AI for Everyone, Part 3: How AI is changing the world

Picture this: The soft glow of dawn filters into your room, and your smart home's AI gently rouses you. It then smoothly transitions to today's weather forecast, followed by a personalized news briefing from yesterday, tailored just for you. After breakfast, you step into an AI-powered car for your commute. Sipping coffee, you effortlessly skim through emails already condensed by AI, ready to dive into a productive workday.

Just a few years ago, such scenes belonged purely to the realm of science fiction. Today, they're quietly weaving themselves into the fabric of our daily lives. From the voice assistant in your pocket to the intelligent surveillance systems humming in subway stations, AI is no longer a distant dream.

Over the last decade, AI has burst out of the lab and into the real world. It has found practical applications in vital sectors like medical diagnosis, traffic management, and content creation, achieving some truly remarkable successes along the way.

So, how exactly is AI reshaping our world? And what led it to become such an indispensable part of our everyday existence? Let's explore these questions together in this article.

1. The Power Behind AI: What Makes It So Capable?

1.1 What are the features of AI?

At its heart, Artificial Intelligence aims to mimic human thought processes, all while extending the very boundaries of human intelligence. Its key characteristics include:

• Learning Ability: AI can learn independently by analyzing vast quantities of data, constantly refining its own performance. Thanks to advancements like machine learning and deep learning, AI gains knowledge from data in ways traditional programming simply cannot.
• Adaptability: AI possesses the flexibility to adjust its strategies based on environmental shifts, enabling it to respond effectively to new and unforeseen circumstances. This adaptability is crucial for tackling complex, real-world challenges.
• Automated Decision-Making: AI is capable of making independent decisions with minimal human input. This feature proves especially valuable when managing large-scale, repetitive tasks efficiently.
• Pattern Recognition: AI excels at uncovering patterns and trends within data – often spotting subtle or intricate connections that humans might easily miss.
• High-Speed Processing: AI can accomplish tasks in mere seconds that would demand hours from a human. Whether it’s sifting through thousands of images for specific content or sifting through massive document collections for relevant information, AI brings unparalleled speed and scale to data analysis.

1.2 What are the capabilities of AI?

When it comes to understanding and communication, modern AI already grasps natural language much like humans do. It not only processes written text but also interprets speech, recognizes images, and even analyzes video content. Let’s give a brief overview of the main capabilities of AI:

2. AI's Profound Influence Across Industries

2.1 How AI is Revolutionizing Healthcare

AI is fundamentally reshaping healthcare operations, leading to significant advancements in diagnostic accuracy and treatment effectiveness.

• Medical Imaging Diagnostics

  AI is now widely integrated into medical image analysis. It not only accelerates diagnoses but also dramatically boosts their accuracy. For instance, in the U.S., Google's DeepMind developed an AI system that achieved 94% accuracy in diagnosing retinal diseases, surpassing the 88% average of human specialists. In China, Infervision's AI products are installed in over 300 hospitals nationwide, having assisted in diagnosing more than 10 million patients.

• Accelerating Drug Discovery

  Traditional drug development can span 10-15 years and cost billions. AI is drastically speeding up this process. UK-based Exscientia, for example, used AI to cut new drug discovery time from 4.5 years to just 12 months. In China, Alibaba's AI drug R&D platform played a crucial role in screening potential COVID-19 treatments.

• Personalized Medicine

  AI can analyze a patient's genetic profile, medical history, and lifestyle to create highly individualized treatment plans. IBM Watson for Oncology in the U.S. boasts over 90% accuracy in recommending cancer treatments.

• Telemedicine and Health Monitoring

  During the pandemic, AI proved indispensable for remote healthcare systems. For example, Ping An's AI medical assistant handled over a million consultations daily.

AI is transforming healthcare by improving diagnosis accuracy, personalizing treatments, and accelerating drug discovery.

2.2 Smarter Financial Technologies

The financial sector stands as one of AI's most mature application grounds, leading the way in both technology adoption and depth of integration.

• Risk Control and Anti-Fraud

  AI has significantly sharpened financial risk detection capabilities. Alibaba's Ant Group employs a smart risk control system that can assess risk in milliseconds, identifying fraud with over 99.9% accuracy. This system processes more than 100 million transactions daily, recovering billions in losses for users.

• Intelligent Investment Services

  AI-powered advisory services now offer professional investment guidance to everyday investors. BlackRock's Aladdin system, which manages over $20 trillion in assets, leverages AI for risk analysis and optimizing investment portfolios.

• Quantitative Trading Strategies

  In the realm of quantitative trading, AI has completely transformed traditional approaches. Top quantitative hedge funds like Renaissance Technologies have achieved impressive annual returns exceeding 30% thanks to their sophisticated AI algorithms.

• Optimizing Credit Decisions

  Within financial institutions, AI can evaluate a borrower's credit risk with greater precision. WeBank's AI credit system can approve loans in mere minutes, maintaining a non-performing loan ratio below 1%.

The application of AI in the financial field, with its intelligent and efficient characteristics, makes up for the shortcomings of manual processing in the traditional financial field.

2.3 Intelligent Manufacturing

Manufacturing, the bedrock of the real economy, is transitioning towards smarter, digitized operations with the aid of AI.

• Quality Inspection and Control

  AI vision inspection systems are crucial for ensuring product quality. Siemens' AI quality inspection system can detect minute defects invisible to the naked eye, boosting detection accuracy by 90%. Foxconn has deployed AI quality inspection systems on its iPhone production lines, making inspections ten times more efficient than manual methods.

• Predictive Maintenance

  By analyzing equipment data, AI can predict machinery failures, allowing for proactive maintenance. General Electric's Predix platform has helped clients save up to 20% on maintenance costs and reduce equipment downtime by 35%.

• Supply Chain Optimization

  In supply chain management, AI applications not only enhance efficiency but also cut costs. Amazon's AI supply chain system can predict demand fluctuations and optimize inventory placement, shortening delivery times by several hours.

• Personalized Customization

  AI makes large-scale personalized customization a reality. Haier's COSMOPlat platform uses AI to precisely match user needs, reducing delivery time for custom products by 50%.

AI in the manufacturing industry has significantly improved processes such as quality inspection and predictive maintenance, helping factories ensure safer and more efficient production.

2.4 The Smart Revolution in Transportation

AI applications in transportation are redefining how we move, significantly boosting both safety and efficiency.

• Autonomous Driving Technology

  Self-driving cars are quietly transforming our commutes. Tesla's Autopilot system, for example, has accumulated over 3 billion miles of real-world driving. Crucially, its accident rate is a staggering ten times lower than that of human drivers. Meanwhile, Baidu's Apollo is aggressively expanding in major Chinese cities, with testing mileage already surpassing 10 million kilometers.

• Intelligent Traffic Management

  In urban settings, AI technology has considerably improved city traffic flow. China's Hangzhou "City Brain" project reduced congestion by 15% and cut ambulance arrival times by 50%.

• Logistics Delivery Optimization

  In logistics, AI has enhanced the efficiency and accuracy of the entire system. JD.com's AI delivery system optimizes routes, boosting delivery efficiency by 30%. SF Express's AI sorting system can process tens of thousands of packages per hour with over 99.9% accuracy.

• Shared Mobility Services

  AI makes shared mobility services smarter and more convenient. Didi's AI dispatch system predicts ride demand and optimizes vehicle allocation, reducing average user waiting times by 20%.

AI in transportation has significantly transformed how people travel by leveraging advanced computing and decision-making capabilities. In densely populated countries like China, it plays a crucial role in easing urban traffic congestion.

2.5 Building Smart Cities

AI technology plays a pivotal role in developing smart cities, comprehensively elevating urban management from traffic control and environmental monitoring to public safety.

China's Hangzhou "City Brain" project has truly brought intelligence to the city. This not only offers convenience in daily life and commutes but also dramatically enhances the city's overall management capabilities.

2.6 Predicting Societal Impact

• Workplace Transformation

  AI has reshaped traditional work models. Human-AI collaboration will become standard, with individuals increasingly focusing on creative and strategic tasks.

• Lifestyle Upgrades

  AI technology promises to make life more convenient and intelligent, from smart homes to personalized assistants, thereby elevating the overall quality of life.

• Social Governance Innovation

  AI technology provides new tools and methods for social governance, improving the efficiency of government services and the quality of decision-making.

• Cultural and Educational Development

  AI is driving shifts in education, fostering knowledge sharing and cultural exchange.

From these examples, it's clear how seamlessly AI has integrated into our lives. Indeed, AI is not merely reshaping industries but actively propelling them into entirely new eras.

3. AI's Core Capabilities in Action

3.1 The Data Processing Revolution

• Processing Beyond Human Limits

  AI's outstanding data processing power is perhaps its most striking advantage. While traditional data analysis demands immense human effort and time, AI systems can churn through petabytes of data in mere seconds. Google's search engine, for instance, handles over 8.5 billion queries daily – a scale of data processing that would take human effort tens of thousands of years to complete.

• Powerful Real-Time Decision Support

  AI can process and analyze massive incoming data streams in real time, offering instant, data-driven insights for businesses and organizations. Amazon's recommendation system processes millions of user interaction data points every second, constantly tweaking product recommendations. This capability directly translates into billions of dollars in annual sales growth.

• Case Study: Netflix's Content Recommendation System

  Netflix's recommendation algorithm processes viewing data from over 167 million users, delving into details like watch duration, pause points, and re-watches. This system crunches over 30 trillion data points daily, achieving over 80% accuracy. According to Netflix's own figures, their recommendation system saves the company roughly $1 billion annually by reducing subscriber churn.

3.2 Unlocking Innovation

• Breaking Traditional Boundaries

  AI's innovative power stems from its ability to uncover patterns and connections that human eyes simply cannot perceive. In scientific research, AI is accelerating discovery. DeepMind's AlphaFold system successfully predicted the 3D structures of over 2 million proteins – a monumental task that might have taken human scientists centuries to complete.

• Cross-Domain Knowledge Fusion

  AI systems can synthesize knowledge from vastly different fields, generating truly interdisciplinary and novel solutions. IBM's Watson system, for example, can analyze a patient's medical records, lab results, medical literature, and clinical trial data simultaneously to offer more comprehensive diagnostic advice than even specialist doctors.

• Case Study: The AI Revolution in Drug Discovery

  British pharmaceutical company Exscientia leveraged AI to develop an anti-obsessive-compulsive disorder drug, DSP-1181. It moved from concept to clinical trials in just 12 months, a process that traditionally takes 10-15 years. The AI analyzed hundreds of thousands of compound molecular structures and biological activity data to pinpoint the most promising drug candidates.

3.3 Smart Decision Support Systems

• Risk Assessment and Management

  AI demonstrates incredible prowess in risk assessment and management. JPMorgan Chase's COIN (Contract Intelligence) system can analyze complex legal documents and identify potential risks in mere seconds – a job that previously demanded 360,000 hours from lawyers.

• Predictive Maintenance

  In manufacturing, AI-driven predictive maintenance systems can accurately forecast equipment failures, significantly reducing downtime and maintenance costs. General Electric (GE)'s Predix platform offers predictive maintenance services for industrial equipment worldwide, helping clients slash maintenance costs by 15-25%.

• Case Study: Tesla's Autonomous Driving Decision System

  Tesla's Autopilot system processes billions of miles of driving data daily from its global vehicle fleet, making complex driving decisions in real-time. The system can recognize road signs, pedestrians, and other vehicles, making split-second decisions like braking or steering. According to official Tesla data, vehicles using Autopilot have an accident rate ten times lower than human drivers.

3.4 Deep Customization for Personalized Experiences

• In-Depth User Behavior Analysis

  AI can analyze even the most subtle user behavior patterns to deliver highly personalized experiences. Spotify's music recommendation system, by scrutinizing listening history, skipped songs, and playlist creation habits, generates a unique "Discover Weekly" playlist for each user. Surveys reveal over 90% user satisfaction with this feature.

• Adaptive Learning Systems

  In education, AI-powered adaptive learning systems can dynamically adjust teaching content and methods based on a student's progress, comprehension level, and preferences. Khan Academy's personalized learning platform serves over 120 million students, utilizing AI algorithms to optimize learning paths and boost learning efficiency by more than 30%.

• Case Study: Amazon's Personalized Shopping Experience

  Amazon's recommendation system analyzes user purchase history, Browse records, search queries, and review behavior to curate a unique shopping experience for every customer. This system accounts for 35% of Amazon's total revenue, contributing over $140 billion in annual sales.

3.5 Endless Possibilities Across Domains

• Healthcare Revolution

  AI's applications in healthcare are quite literally saving lives. Google's DeepMind developed an AI eye diagnosis system that can detect over 50 types of eye diseases with more than 94% accuracy; it's already deployed in hospitals globally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AI systems also helped accelerate vaccine development and track virus mutations.

• Environmental Protection and Sustainability

  AI is playing a significant role in safeguarding our environment as well. Microsoft's AI for Earth project supports over 400 environmental protection initiatives worldwide, using AI to monitor deforestation, predict climate change, and optimize energy consumption.

• Case Study: AI Applications in Smart Cities

  Singapore's Smart Nation project leverages AI to optimize traffic flow, predict public facility demand, and monitor environmental quality. Statistics show that their AI traffic management system has reduced road congestion by 25%, improved energy efficiency by 15%, and cut city operating costs by 20%.

3.6 Continuous Technological Momentum

• Accelerating Algorithmic Innovation

  The rapid evolution of AI technology is fueling an acceleration in algorithmic innovation. The advent of the Transformer architecture, for instance, completely revolutionized natural language processing. The parameter count for GPT models, for example, skyrocketed from GPT-1's 117 million to GPT-3's 175 billion in just four years.

• Exponential Growth in Computing Power

  This is a direct result of AI's immense demands. Training and deploying AI requires massive computing power, which in turn drives the continuous development of high-performance hardware. NVIDIA, a U.S. company, stands as a prime example; their GPUs evolved from gaming graphics processors into central hardware for AI computation, boosting the company's market capitalization from $10 billion in 2016 to over $2 trillion in 2024.

• Case Study: The Generative AI Breakthrough

  OpenAI's ChatGPT garnered 100 million users in a mere two months after its release, making it the fastest-growing application in history. This generative AI technology has utterly transformed how work is done across various fields, including content creation, software development, and customer service.

AI's influence isn't limited to these industries and fields. According to a McKinsey Global Institute report, artificial intelligence has the potential to reshape up to 80% of work processes and become a key driver of future productivity growth.

4. AI Development: Opportunities and Challenges

AI's ascent brings not only incredible opportunities but also a host of new challenges. It has disrupted countless industries and job roles while simultaneously creating many others. While offering unparalleled convenience, it also confronts us with significant privacy, ethical, and moral dilemmas. It truly highlights the duality of progress, as philosophers often muse.

4.1 Opportunities for Growth

Technology Pushes Forward

Exponential growth in computing power, continuous algorithm optimization, and an explosion in data volume are powerfully propelling AI's progress. Emerging technologies like quantum computing and neuromorphic chips promise to further accelerate AI development and breakthroughs.

Expanding Use Cases

AI technology is now extending beyond highly digitized sectors like the internet and finance, deeply permeating traditional industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and construction. Its applications are constantly broadening. It’s fair to predict that in the near future, AI will become as indispensable as electricity in our world.

Stronger Policy Support

Governments worldwide are increasingly recognizing AI as a national strategic priority, introducing policies to bolster AI research, development, and adoption. Initiatives like China's "Next-Generation AI Development Plan," the EU's "AI Strategy," and the U.S.'s "National AI Initiative" all underscore this emphasis on AI development. From my perspective, this trend will likely lead to shifts in the global political landscape.

Maturing Industry Ecosystem

The AI industry’s ecosystem is steadily evolving, forming a comprehensive value chain from foundational chips and algorithm frameworks to top-layer applications. The vibrant open-source community also facilitates the widespread adoption and use of AI technologies, which, in turn, will spark the emergence of new industries, such as data labeling.

4.2 Facing Challenges

Technological Hurdles: Despite AI's rapid advancements, it still faces obstacles in areas like general intelligence, explainability, and robustness. How do we achieve true Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)?

Ethical and Moral Dilemmas: The widespread use of AI technology brings ethical concerns about privacy protection, algorithmic bias, and autonomy. How can we ensure AI systems are fair, transparent, and controllable?

Data Security and Privacy: Training and running AI systems demand massive amounts of data. How do we protect user privacy and data security? Regulations like Europe's GDPR and China's Data Security Law reflect the growing attention to this issue.

International Competition and Cooperation: AI technology has become a central point of international competition, with countries vying for dominance. The challenge for the global community is how to balance this competition with cooperation to prevent technological decoupling.

5. AI will bring us a different future

From healthcare to fintech, from manufacturing to transportation, AI is changing our world at an unprecedented speed and scale.

The success of ChatGPT, the breakthrough of AlphaFold, and the progress of Tesla's autonomous driving technology are typical cases that demonstrate the huge potential and broad prospects of AI technology. At the same time, we must also face up to the challenges faced in the development of AI, including technical bottlenecks, ethics, employment impact and other issues.

In the future, new technologies such as multimodal AI, edge AI, and neural symbolic combination will further expand the application boundaries of AI. In this process, we need to find a balance between technological innovation and social responsibility to ensure that the development of AI technology can truly benefit human society.

📚 Continue the Series:

AI for Everyone, Part 1: What is AI?

AI for Everyone, Part 2: How Does AI "Think" Like Humans?

AI for Everyone, Part 3: How AI is changing the world

AI for Everyone, Part 4: How to Learn AI as a Beginner: Step-by-Step Guide in 2025

AI for Everyone, Part 5: How to Talk to AI Effectively – 30 Golden Rules for AI Prompts