Currently, a transformative AI revolution is sweeping across all sectors.

To encapsulate this revolution, leveraging AI to accomplish tasks that were unattainable in the Internet era, and achieving goals that remain elusive even now, represents a pivotal direction.

Fintech, a fruit borne and nurtured in the Internet era, naturally finds itself entering a new cycle propelled by AI.

Today, frontrunners like Tencent and JD.com have undertaken a profound and comprehensive transformation of fintech through AI.

This transformation not only elevates fintech to a new stage of development but also fosters boundless new imaginative spaces.

It is no overstatement to say that for any player aiming to make a mark in the new AI era, emulating Tencent and JD.com in exploring ways for fintech and AI to coexist could be the key to their success.

If we consider the Internet era as the anchor point for fintech, then the advent of the AI era will undoubtedly propel fintech into a new, vast ocean of opportunities.

In this new blue ocean, the imaginative space opened up by fintech may surpass even that of the previous Internet era.

So, what transformations will fintech undergo in the AI era?

AI Reinvigorates Fintech Efficiency

One of the key reasons for fintech's immense impact and imaginative potential lies in its significant enhancement of the financial industry's operational efficiency through the Internet.

This improvement is evident not only in consumer-end payments but also in business-end empowerment and transformation.

Today, for consumers, mobile payments have greatly streamlined daily life, while for businesses, fintech has started empowering and transforming them across various facets.

Although fintech efficiency saw a remarkable boost in the Internet era, this improvement was still constrained by traditional concepts and original operating processes.

Ultimately, fintech merely eliminated intermediaries through the Internet to improve financial industry efficiency, and little more.

As the Internet's influence deepens, especially with the dawn of the digital era, merely superficial efficiency improvements start encountering increasing problems and challenges.

Disparities between efficiency gains and risk management, mismatches between singular empowerment methods and diverse needs... many issues begin to surface. To address these, new technologies must be employed to further bolster fintech efficiency.

With AI, the alignment between fintech products and needs becomes more precise and efficient. AI enables full-process, full-chain risk management and control in fintech. Additionally, AI diversifies and comprehensively enhances fintech's empowerment methods.

Therefore, if we seek to understand the AI era's significance for fintech, reinvigorating its efficiency stands as a crucial aspect.

AI Rediscovers the Essence of Fintech

Whether it's Internet finance or fintech, their core essence lies in deeply and comprehensively empowering and transforming both consumer and business ends.

Hence, each era has its unique "fintech" manifestation.

If we view Internet finance as the "fintech" of the Internet era, then digital finance is the "fintech" of the digital technology era. When the AI era arrives, AI finance will be its "fintech".

However, regardless of the era, "fintech" shares a common trait: presenting its essence as fully as possible.

In the Internet finance era, players embodied the essence of financial services for the masses through the Internet. In the digital finance era, players embodied the essence of financial services for the real economy via digital technology. Then, in the AI finance era, players must further embody the essence of fintech through AI.

So, how will players rediscover the essence of fintech in the AI era?

In the author's opinion, in the AI era, fintech begins to shift from passive to active, from singular to diverse, and from fragmented to full-process.

It can be said that after being refined in the AI era, fintech's essence will be further illuminated.

For fintech, with AI as a game-changer, its essence can be presented even more profoundly.

In this process, new opportunities and markets will inevitably emerge, fostering new blue oceans.

Hints of this can be seen in Tencent and JD.com's AI endeavors.

It can be argued that it is precisely because Tencent and JD.com have rediscovered the essence of fintech through AI that they can pierce through the fog, traverse the cyclical darkness, and usher in true enlightenment.

AI Redefines the Attributes of Fintech

We all know that in the Internet era, Internet finance primarily focused on meeting user needs within that era, while in the digital era, digital finance aimed to meet user needs in the digital context.

Each transformation in fintech's attributes is essentially aimed at satisfying evolving user needs.

As the AI era dawns, especially when user needs in this era start to evolve, fintech's attributes will inevitably transform once more.

If we encapsulate the AI era, it is an era of complete integration between the virtual and real economies.

Whether it's the large models, humanoid robots, or even agents we see, they all adhere to this underlying logic.

For fintech, the AI era signifies another transformation of its attributes.

In the past, fintech's attributes were more passive, whereas in the AI era, they are more active.

Previously, fintech's attributes were more virtual, whereas in the AI era, they embody a fusion of virtual and real.

In the past, fintech's attributes were relatively independent of the industry, whereas in the AI era, they are deeply and comprehensively integrated into the industry.

When fintech's attributes undergo these transformations in the AI era, they will undoubtedly unleash greater development potential and present new opportunities for players.

Conclusion

As AI continuously opens up new development avenues for diverse industries, fintech is bound to undergo a transformative evolution.

For fintech, this represents a new blue ocean.

It is no exaggeration to say that in the AI era, the development potential unleashed by fintech will surpass that of the previous Internet era.

As the curtain rises on the AI era, frontrunners like Tencent and JD.com have already delved into it, finding a new path for fintech's development through their exploration and practice. They are pioneering a new blue ocean for fintech in the AI era.

If all goes well, players led by Tencent and JD.com will steer fintech into a brand-new stage of development.