For decades, one question has remained at the center of public debate: Where will technological innovation ultimately take human society?
Today, as artificial intelligence becomes one of the world’s most closely watched subjects, we are discussing far more than a technological breakthrough. We are witnessing a new industrial revolution—and, more fundamentally, a paradigm shift.
This transformation will not only reshape industries, but also profoundly influence economic structures, the functioning of society and the future of humanity. Its most consequential changes will not be confined to laboratories, factories or businesses. They are already reaching communities, cities and the everyday lives of individuals.
Throughout human history, every industrial revolution has fundamentally transformed the way goods and services are produced. The First Industrial Revolution introduced machines as substitutes for physical labor. The Second enabled mass production. The Third accelerated digitalization and globalization.
Factories were the primary setting for the transformative changes brought about by previous industrial revolutions. Today, however, a new trend is emerging. Artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things and digital twins are converging at an unprecedented pace. Technological innovation is moving beyond traditional industrial boundaries and becoming deeply integrated into the systems through which society operates.
The defining feature of the new industrial revolution is therefore not simply the intelligent transformation of production, but the intelligent transformation of society itself. In the past, attention centered on “smart factories.” In the future, the focus will increasingly shift toward “smart communities,” “smart cities” and, ultimately, a “smart society.”
For the first time, an industrial revolution will affect the living environments of ordinary people on a massive scale. Communities will serve as one of the most important entry points for this transformation.
Every genuine technological revolution creates both opportunities and challenges. Research suggests that AI could positively contribute to 79 percent of the targets under the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, while potentially having adverse effects on 35 percent of them. These findings demonstrate that AI is not inherently a force for good. Its impact depends on whom it serves, which problems it is used to address and what governance frameworks are established around it.
Among these challenges, the most urgent, in my view, is employment. AI is restructuring jobs and industries on a large scale. The central question is no longer simply whether AI will replace certain jobs, but whether new employment opportunities can be created quickly enough—and who will help workers acquire the skills needed to make the transition.
The most profound challenge posed by AI is the fundamental transformation of education and learning. In the AI era, access to knowledge is becoming easier than ever. The essential human capability is shifting from finding answers to asking the right questions, and from accumulating and retrieving information to thinking independently, integrating knowledge across disciplines and exercising genuine creativity.
The most immediate practical challenge is identifying industry-scale applications. AI cannot remain confined to smartphones, computers, exhibition halls or demonstration systems. It must be integrated into real industries, cities, communities and people’s daily lives. It must address the most urgent and tangible problems facing society while generating solutions and business models that can be replicated and scaled.
In my view, the greatest opportunities created by AI also lie within these real-world applications. Communities and cities are the most important platforms for connecting technological innovation with human needs.
In recent years, a common trend has become visible in China and around the world: AI is moving from industrial applications into everyday life.
A community is both a physical space and a network of human relationships. It encompasses buildings, roads, green spaces and public areas, as well as public safety, transportation management, community governance, social services, neighborly support, and care and inclusion for older people, children, persons with disabilities and other groups.
From the perspective of AI applications, communities have five defining characteristics: they are where populations are most concentrated, public services are most diverse, social governance is most complex, patterns of energy consumption are most varied and data generation is most active.
In this sense, the largest AI laboratories of the future will not be located inside companies or universities. They will be found in the countless communities functioning in the real world.
Communities are where the value of the new industrial revolution will ultimately be realized. The defining competition will no longer be limited to the parameters and performance of AI models. It will increasingly concern whether advanced digital technologies can solve real problems and deliver meaningful improvements in people’s lives.
Artificial intelligence is already transforming community governance and public services.
In elderly care, AI can support health monitoring, early-warning systems and home-based care. In healthcare, AI-assisted diagnosis and telemedicine are helping extend high-quality medical resources to primary-level institutions within integrated healthcare networks.
In community safety, AI can identify risks and enable proactive intervention. In energy management, it can optimize building performance and support green, low-carbon development. In property management and public services, AI-powered digital platforms can improve the allocation of resources and enhance residents’ experience.
The value of AI applications, however, extends beyond reducing costs and improving efficiency. Their greater significance lies in changing the underlying logic of governance.
Traditionally, community governance has followed a reactive sequence: a problem occurs, the problem is identified and then action is taken to resolve it. In the future, governance will increasingly focus on anticipating and preventing problems before they occur. This represents a fundamental shift.
Communities are the building blocks of cities, while cities are networks of interconnected communities. The development of smart communities is therefore not merely a matter of improving local governance. It will also reshape the broader model of urban development.
In the past, cities were assessed largely according to hard indicators such as GDP, population size, infrastructure and industrial development. In the future, urban competitiveness will increasingly depend on three forms of soft capacity: the capacity to innovate, the capacity to govern and the capacity to provide services.
In the age of AI, cities need more than roads, electricity and communications networks. They also require data infrastructure, algorithmic capabilities and intelligent decision-making systems.
From this perspective, AI is emerging as a new form of urban infrastructure, following earlier generations of infrastructure such as water and electricity systems, roads and bridges, railways, highways, airports and 5G communications networks.
Competition among cities will increasingly depend on which cities can most rapidly translate AI capabilities into digital, governance and service capabilities—and which can most effectively turn their digital advantages into a greater sense of well-being among residents.
Sustainable Development Goal 11 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda calls for cities and human settlements to be inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. This should also guide the use of AI in urban development and the creation of digitally friendly communities.
Technology is not an end in itself. It is a means of serving humanity.
The most successful smart communities of the future will not simply be more intelligent. They must also be greener, more inclusive, more compassionate and more responsive to human needs.
Likewise, the most internationally connected smart cities will not be defined by technological leadership alone. They must make residents feel safer and allow them to benefit more fully from development. They must give newcomers a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging, promote greater harmony between humanity and nature, and enable individuals to participate in society with dignity.
China currently has one of the world’s most dynamic markets for digital applications, highly diverse experience in urban governance, and a comprehensive industrial and innovation ecosystem.
From digital government and smart community governance to green buildings and urban renewal, and from AI innovation to digital infrastructure, China is developing a growing body of experience and solutions with international relevance.
An increasing number of countries and cities—particularly across the Global South—are eager to understand and learn from China’s development experience. Digitally friendly communities and smart cities are likely to become an important new area of international cooperation.
China can contribute not only technologies, but also its experience, insights and practical solutions in community governance.
When we discuss communities today, we are ultimately discussing the future of society. When we discuss cities, we are ultimately discussing the future of civilization.
The most competitive cities of the future will not necessarily be those that rank first in GDP or other conventional indicators. They will be the cities that are first to translate technological innovation into tangible improvements in residents’ well-being.
Similarly, the most successful countries will not necessarily be those with the largest number of publicly listed high-tech companies. They will be the countries that are first to ensure that the benefits of the new industrial revolution reach every community, every family and every individual.
Let us work together to bring artificial intelligence into communities, place it at the service of residents and harness it to empower cities. In doing so, we can contribute to a smarter, greener, more inclusive and more sustainable future for humanity.
This article is adapted from a keynote address delivered by Professor Yabin Wu, Secretary-General of the Global New Industrial Revolution Alliance and Executive Director of Artificial Intelligence Sustainable Development Hub, at the Digital-Friendly Communities Forum of the Global Digital Economy Conference, held in Beijing on July 4, 2026.
