AI is ceaselessly infusing diverse industries with fresh growth momentum, and the fintech sector is no exception to this transformative trend. Previously, fintech was perceived as digital technology that evolved from the internet. However, in contemporary discussions, AI has emerged as an insurmountable cornerstone in fintech. In essence, uncovering AI's potential is akin to discovering a new blue ocean within the fintech landscape.

This realization has prompted both internet giants and traditional financial institutions to focus their attention on AI. Utilizing AI technology to foster innovative models and identify novel development pathways has become the preferred strategy for an increasing number of fintech players. If digital technology represented the previous trend in fintech, then AI undoubtedly signifies the new frontier.

For many, AI's role in fintech may seem analogous to its function in e-commerce, search, and information scenarios, primarily enhancing the precision of connecting financial products with consumers. Yet, confining AI's significance in fintech to merely this aspect would be a gross underestimation of the new growth trajectory it unveils. The author posits that when evaluating AI's impact on fintech, we should adopt an internal perspective rather than an external one.

I

The most profound significance of AI in fintech lies in its ability to reshape and transform the sector's intrinsic elements. Ultimately, AI's role transcends mere substitution of traditional components; it fosters the formation of a new supply side and reconstructs a brand-new supply-demand paradigm. Therefore, overlooking AI's transformative power on fintech's core elements and merely viewing it as a tool for connecting financial sectors would undoubtedly miss the essence and significance of AI in fintech.

Historically, discussions on fintech have relied on traditional elements such as risk control and product design, even during the digital technology era. Upon closer inspection, it becomes evident that these expressions, rooted in traditional contexts, merely altered fintech's 'form' without changing its 'essence.' Consequently, fintech remained ensnared in familiar pitfalls.

To break free from this cycle, it is imperative to leverage AI to transform fintech's intrinsic elements and infuse it with new vitality. For instance, AI can replace traditional risk control methods or data sources. When AI becomes the cornerstone enriching fintech, new models and products will inevitably emerge.

Envision the transformation of fintech's core elements through AI. The repercussions will extend beyond fintech itself, impacting interconnected industries and scenarios. The growth potential unlocked and the new growth spaces opened up will be as expansive as rebuilding an entire industry.

Similarly, for every fintech player aspiring to thrive in the AI era, initiating changes from within and leveraging AI as a catalyst will yield significantly greater growth potential and imagination than merely viewing AI as a means to connect financial sectors.

II

Beyond its transformative potential in reshaping fintech's intrinsic elements, which equates to discovering a new blue ocean in fintech, AI's another crucial significance lies in its ability to redefine fintech's role and positioning, surpassing the potential displayed in traditional financial and internet financial eras.

We know that in both traditional financial and internet financial eras, and even in the subsequent digital technology era, fintech's primary focus remained on the consumer side. Admittedly, in a market context where the consumer side still held abundant development potential, focusing fintech's endpoint on the consumer side was a valid choice. However, solely targeting the consumer side not only fails to maximize fintech's functions and roles but also leads fintech into the same vicious cycle experienced by other industries.

With the advent of the AI era, particularly as AI begins to play an increasingly significant role in integrating virtual and physical realms, AI enables fintech to discover new functions and attributes. This is evident in both the evolution of fintech products and their models. Among these numerous functions and attributes, one crucial aspect worthy of our attention is that fintech no longer ends at the consumer side but begins at the industrial side.

Ultimately, fintech starts to transform industries themselves through AI. For example, fintech empowers upper-layer business models through the accumulation of underlying transaction data. It enhances industrial operational efficiency through precise matching and alignment of industrial intrinsic elements. It achieves precise industrial empowerment through AI's targeted irrigation.

In these processes and stages, fintech's role is no longer confined to transforming the consumer side but extends to transforming the industrial side. With the arrival of the AI era, especially as AI continuously brings new growth potential to fintech, AI's reshaping and reengineering of fintech's functions and attributes also open up a brand-new blue ocean for its development. In this process, fintech becomes the internal driving force for industrial transformation, releasing far greater development potential than what we have previously witnessed.

III

The primary reason AI enables fintech to discover new blue oceans lies in its construction of a novel, comprehensive business model. Under this model, fintech's profitability is no longer solely based on traditional 'quantity' but rather on 'transformation' in the AI sense.

This 'transformation' primarily encompasses the following aspects:

Firstly, the 'transformation' of fintech itself, primarily reflected in the changes undergone by fintech players. When fintech undergoes these transformations, new businesses will inevitably emerge. For instance, fintech's greater value lies in its profound transformation of industries. Its greater value also lies in meeting new demands on the consumer side. When these 'transformations' within fintech give rise to new business models, the new entities spawned may possess far greater commercial value than those generated during the internet era.

Secondly, the 'transformation' of industries triggered by fintech. Another significance of AI's 'transformation' in fintech lies in the industry-wide changes it incites. Unlike the internet era, where fintech primarily empowered based on a 'financial' context, under AI's influence, fintech's empowerment of industries is more profound, leveraging both 'financial' and 'technological' elements. In this process, fintech's value is not merely reflected at the end of the industrial chain but permeates every aspect and detail of industrial operations.

Discovering AI is equivalent to discovering a new blue ocean in fintech, primarily because it unveils the 'transformations' that AI bestows upon fintech. As these 'transformations' occur, fintech will inevitably spawn new businesses and give rise to new models. Consequently, new profit points will emerge. Seizing these new profit points may truly propel fintech into a brand-new stage of development.

Discovering the new power of AI is equivalent to discovering a new blue ocean in fintech. This is primarily because AI triggers transformations in fintech's intrinsic elements, uncovers new attributes of fintech, and gives birth to new business models. Therefore, AI represents a comprehensive transformation of fintech from the inside out and from the bottom up. After undergoing such a transformation, fintech will no longer be the same, and a brand-new industry will emerge!