What kind of sparks will be generated when artificial intelligence encounters automation technology? The 2024 China Automation Conference held in Qingdao, Shandong recently showcased a scene where artificial intelligence and automation are deeply integrated, pushing automation technology to a higher level. The ever-changing automation technology is bursting with new vitality through unprecedented fusion innovation and cutting-edge breakthroughs, rapidly developing in a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, empowering thousands of industries and the future world. Deep integration and innovative development "The deep integration of artificial intelligence and automation will change the world. We should grasp the development direction of artificial intelligence and automation and push China's automation technology to a higher level." Zheng Nanning, academician of the CAE Member and chairman of the Chinese Society of Automation, said at the opening ceremony of the conference. Experts attending the meeting believe that artificial intelligence is driving automation technology to penetrate into various industries. Artificial intelligence enables automation systems to adapt to environmental changes and make autonomous decisions, bringing broad development space for automation technology. At this conference, the team led by Professor Li Shaoyuan, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Automation and Vice President of Qingdao University of Science and Technology, presented the latest research achievements of artificial intelligence technology in the field of flexible manufacturing production scheduling. We have relied on artificial intelligence technology and combined it with the unique advantages of automation technology to achieve intelligent scheduling of production processes, as well as precise control of product quality, significantly improving production efficiency and product qualification rate. This achievement not only injects new vitality into the field of intelligent manufacturing, but also demonstrates the enormous potential of deep integration between artificial intelligence and automation technology. As an important engine of new quality productivity, artificial intelligence not only represents the forefront trend of technology, but also a key driving force for future economic development. "Professor Li Shaoyuan said in an interview with the Economic Reference News that various industries are exploring a new model of" artificial intelligence+industrial development "to accelerate the formation and development of new quality productivity. Taking the tire industry as an example. Guan Bingzheng, Deputy Director of the National Rubber and Tire Engineering Technology Research Center and Chairman and President of Soft Control Co., Ltd., introduced that as a major tire manufacturing country, China's tire production accounts for more than 50% of the world's total. However, the tire manufacturing process is a mixed manufacturing mode of process and discrete, facing challenges such as complete information, mechanism experience, and quality control, which poses a huge challenge to the high-quality, high-efficiency, and highly consistent manufacturing of tire products. Through the application of artificial intelligence technology, knowledge parameterization, parameter software, and software platformization have been promoted. After years of process innovation, material innovation, and equipment innovation, China has now achieved breakthroughs in giant engineering tires. At present, we have widely applied industrial vision technology, which solves the problem of 'black+black' in the tire manufacturing process, because black materials and black backgrounds are difficult to distinguish. At present, we have applied this technology and achieved a detection accuracy of over 99.7% Guan Bingzheng said. Open a bigger imagination. The Research Report on the Development of China's Digital Economy (2024) released by the China Information and Communication Research Institute shows that by the end of 2023, the scale of China's artificial intelligence core industry is close to 580 billion yuan, and three agglomeration development zones, namely, Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, have been formed. The number of core enterprises exceeds 4400, ranking second in the world. In addition, China has built more than 2500 digital workshops and smart factories. Through intelligent transformation, the research and development cycle has been shortened by about 20.7%, production efficiency has been improved by about 34.8%, the defect rate has been reduced by about 27.4%, and carbon emissions have been reduced by about 21.2%. It is an undeniable fact that artificial intelligence is accelerating its application in various industries. In response, attending experts have also proposed new ideas and paradigms. Yu Haibin, an academician of the CAE Member and a researcher of the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the manufacturing industry is the pillar and power engine of national economic development. In the critical period when the manufacturing industry is transforming from digital to intelligent, it is facing technical challenges such as weak innovative design capability, low level of intelligent automation, and poor resilience of the industrial chain supply chain. The development prospects and space for intelligent manufacturing are enormous, and the advantages of massive manufacturing data should be leveraged to achieve automation and intelligence of knowledge and business processes, meeting key needs such as integrated design and manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, and green manufacturing. Academician Yu Haibin also looked forward to the comprehensive and systematic empowerment of advanced manufacturing industry by industrial artificial intelligence, and proposed that artificial intelligence technology must follow the development law of "moving from digital to physical" in order to truly become the cornerstone of new quality productivity. Zhang Chenghui, Executive Director of the Chinese Society of Automation and Professor at Shandong University, looked forward to the prospect of deep integration between the metaverse and new energy systems. Zhang Chenghui pointed out that the large-scale development and utilization of new energy has become a global consensus and China's national strategy, and information control technology directly determines the success or failure of energy transformation. The control system is related to the core indicators of new energy utilization, directly determining the system capacity, performance, and power generation. It should replace hardware with software and increase performance with intelligence. However, the essence of new energy systems is a highly dynamic, nonlinear, and strongly coupled complex giant system, facing challenges such as high efficiency power generation optimization, high reliability grid control, and large capacity control. The deep integration of metaverse and new energy systems will provide a new paradigm for intelligent control of new energy. In Li Shaoyuan's view, the application of AI technology in the industrial field in China has three significant advantages: first, the application scenarios are rich and diverse, and the market demand potential is huge, providing fertile soil for the practical application of AI technology; Secondly, the scientific research strength is increasing day by day. China has made many breakthroughs in the research and development of artificial intelligence technology, and the competitiveness of scientific research teams and enterprises has significantly improved; Thirdly, the policy environment continues to be optimized, and the government's support for artificial intelligence technology is constantly increasing. To maintain and expand these advantages, we should deepen technological innovation and consolidate the core competitiveness of artificial intelligence technology; Strengthen talent cultivation and introduction, and build a high-level artificial intelligence talent pool; At the same time, actively participate in international exchanges and cooperation, and jointly lead the healthy and orderly development of artificial intelligence technology Li Shaoyuan said. Li Shaoyuan believes that the current obstacles faced by the application of artificial intelligence technology in advanced manufacturing mainly include difficulties in technology implementation, data security and privacy protection issues, and a shortage of professional talents. The most urgent issue is how technology can be seamlessly integrated into the actual production process to achieve a true "smart manufacturing" transformation. We urgently need to deepen technological innovation, strengthen the ability to integrate technology with practice, and ensure that artificial intelligence technology can accurately solve pain points in the manufacturing industry. At the same time, we need to build a comprehensive data security guarantee system to ensure privacy and security in the process of data circulation and application. In addition, we need to broaden the path of talent cultivation, promote the growth of interdisciplinary and cross disciplinary composite talents, and lay a solid foundation for the deep application of artificial intelligence technology in advanced manufacturing