By GONG Qian

The rapid development of AI has brought both opportunities and challenges across the board, in both work and private lives.

A group of young people shared their insights on how AI is changing the lives of young generation and how they should embrace the challenge brought by AI at the Global Young Leader Dialogue Annual Forum recently held by the Center for China & Globalization in Beijing.

In 2023, the daily average video views for AI-related content on Bilibili, China's popular video-sharing platform, increased by over 80 percent year-on-year, covering trendy topics such as science popularization, AI technology applications, digital humans, and creative applications.

Anthony Wang, a VC investor and Schwarzman Scholar of Tsinghua University, said AI is a powerful tool to democratize fundraising process for two key reasons.

First, it allows entrepreneurs to spend less time on the fundraising process itself and focus more on building their innovations. By leveraging AI, entrepreneurs can efficiently target a broader range of investors. For example, entrepreneurs can utilize AI-driven tools such as databases, investor profiles and automated emails, to reach a wider audience of investors.

Second, AI enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of fundraising materials, helping streamline documents like pitch decks. It also makes the fundraising process less subjective. AI helps to level the playing field for entrepreneurs worldwide. It allows for a more objective assessment of funding applications, directing capital to the most promising ventures and funds.

According to Cai Cong, partner at the OPO Disability Group, digital technology empowers disabled people to realize greater possibilities for the future. Training AI models demands more data annotation workers, which merely requires basic computer operation skills in a short training period. This offers more employment opportunities for visually impaired individuals.

During the discussion, Pan Qingzhong, executive dean of Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, shared his experience with the youthful audience. Pan said he had visited an automated production line of a top Chinese automaker, where he found that only 12 workers were involved in the manufacturing process.

This marks a shift in focus toward the growing need for skilled workers required to maintain and manage robots in manufacturing workshops in the AI era.

As AI technology becomes increasingly pervasive, adapting to this shift is no longer optional but essential, Pan said. To remain competitive in the future, individuals should reinvent their skill sets, learn to coexist with AI, and master new skills that complement or surpass the capabilities of machines, he added.