational user interfaces.
Large language models were initially simple programming tools, used for language translation as early as 10 to 15 years ago. Their primary training goal was to build models capable of translating one language into another, with training materials coming from everyday language use. However, as models have continually evolved, language models can now not only translate but also perform reasoning based on corpora. Language is not just a tool for transmitting information; it also represents the power of thought. The close association between language and reasoning was unexpected by developers, and this reasoning ability has turned out to be a valuable by-product of the research process.
In addition, large language models have shown new application prospects in numerous fields, demonstrating their reasoning abilities through reading comprehension tests, becoming our reliable assistant in various challenges. The models established based on a broad range of population data are already quite advanced, and we hope to further improve them in the future by using corpuses from genius-level individuals. As for the conversational user interface, its highlight is similar to the transformative graphical user interface from twenty years ago. In the early stages of internet development, our computer interfaces had nothing but tedious text, making them difficult and unattractive to use. But now, with the widespread application of the World Wide Web, we can see the interactive use of images, interacting with computers through operations like drag and drop, thus greatly enhancing user experience.
With large language models, users can generate graphics and text through conversational communication, a way of converting text information into visual information that aligns more with human communication needs. Artificial intelligence is drastically altering the application of technology in our lives in this way, from language understanding to gesture recognition. For example, many devices can now recognize user commands by analyzing lip reading, eliminating the need for people to express intentions by speaking loudly.
The development of technology is rapid and ever-changing, especially those disruptive technologies that have greatly reformed the operation of industries. In the coming years, starting new businesses will become increasingly easy. All we need to do is integrate relevant elements into interactive interfaces, and soon conversational communication with various devices like bread makers and cars will become the norm. Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI) will be viewed as a commodity, and its interactive interface will become a key factor in measuring product quality.
Take for instance the well-known engine—Perplexity—which does not focus on the AI entity itself, but excels at crafting AI’s interactive panels. Just as water is a free natural resource, but bottled water becomes a commodity, the AI interaction interface also harbors the potential to create added value.
Getting back to basics, when a technology is invisible and ubiquitous in life, its power reaches its pinnacle. Countless technologies in our daily living spaces, such as lights, heating pipes, fans, and ventilation systems, operate silently, and their invisibility is the very proof of these technologies integrating into life, thereby making our existence convenient. The same logic applies to AI; only when we are no longer aware of AI’s existence will it truly have succeeded in seamlessly integrating into our everyday life. In the future, I believe that as much as 95% of AI applications will operate invisibly, much like the backstage pipeline systems, and we will become more familiar with the intuitive front-end interfaces, with most people perhaps not even realizing that it is AI running silently behind the scenes.
Nowadays, numerous tech companies are utilizing AI to predict the future. In the past, this task, if done solely by human effort, would cost a tremendous amount of time and money. Yet with the help of AI in the future, predicting becomes easy. The use of AI technology will unfold in two stages: the internal process stage, covering programming, financial analysis, media, and communication; the external involves creating products that meet public demand, such as autonomous vehicles and robots.
According to the current situation, the internal operation of AI shows more powerful functions and potential, which is also one of the important areas for the future growth of AI. The analogy of AI to electricity is appropriate: You cannot simply think that electrifying an 18th-century company would completely change it, but if a company born with electricity, compared to an 18th-century company, there will be a qualitative leap. Similarly, AI follows the same logic, and the business models adopted by the next generation of AI-native enterprises will be entirely different from those before the development of AI.
In the fields where AI can excel, it’s not just about accomplishing tasks humans cannot, but more about exploring unknown areas to humans. Just as the middle class in society tend to be the first to experience new technologies, in the business environment, early adopters of AI are involved in many fields. Aside from customer service roles, programmers have also begun using AI assistance tools like Microsoft’s CodePilot. Having experienced working with AI, they express an unwillingness to return to an era without AI; marketing professionals also extensively utilize AI to create content, images, videos, and other materials.
In summary, I believe that a group of industries will become pioneers in the application of AI, including software, healthcare, education, marketing, and the insurance industry. As AI technology further develops, the operations of these industries will inevitably undergo revolutionary changes, thus leading to a new era.
In contemporary society, the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has widely permeated into various industries, bringing profound impact. AI can not only design insurance policies and perform big data analysis; in the field of education, it benefits students the most, in healthcare it greatly aids patients, and in companies, employees should also be beneficiaries.
However, the truth is that middle managers, such as teachers, doctors, and managers, seem to be more enthusiastic about AI than the groups they serve. For instance, teachers can save a significant amount of time preparing lessons with AI, and doctors and managers can improve their work efficiency through AI. Therefore, middle-tier employees in a company or industry structure may actually be the biggest beneficiaries and are often the earliest group to adopt AI technology.
In the world of startups, we observe that these young companies adopt AI technology earlier and more flexibly than larger companies. Big companies usually move slower in adopting new technologies, whereas small companies can integrate AI more quickly and benefit from it.
Since the 18th century, the evolution of enterprises has shifted from the industrial age to the digital era, with Chinese businesses rapidly growing with this east wind. The era of cloud computing has arrived, and enterprises today are fully embracing AI technology.
It must be understood that cloud computing is an important foundation, without which the development of AI would be restricted. Therefore, enterprises must establish a solid cloud platform foundation in order to develop AI capabilities on top of it.
Currently, the progress of AI technology has enabled it to generate video content, a trend that began being discussed many years ago. AI can generate not only animal videos, like those of dogs, but also complete event reconstructions in the future. What used to take a team of technicians can now possibly be done by one person. Just as J.K. Rowling needed a team to bring the magical world of Harry Potter to the screen, AI may help future creators achieve similar feats solo.
Although the training data currently used by AI may not yet be of the best quality, it still manages to produce extremely impressive content. The development of AI technology is also driving the realization of augmented reality (AR) functions.
AR products launched by giants like Apple and Google would be difficult to popularize without the support of cost-effective AI technology. “Augmented reality will rely greatly on AI.” And I believe that augmented reality is actually an extension of AI, which, while helping us understand and manipulate the world, is also learning how to better simulate it.
Currently, Apple’s launch of Vision Pro is one example. Although products like these may take about a decade to become widespread, the augmented capabilities of AI allow for the quick creation of digital twins of the physical world and, combined with virtual reality (VR) products, provide people with a whole new experience in a virtual world.
While existing glasses technology allows us to scan and identify our surroundings, such as detecting the position of rooms, windows, and doors, this technology is still subject to one major limitation: the environment needs to be re-scanned each time it is used. However, with the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, glasses will be able to automatically recognize and understand the surroundings without the need for repeated scanning, allowing the entire world to be mapped into a virtual “mirror world.” This “mirror world” is not only transparent to robots and autonomous cars but also allows all electronic devices to interact with it.
In the future blend of data and the human world, the “mirror world” will manifest its strong social attributes, with tremendous potential, especially in the area of training. People can engage in on-site training and error simulations in the “mirror world” before officially starting a particular job or technology.
In the past year, we have witnessed many earth-shattering changes driven by AI, leading unprecedented innovation. Imagine a future where artificial intelligence possesses emotional attributes, which may come as a surprise to many. However, the emergence of emotional attributes is not accidental, primarily based on the following points:
Firstly, conversation is the natural way of emotional exchange among humans, and we often pour emotions into our interactions with AI as well. AI can explore and understand the flow of these emotions by analyzing language and facial expressions. For example, AI might read your distraction through your gaze or feel emotional fluctuations through changes in your tone of voice.
Secondly, there is a profound emotional bond between humans and their pets. In the future, it’s possible we may establish a similar connection with artificial intelligence. Imagine if you could converse with a talking puppy, naturally, your emotional bond with it would grow deeper. Therefore, the deepening of emotional communication is likely to become a trend with technological advancements.
Over time, people may gradually get used to and happily accept the emotional attributes embedded in technology, discovering bonds that exceed early expectations.
In the development of AI over the past few years, we have seen that, based on half a century of neural network technology, we have obtained what seems like a real artificial brain, with a wide range of cognitive capabilities. Although the use of neural networks is still limited and the road ahead is long, experts in the AI field believe that it is not possible to satisfy all application scenarios with just one technology; instead, it is necessary to combine fuzzy logic, rule-based decision-making, and other technologies to perfect the entire artificial intelligence system.
Currently, artificial intelligence technology is still in its early stage. How AI will evolve in the next thirty years is still unknown. Looking back at 2024, people in the future may think that AI at the time was not real artificial intelligence. Just as we view past technologies today, the river of history will continuously evolve and reconstruct our understanding of AI.
In today’s rapidly pulsating information age, we can fully utilize analytical tools to make precise predictions for various potential future developments. These in-depth analyses not only assist us in making effective plans for future uncertainties but are also crucial in clearly defining tasks more suited for artificial intelligence and areas where humans excel. Moreover, these judgments help us identify parts of society we wish to preserve human involvement in, aiding us in recognizing reality more soberly and in carving out a clear developmental path. We firmly believe that the development of artificial intelligence will assist humanity in evolving better; this is our ultimate goal for striving.
Forward-looking views predict that the future will be a world where all things are interconnected with artificial intelligence, calling it the “Mirror World.” Just as smartphones and social media have already crossed borders and profoundly impacted the global economy and political landscape, major technology companies like GAFA have expanded their scale to influence the fate of international society. Facing such revolutionary changes, one cannot help but ask, where is the world heading? The fusion of physical reality and virtual space will inevitably bring about new platforms, leading to fundamental changes in work methods and organizational forms, and we are on the verge of welcoming the Asian Century centered around China and India.
And in exploring all these changes, there are also in-depth forecasts that transcend technological dimensions, covering business transformation, geopolitics, and social structure, among other aspects. Visionary thinkers are not distracted by the frequent emergence of new technologies, new products, or trends. Instead, they continue to think deeply about the nature and underlying structure of technology, revealing in their works the inherent technological development trends of the world itself.
