On October 8th, the World Economic Forum released the latest batch of "lighthouse factories" list, with "artificial intelligence" as the keyword behind this list. More than 70% of the 22 selected manufacturing companies have achieved their goals of "increasing energy" or "reducing carbon" through the use of artificial intelligence technology. Of particular note is that out of the 22 newly established "lighthouse factories", 13 are from China. From this, it can be seen that Chinese enterprises are leading the world in exploring the effective utilization of emerging technologies through innovative development. In recent years, the discussion on whether artificial intelligence can continue to promote productivity improvement has become increasingly heated as emerging technologies assist in the development of global manufacturing. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has stated that artificial intelligence "may" have the potential to increase productivity growth, "but this will not happen in the short term. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence tools represented by big language models, people are increasingly aware that artificial intelligence technology has the potential to change the world. In September, the report "Governing AI, Helping to Benefit Humanity" issued by the United Nations High level AI Advisory Body said that although it is difficult to estimate all the impacts of AI on complex economies, the forecast shows that AI can significantly improve the global GDP and will bring changes to almost all production sectors. The report also points out that the widespread applicability of artificial intelligence means that it is likely to become a universal technology. Therefore, artificial intelligence can help individuals, businesses, and other organizations in developed and developing economies improve productivity in various fields such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare, and the public sector. It is precisely because the impact of technological development on the future of humanity is difficult to predict that the world urgently needs a group of leading enterprises to explore how to transform theory into reality and turn interesting technology into useful technology. In 2018, the World Economic Forum and McKinsey&Company jointly established the "Global Lighthouse Network" to encourage global manufacturing enterprises to fully explore and apply cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, and big data analysis, and provide innovative development ideas for the global manufacturing industry through trial and error. A group of companies selected for the "Global Lighthouse Network" this year have demonstrated through their actions that artificial intelligence technology can promote productivity development, create more business value, and achieve low-carbon development goals. For example, the selected China Taiyuan Heavy Industry Rail Transit Equipment Co., Ltd. has continuously improved production efficiency and product quality by adopting artificial intelligence and flexible automation technology, greatly reducing product defect rates and costs while increasing output. In addition, the Industrial Fulian Shenzhen Guanlan factory adopts emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things to optimize material recycling, track real-time carbon footprint, promote process innovation, and achieve sustainable development. It has been awarded the title of "Sustainable Lighthouse Factory" by the World Economic Forum. The discussion surrounding artificial intelligence is overwhelming, but its actual impact is often unsatisfactory. In this context, the newly emerged 'Global Lighthouse Factory' has risen against the trend and achieved tremendous benefits through the use of artificial intelligence, "said the World Economic Forum in evaluating these innovative enterprises. Human judgment is becoming increasingly important. Although a new batch of "lighthouse factories" have proven that artificial intelligence technology can improve productivity, it is not easy to make good use of this technology. The more artificial intelligence develops, the more it needs to test human abilities, and users of artificial intelligence technology need to clarify their own needs. The rise of generative artificial intelligence has also spurred the development of intelligent agents, including virtual artificial intelligence and embodied artificial intelligence, which are expected to achieve more autonomous operations. Therefore, humans will increasingly turn to strategic roles, and their judgment and creativity are crucial, "Benjamin Sch ö nfuss, an expert at the Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chain Center of the World Economic Forum, said in an interview with Guangming Daily reporters. The role that artificial intelligence technology plays in the hands of different users is completely different. The World Economic Forum believes that the Haier Jiaozhou Air Conditioning Interconnected Factory, which has been shortlisted as an "end-to-end lighthouse factory", has adopted technologies such as big data, advanced algorithms, and generative artificial intelligence to optimize the entire value chain, greatly shorten the design cycle and order delivery time, and reduce overseas market failure rates in order to meet the rapidly growing global demand and solve the problem of lagging response in research and development, delivery, and after-sales service. It is precisely the precise grasp of artificial intelligence technology capabilities and their own needs that has led to a significant increase in productivity in the factory. While focusing on artificial intelligence technology, enterprises also need to fully utilize "AI+" and open up the "brain holes" empowered by technology in order to maximize the benefits brought by technology. Artificial intelligence, as a universal technology, is indeed an important component of the digital transformation of many sites in the 'Global Lighthouse Network'. However, AI technology is not the only determining factor for success. The integration of AI with other technologies such as the Internet of Things and robotics is driving large-scale industrial transformation, "said Sch ö nfuss. Sanmen Nuclear Power Co., Ltd., which joined the "Single Factory Lighthouse" this time, received high praise from the World Economic Forum: "In order to improve operational safety, Sanmen Nuclear Power has deployed more than 40 use cases of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence technology and robot technology." According to reports, Sanmen Nuclear Power has developed an intelligent inspection robot that can achieve fixed-point timed automatic inspection and remote control operations. It uses computer vision modules to collect images and uses AI image recognition models for self-learning, realizing functions such as monitoring the operation status of system equipment, identifying and recording instrument data, and judging the effectiveness of ion exchange columns. It also completes automatic sorting, uploading, and trend diagnosis of inspection data, greatly improving the efficiency of operation inspection work. The practice of the newly established 'Lighthouse Factory' shows that artificial intelligence technology and other Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies can not only create business value, but also improve environmental sustainability and employee fit, "said Enno de Boer, Global Head of Enterprise Technology at McKinsey&Company. (New Society)