AI at the crossroads: a new blueprint for inclusive innovation
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Until chat GPT arrived, very few could have foreseen how rapidly AI would reshape our world. And before 2025, no one expected Chinese technology to be at the forefront of this transformation. And recently, the Boao Forum for Asia concluded in China's tropical island province of Hainan.

Often dubbed the "Asian Devils", this annual gathering convinced political leaders, CEOs and scholars to tackle Asia's most pressing challenges. This year, AI's explosive growth and the urgent need for global AI governance emerged as dominant themes.

In this episode of Deep Dive, my colleague Tianlu will share her observation from the forum about how we can ensure all nations benefit equally from AI and how AI governance may evolve to mitigate its risks. It's Thursday, April 3rd.

So ever since the beginning of this year, DeepSeek and the Chinese AI products have been the hottest topic. And Tianlu, we just came back from the Bo'an Forum in the southern province, the tropical province of Hainan. And this AI topic has perhaps also been a very hot discussion in the Bo'an Forum this year. And during your visit there, have you seen or experienced any tech products

that are integrated with this AI feature.

Well, I can say AI was definitely a huge theme at the CSBOR forum and I saw it everywhere at the forum. And one of the coolest things I saw was AI powered robots. They can dance for you and answer your questions and provide services and information and do whatever you want them to do.

So I think this is quite futuristic. Makes me feel like, oh my god, am I in a sci-fi movie or not? I saw this coming. Yeah. And I also remember there was an AI-powered coffee-making robot. It was super smooth, fast, and efficient. And I even got to try a cup myself, and it was so tasty. Is it better than the coffees made by humans? Well...

Well, I honestly speaking, I couldn't tell if I thought it was better than the normal coffee or the common coffee because it was made by a robot or because it was actually that good.

Anyways, it wasn't just about the speed, the taste. This smart coffee machine can also do latte art, which is so cool. I got to pick a design and of course I went for the logo of the Boa Forum this year. And when I saw the robot provide me a coffee with latte art,

I think this is so impressive and also kind of cute. Yeah, so even outside the forum discussions, you can already see a lot of products that are already integrated with AI features. And now coming back to the forums and discussions, so how often has this topic of AI being brought up among these discussions? And what are these discussions surrounding this AI topic?

Well, AI was a really big topic at this year's Boa Forum. And there are many panel discussions about it, focusing on different various directions from economic growth to digital transformation and also sustainability. And the key themes surrounding AI this year included the

the role of AI in driving economic efficiency and productivity, the global governance of AI and its ethics alike, how to ensure the responsible AI development, and also the potential of AI in reshaping the global trade. Right. So the economic potentials and driving efficiency by artificial intelligence. So that's perhaps one of the first

application that people will think of for when we have the power of AI and

And so now you brought up trade. Now we know China is seeing growing economic exchanges with Southeastern Asian countries and also African countries. And with the empowerment of artificial intelligence, how can AI help the Chinese businesses capitalize this opportunity with growing trade and economic exchanges with Southeast Asian countries as well as African countries?

I think, like you said, AI is already changing the way global trade works and it's making supply chains more efficient.

smooth and helping businesses analyze markets and even improving customer interactions. I've also talked about this with an expert at the Boa Forum who is from a consulting firm and he believes Chinese companies can make a shift into emerging markets like BRI countries, Belt and Road countries. And he said tools like the

the popular open source deep seek can help exporters break language barriers first, and then gain some insights into diverse markets, making it easier for companies to expand

into regions like Southeast Asia and Africa. And AI plays a crucial role in helping exporters identify the right markets. The expert said, we are still in the early stages of AI's impact on trade, but one of the most valuable application is its market analysis. Because the expert said, AI can analyze trends

consumer behavior and economic data to offer real insights. Say I'm a company looking at a new market and thinking about maybe put a lot of money and investment. And AI can tell me whether it's worthy or not. If AI say, it's good, I'll just go for it. Consultant. Yeah, if AI say,

Forget it. Then I should look somewhere else. It means with the help of AI, businesses can be much more strategic. It also helps companies focus their efforts. AI can suggest where marketing should be stronger, where CEOs should visit more often. So businesses can be smarter about where to put their money and time.

While many people are excited about the economic opportunities that AI brings, there are also some other people, me for example, that have a fear for job losses brought by AI.

This year in the BoA Forum, what do you feel like was the prevailing sentiment among the participants at the BoA Forum? Were people more excited about the economic growth brought by AI or do also people worry about this potential job losses, unemployment brought by artificial intelligence?

I think I can see both of the opinions at the forum. Some people say, okay, we are excited to see the development of AI. And some people are worried about, okay, what about the job market? And

What I think is when you see AI writing a news article, your first thought might be, oh my God, does this mean news editors will no longer be needed in the future anymore? Yeah, those reports you sent back to the team, was that written by you or written by AI? Yeah, of course, AI is developing very fast. But when it comes to

to deep integration into specific fields, I believe there's still a clear role for both humans and machines. Take journalism, for example, like you said, of course, many people worry about that. And AI is great at gathering vast amounts of information, but it doesn't have

personal experiences or deep societal understanding. It lacks human perspectives and values. So journalists and hosts can bring their own viewpoints to the news. They bring about depth, storytelling, perspectives, and shaping how information is communicated to the public. And this is something AI can't replicate.

I'm not saying this just because we are journalists and presenters or broadcasters ourselves, but because these opinions are also from the experts at the forum this year. They also discussed this challenge as well. Some experts believe that AI isn't just replacing jobs, it is also creating new ones.

And the AI industry itself needs researchers, developers and experts in different fields to make

the artificial intelligence work better. As industries evolve, new jobs will open up. And they also mentioned that education has to keep up. Some Chinese universities are already updating their programs to prepare students for an AI-driven future. Okay. And I

I remember professor Yaqing Zhang from Tsinghua University at the forum had a great take. He said we need two kinds of intelligence: one to create AI and another is to know how to use AI wisely or how to work with it. So AI shouldn't take over human-driven fields like art,

and entertainment, and governments should have policies in place to manage job disruptions. And I also spoke this with an AI expert, Zeng Yi. He is from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He said every industrial revolution has sparked fears about job losses because the goal has always been improving productivity. But

Artificial intelligence, while capable of emotion analysis, it doesn't truly understand emotions. New types of jobs will emerge and the key is finding a balance where humans and AI coexist. So there may be job losses, but at the same time there will be also new positions, occupations created along with AI.

So that's quite reassuring to hear this coming from experts. And hopefully there's room for me among those new occupations being created. Well, for a very long time, it's also been argued that AI could widen this digital divide between developed and developing countries. And perhaps up until the moment that DeepSeek was launched and made a big splash, people maybe thought,

the United States will just keep leading this race in artificial intelligence. And we know that DeepSeq, one of the reasons for DeepSeq to attract so much attention is the open source nature of this Chinese AI model. And how can this open source nature of AI, how can it ensure inclusive growth and accessibility for all countries?

Well, there's a big concern that AI might widen the gap between developed countries and developing countries. And I know there are some developing countries are facing the challenge in keeping pace with the development of artificial intelligence. But

like you mentioned the open source models like deep seek could help level the playing field because by making AI tools more accessible businesses and researchers in developing regions can use AI for innovation and without having to pay a lot of money or rely on expensive tech from big companies so

It's about making AI work for everyone, not just tech giants, wealthier countries, or a select few. China has been advocating for multilateral cooperation in AI governance. And with concerns around AI safety and ethics, how can global players balance innovation and regulation? And do you see a unified global AI governance agreement as feasible?

China has been actively pushing for the global cooperation on AI governance. And the tricky part is figuring out how to keep AI moving forward while also making sure it's safe and used responsibly.

A global AI governance deal is still a long way off, I think, but regional partnerships are already taking shape. Experts at the Boa Forum agreed that governments, industries and researchers all need to work together to set up

a fair AI policy. And when I spoke with Mr. Zeng, as I mentioned before, he said something really interesting. Mr. Zeng said back to 2019, he was one of the experts in the National Governance Committee. And he and his colleague

the national AI governance principles, which actually tells not only people in China, but also the world where China's AI is going or for what purpose or for what benefits. And within that principles, Mr. Zeng said they've been talking about AI as an enabling technology that should be used to push forward growth.

global sustainable development and helps build a shared future for humanity. And Mr. Zeng said, within that framework, they've been talking about AI is an enabling technology that should be used to push forward global sustainability and helps build a shared future for mankind.

And China's approach shows that AI governance isn't just about setting rules. It's about making sure AI benefits everyone. And China has been vocal about multilateral cooperation in AI governance. And discussions at Boao suggest that regional agreements and cross-border cooperation can be a stepping stone for

toward broader international standards and collaboration among key players including governments, research institutions and private sectors will be crucial in shaping responsible AI governance.

So this explosive growth of AI has been perhaps the most common discussions in the public, so is in this program. So I guess it's really important to accelerate the governance to oversee the development of AI, artificial intelligence. Thank you so much for your time, Tianluo. Thank you, Yunqi.

From Boao to the world, one truth emerges: AI's future must be shaped by both innovation and responsibility. As China advances its technological leadership, the global community faces critical choices about inclusion and governance. The conversation started here in Hainan may just be the beginning of a much larger dialogue.

And that brings us to the end of this episode of Deep Dive. If you enjoyed what you just heard, don't forget to follow us on your podcast platforms. Just search for Deep Dive. You can also leave a comment to let us know what you want to learn about China and beyond. This episode is brought to you by me, Li Yunqi, and my colleagues Zhang Zhang and Qi Zhi. Special thanks to CGTN radio reporter Tian Lu. I'll see you in the next one.