China leads the world in the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), according to a study released on Tuesday, which analysts said signals China's technological advancement and bright prospects for the country's AI sector.
AI usage among Chinese respondents jumped to 83 percent, according to a report by U.S. AI and analytics software company SAS and Coleman Parks Research, which surveyed 1,600 decision makers in major markets around the world.
The survey found that the use of generative AI is growing around the world, with the greatest growth occurring in China. Specifically, China's adoption rate of generative AI is higher than 16 other countries and regions, and surpasses the United States, where only 65% of respondents said they are using generative AI.
The market size of AI-generated content in China's e-commerce industry is expected to triple to 1.2 billion yuan ($171.4 million) in 2024. This significant increase indicates the growing importance and effectiveness of generative AI tools in improving brand sales and driving traffic for e-commerce brands, Wu Bin, CEO of InfiMind, a Beijing-based AI technology solutions provider for the fashion and e-commerce industries, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Yang Junjie, CEO of Shanghai-based startup MiniMax, told the Global Times that the rapid adoption of large-scale language models (LLMs) and enterprise data in developing custom generative AI applications will drive significant market growth. Yang said the long-term outlook for generative AI is promising.
“As the cost of LLM services for enterprises continues to fall, we can expect to see Chinese enterprises adopt generative AI at a faster pace in the coming years,” Yang noted.
A recent United Nations report found that China topped the list of patent applications for generative AI over the past decade. Industry insiders say all these signs point to China's rapid growth in the field of generative AI.
Generative AI continues to transform multiple business sectors in China, and as its adoption accelerates across sectors, observers say the benefits of its applications include cost reduction and revenue increase.
Looking at specific industries, respondents working in TMT, retail, insurance, banking, and life sciences reported the greatest increase in their use of generative AI.
Generative AI can be used to create new content such as audio, code, images, text, simulations, videos, etc. Some of the most common generative models in use today include large-scale language models like those powering ChatGPT, which can create language and text, and diffusion models, which create images and videos.
Generative AI has made great strides since ChatGPT launched in November 2022. Leveraging China's large market size and home-grown innovation, numerous generative AI applications have emerged in China, including short video creation, e-commerce, and education.
For example, in e-commerce and short-form video platforms, generative AI can enable greater levels of personalization, enabling more dynamic and efficient content creation.
According to a report released last week by the United Nations' World Intellectual Property Organization, China is leading the race to generate patents, filing more than 38,000 patent applications between 2014 and 2023, compared to just 6,276 applications from the United States in the same period. Top Chinese patent filers include TikTok owner ByteDance, Tencent, Ping An Insurance Group and Baidu.
Generative AI is driving economic growth. A 2023 McKinsey report predicts that generative AI will add up to $4.4 trillion in value to the global economy annually, which would increase AI's impact by 15-40%. In another recent report on China, McKinsey predicts that generative AI will be a major contributor to the Chinese economy, potentially boosting GDP by up to $2 trillion. This is part of a broader $6 trillion economic impact that AI is expected to generate in China.
