(Yicai) June 28 -- "This is the dawn before the artificial intelligence industry explodes," an academic from Peking University said recently, adding that AI will have a significant impact on economic development and even on social structures.

"AI can lift the economy to a new level of development, and it must be closely integrated with different industries and scenarios in order to maximize its potential," Zhang Ying, deputy dean of the Guanghua School of Management at Peking University, told Yicai during the 15th Summer Davos Forum.

Only when there is a multitude of application scenarios and when companies collect vast amounts of data can technologies and skills emerge that can truly influence human productivity, he said.

However, exactly what these changes will be is hard to say as the technology is still rapidly developing, Zhang said. Discussions on AI three months ago may be completely different from what is being discussed today or what will be discussed in half a year’s time.

"AI is without a doubt one of the hottest topics at this year's forum in Dalian," Zhang said. Businesses with abundant data and application scenarios, such as those in the healthcare and education sectors, are likely to be the first to make use of AI technology, he said.

China's manufacturing sector possesses a wide range of application scenarios and huge amounts of data, so local AI companies should invest a significant amount of resources to develop AI applications that can replace general technologies in factories, he said.

But companies need to adjust their way of thinking and organizational structure to truly leverage the benefits of AI, as the new era is very different from before. However, only a few firms possess the courage and ability to do this.

"The business development logic of most enterprises remains rooted in the industrial era, including their organizational structure and management models," Zhang said. In such circumstances, it becomes difficult for them to fully tap the value of their data resources, he added.

"Many enterprises' digital transformation efforts fail due to their being stuck in their ways," he said. The challenge of digital transformation lies in the need for a shift in thinking and adjustments to organizational structures. If these aspects remain unchanged, the full potential of AI will not be realized.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor