As AI increasingly intertwines with a broadening array of scenarios and industries, its evolution has reached a pivotal juncture. If AI were likened to a fruit tree, it has now entered a bountiful harvest season. It is at this precise moment that we observe a growing number of entities integrating AI with specific sectors and linking it to particular business operations. The continuous introduction of embodied intelligent robots, the ongoing open-sourcing of large-scale models, and the emergence of the 'AI+' paradigm are all direct indicators of this trend.

As this phase unfolds, AI transcends its role as a mere compelling narrative for the capital market, evolving into a novel entity that leverages its capabilities to drive business improvements and breakthroughs. For any entity aiming to make a significant impact at this stage, identifying a genuinely suitable development model for AI and effectively utilizing it to foster new growth could be the linchpin.

It is this realization that underscores the new dividends unleashed after AI's deep integration with specific industries and businesses, the fresh imagination sparked by its profound fusion with particular scenarios, and the novel opportunities for empowering industry scenarios that AI presents. So, what kind of imagination can AI open up for us at this juncture? What possibilities does AI offer us?

AI: The New Gateway to Traffic

From the early days of large-scale models to subsequent AI-powered intelligent dialogues, and now to AI-enabled phones, AI's connection with us is becoming increasingly intimate. If the internet was previously the gateway to traffic, then AI now represents the new frontier. For entities seeking fresh growth in an era of market saturation, AI undoubtedly presents a highly promising avenue.

To position AI as the new gateway to traffic, a strategic entry point must be identified, and that entry point is AI products. It is in this pursuit that we witness entities focusing on the development of large-scale models, garnering traffic through various tools derived from them; we see entities emphasizing AI's transformation of hardware, from AI phones to AI glasses, and extending to embodied intelligent robots, all of which are strategies to unlock new traffic gateways.

In essence, at this new stage where AI is beginning to mature and take shape, what truly tests entities is no longer the early布局 (strategic positioning) as before, nor the strategic planning as before, but rather how to derive more AI products and services and then leverage these to garner as much traffic as possible. At this juncture, AI has become a vehicle for entities to potentially achieve new traffic growth in a saturated market. For entities, developing as many AI products and services as possible and maximizing traffic utilization through AI have become pivotal factors determining current success.

Just as the previous internet era saw the rise of social media, e-commerce, gaming, and content businesses, in the AI era, deriving new products and services tailored to this era and leveraging them to gain more traffic is the key to entities making a mark. It is this realization that prompts some entities to develop AI software products, while others focus on AI hardware products. Ultimately, they all aim to gain new traffic and achieve new business evolution through this approach.

AI: A New Means of Industrial Empowerment

Currently, an industrial iteration and update are underway. Nearly all industries, whether traditional or emerging, are undergoing a profound transformation from within. Ultimately, the previous supply methods can no longer meet consumer demands. Only through supply-side reforms, achieving industrial iteration and upgrades, can cost reduction and efficiency improvement be realized, and better meet the new demands of consumers. Against this backdrop, we observe a growing number of entities turning their attention to AI.

During the recent Double 11 shopping festival, we witnessed how e-commerce entities utilized AI to drive changes in the upstream industrial sector, thereby reducing operational costs at the industrial end while also meeting the new demands of C-end consumers. Similarly, as AI drives internal renewal in the e-commerce sector, we are also witnessing the dawn of a new era of content production, exemplified by the emergence of AI tools. Whether in the graphic and text domain or in the short video and live streaming sphere, AI's presence is becoming increasingly prominent.

It can be said that AI has now evolved into a crucial means of industrial empowerment. For entities, especially those in the industrial sector, deeply empowering their core business scenarios with AI, altering the underlying operational logic of industries with AI, and thereby achieving new iterations and upgrades is the key to ensuring their transition from the consumer internet era to the industrial internet era.

When this stage arrives, for entities, the crux lies in how to apply AI to specific business scenarios, deeply empower them with AI, and then use real business scenarios to feed back into AI, promoting its better evolution, and thereby achieving synergy between the two. Identifying the correct methods to empower industries with AI will directly influence whether entities can achieve sustainable development in this new stage.

AI: The Breeding Ground for New Businesses

With the gradual implementation of AI, particularly its deep integration with industries and scenarios, new business models are beginning to emerge. It is precisely the emergence of these new businesses that fuels the continuous development and evolution of AI. It is foreseeable that as AI continues to be implemented, it will give rise to even more novel business models.

If we view the business models of the internet era as those dominated by platformization and centralization, then in the AI era, a new business model characterized by deplatformization and decentralization will emerge. Under such a model, entities' profitability will no longer hinge on market size or efficiency speed but on the depth of industry involvement, the breadth of industry transformation, and the degree of integration between B-end and C-end.

Therefore, for any entity aiming to make a mark in the AI era, fostering new business models to support their development could be the right path. Currently, we have already witnessed AI achieving cost reduction and efficiency improvement by replacing elements of traditional industries and driving iteration and upgrades by transforming their internal operational logic.

However, mere achievements in these areas are insufficient. In the future, we need to truly form a comprehensive set of business models derived from these methods, thereby achieving harmonious interaction between AI's supply and output. Ultimately, in the AI era, we still need to achieve seamless integration between the upstream and downstream of industries and real-time interaction to unlock more new development opportunities. So, what kind of new business will emerge in the AI era? The author believes that in the AI era, a new business characterized by the integration of digital and physical, virtual and real will emerge. Under such a new business mechanism, AI entities will more likely realize their value by upgrading industrial efficiency and meeting consumer-end demands. Recognizing this point enables us to truly identify the correct development paths and methods.

The Final Word

As AI begins to mature, particularly when AI-based products and applications start to permeate more industries and scenarios, the certainty of AI's role becomes increasingly pronounced. In a sense, AI has begun to serve as a new gateway to traffic, a new means of industrial empowerment, and a new breeding ground for deriving new businesses. Recognizing the profound changes in AI's internal logic and exploring more possibilities for AI can truly maximize its function and role, propelling AI's development to a new stage.