As AI solidifies its position as a key developmental direction, a growing number of entities are venturing into this realm. While some concentrate on software advancements, such as large-scale models, others delve into hardware innovations, exemplified by smartphones. Despite their diverse focuses, these players share a common commitment to embracing the AI trend. As AI products continue to mature and evolve, we can anticipate a surge of new entrants and the emergence of even more groundbreaking innovations in the near future.

Regarding this trend, some critics argue that it merely represents a scramble for new traffic entry points, akin to the social media and short-video crazes of the past, serving as little more than a traffic acquisition tool. Admittedly, there is some truth to this perspective. However, solely emphasizing the traffic-drawing aspect of AI products and services while disregarding their profound impact on industrial transformation overlooks the broader significance of this AI-driven revolution.

In my opinion, the true value of AI for players does not lie in providing a new traffic acquisition avenue but rather in unveiling a window of opportunity. Through this window, players can explore the right paths and strategies for self-transformation and iteration. The industrial internet, as previously discussed, is now beginning to take shape through the power of AI.

The Paramount Importance of AI Lies in Its Industry-Transforming Potential

With the rise of AI agents, exemplified by various large-scale models, we witness the revitalization of previously stagnant traffic. More and more players are leveraging these agents to regain their former vitality and discover novel ways to meet their needs. At first glance, AI may seem to have become a new traffic acquisition portal for players.

However, a deeper analysis reveals that a key reason for the activation of consumer-end traffic is that the products and services offered by players genuinely fulfill market demands. So, what exactly are these products and services? Whether it's AI-powered information or services, they have undergone profound transformations through AI. In essence, players have already harnessed AI to deeply transform their industries. Following this transformation, the supply side has undergone a comprehensive and thorough overhaul.

From this vantage point, the true significance of AI lies not merely in attracting and activating consumer-end traffic but more in its profound and thorough transformation of the industrial landscape. After such a transformation, the industry itself undergoes a holistic change, and the supply and demand sides are once again harmonized.

We have consistently maintained that the industrial internet is essentially a process of deeply transforming industries. When AI begins to profoundly transform industries, the two converge into a unified stream. Therefore, the true value of AI lies in its industry-transforming potential, and after such a transformation, we will inevitably enter a genuine industrial internet era. Hence, AI and the industrial internet share aligned objectives.

The Operational Logic of AI Lies in Its Internet-Transforming Capabilities

We are all aware that following the deep empowerment and transformation of the 'Internet+' era, nearly every facet of people's lives has migrated online. At this juncture, the internet has become a standard feature, an infrastructure. Simply continuing the 'Internet+' model now faces escalating challenges, such as plateauing traffic and declining efficiency. How to transform the internet and make it a means to meet people's needs again has become a pivotal issue for every player to consider.

Against this backdrop, we observe more and more players starting to deploy AI, embrace AI, and utilize AI to address the challenges and problems encountered in their development. In essence, players aim to leverage AI to transform themselves, enabling their products and services to better serve consumer-end customers. Ultimately, the inherent operational logic of AI is a process of transforming the internet with AI.

The changes we witness in how AI provides information on the internet, how it alters e-commerce supply models, and how it transforms content production methods are all direct manifestations of this logic. Through this approach, the internet undergoes a complete transformation. Whether it's the precise alignment of goods and information or the rapid iteration of content creation, these phenomena are direct reflections of this transformation.

In contrast, the industrial internet also represents a profound transformation of the internet. The reason is that under the industrial internet scenario, the internet itself has evolved into an industry, becoming an object of transformation just like other industries. From this perspective, the underlying operational logic of the industrial internet is a process of deeply transforming the internet and other industries. Therefore, the industrial internet and AI share certain parallels.

The Ultimate Goal of AI Is to Establish a New Supply-Demand Equilibrium

Why is the era of consumer internet gradually fading? In my view, a crucial reason is that the industrial operational model built upon traditional supply-demand patterns has begun to encounter challenges. On one hand, the supply side has become extremely diverse and abundant; on the other hand, the supply models of the supply side have struggled to meet the genuine needs of the demand side. Consequently, an imbalance has emerged between supply and demand. To achieve a new balance, it is necessary to reconstruct a new supply-demand equilibrium and implement new business models.

From this logic, the ultimate goal of the industrial internet is to address the supply-demand imbalance of the consumer internet era, thereby achieving a profound and comprehensive balance between the supply and demand sides. This is the ultimate pursuit of the industrial internet and a necessary endeavor for every player aspiring to make a mark in this field.

When AI emerges, particularly when it reestablishes the balance between the supply and demand sides through its unique methods, we observe similarities between AI and the industrial internet. Ultimately, the transformations AI brings to the internet and the fulfillment of consumer behavior patterns are all aimed at establishing a new supply-demand balance and achieving a new business model.

Therefore, the ultimate goal of AI shares similarities with that of the industrial internet. Both aim to achieve supply-demand balance and facilitate better alignment between the two sides. If we view the industrial internet era as a time of reestablishing supply-demand balance, then AI represents a novel form of achieving this balance. From this perspective, AI and the industrial internet also share certain parallels.

Epilogue

As players begin to deploy AI from both software and hardware perspectives, we witness the commencement of a new battle for traffic entry points. However, the competition for traffic entry points is merely a superficial phenomenon. From a deeper perspective, the current deployment of AI by players resembles a prelude to the industrial internet. Through AI, the industrial internet is beginning to transition from an ideal to a reality. In the future, as AI gradually matures, the industrial internet will truly emerge, unleashing new industrial dividends. Seizing the new opportunities presented by AI and actively embracing the industrial internet may hold the key to unlocking the next era of new dividends.