Industrial AI models key to innovation

The fourth session of the 13th Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is underway in Hangzhou from Jan 13 to 16, with artificial intelligence emerging as a key topic.

Luo Licheng, a member of the provincial CPPCC and president of Shenglong Group based in Ningbo, has proposed accelerating the development of industry-specific large AI models to support high-quality growth in Zhejiang's manufacturing sector.

Luo, who has led a manufacturing enterprise in the automotive components sector for many years, said his proposal is grounded in practical experience. He stated that the Shenglong Group has already integrated large-scale technologies into its research and development processes, thereby reducing errors in product design and validation, and significantly enhancing R&D efficiency.

He added that large volumes of production data accumulated through earlier digital upgrades are now being transformed into productivity gains with the application of AI. At the same time, the rapid expansion of the AI industry has driven new demand for hardware, opening up fresh growth opportunities for manufacturing companies.

Luo said general-purpose AI models often struggle to meet the complex and highly specific needs of manufacturing scenarios, which is why he advocates the development of industrial large models tailored to sectoral applications.

He suggested integrating computing power, data resources, and application scenarios across the province to promote the deployment of industrial AI models throughout the entire manufacturing value chain, including R&D, production, and end-user services.

Luo said AI should ultimately function as basic infrastructure for manufacturing, comparable to utilities such as electricity, water, and gas.