Zhi: Embracing the intelligent era, elevating people's wisdom

BEIJING, Jan. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report from China.org.cn on the Chinese character of the year:

If one asks ChatGPT about "Zhi (meaning intelligent)", the 2024 Chinese character of the year, it will probably answer with this: The character "Zhi" has two particles, "Zhi (a different Chinese character with similar pronunciation)", which means to know or knowledge, and "Ri", which stands for the sun but denotes illumination here. So, "Zhi" means knowledge via illumination, which makes wisdom or intelligence.

Although the seemingly reasonable interpretation given by ChatGPT doesn't reflect the authentic origin of the character, this rationale precisely resonates with why "Zhi" was chosen as the Chinese character of the year.

With "intelligent" being an earmark of the era, no industries or fields that desire development can avoid the application of artificial intelligence (AI). In this case, people's wisdom in making the right judgments and utilizing AI is of paramount significance.

In this new round of technological revolution, China is giving special attention to driving high-quality development through AI. For example, in 2024, China's home-grown brand Xiaomi released its first electric vehicle, the Xiaomi SU7, which has been a crowd-pleaser with its high performance and affordability. For such a vehicle to come off the production line, it only takes 76 seconds on average. The high efficiency owes to the smart factory orchestrated by AI: 381 giant mechanical arms are swiftly welding and assembling, and over 180 autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) shoulder all the transportation work in the factory… Factories like this are mushrooming across China, where only minimal manpower is needed, with most being engineers. In 2024, the list of "Lighthouse" factories was updated, and nearly 60% of the newly added names were Chinese enterprises.

Efforts in using AI to spur quality development aren't limited to the manufacturing sector. AI has also been utilized in other fields to unlock more new quality productive forces, furthermore advancing high-quality development in economic and social life.

Another practice reflecting "Zhi" in China, is to bring welfare to livelihoods. Such deeds are in line with the people-centered philosophy adopted by the Chinese government. Multiple cases have served as proof. From intelligent systems that can monitor the activity of the elderly living alone to prevent severe results caused by falls, to robots that can provide emotional company for the elderly, AI has served multiple functions in taking care of China's senior citizens, while alleviating the social pressure caused by population ageing. Inventions like the AI digital humans that know sign language and robotic exoskeletons are empowering the disabled demographic; brain-computer interface technologies are bringing hope for patients in need to reshape their lives…

China is also one of the first countries that began regulating AI. In 2022, occupations related to digital applications have received official recognition, with their scopes of duties clearly stipulated; the country has also released multiple legal instruments to regulate AI-related behaviors. "Institute oversight systems to ensure the safety of artificial intelligence" has also been written in a top-level document of the Chinese government.

Moreover, after Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the "Global AI Governance Initiative" in 2023, in July 2024, the 78th UN General Assembly reached a consensus in adopting a resolution spearheaded by China on enhancing international cooperation for artificial intelligence capacity building. The global governance of artificial intelligence has also become a must-have issue in building a global community of a shared future.

We are now stepping into the year 2025. Time stops for no one, and intelligent technologies are also iterating with each passing day. Embracing artificial intelligence, while enhancing our wisdom as humans, it is a task for not only China, but also the whole world.

China Mosaic 
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm