China's artificial intelligence push is increasingly moving beyond the race to build ever more powerful models, as the country seeks to work with international partners to turn its technological advances into practical tools for small businesses, classrooms and farms across the developing world, said leading industry experts at the annual congress of the Chinese Association of Automation (CAA) in Beijing.
The shift reflects a growing recognition that the future of AI will be shaped not only by who develops the most advanced technology, but also by who can make it accessible to millions of people and businesses that risk being left behind, they added.
Ewe Hong Tat, president of Malaysia's Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and the ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology (AAET), said: "China's strengths in AI research, industrial applications and talent development could help Southeast Asian economies accelerate their digital transformation."
"By connecting China's AI resources with regional engineering and academic networks, we would be able to provide more training, especially to the SMEs," he said, referring to small and medium-sized enterprises.
His remarks came as the CAA signed a four-party memorandum of understanding with AAET, UTAR and the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific, to establish an international AI application cooperation center serving Southeast Asia.
The planned center, with UTAR serving as its Southeast Asian hub and secretariat, will focus on AI training, industrial pilot projects, joint research, engineering competency standards and exchanges among young researchers.
The initiative highlighted China's efforts to translate its growing technological capabilities into broader international partnerships, particularly with developing economies seeking affordable AI solutions and greater access to technical expertise.
Win Htein Win, co-chair of the AI Technical Division of the Federation of Myanmar Engineering Societies, said: "Southeast Asian countries were starting from vastly different positions in digital infrastructure, technical expertise and institutional readiness."
Rather than expecting every economy to follow the same development path, he called for cooperation tailored to local conditions.
Norlida Buniyamin, chair of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations' Committee on Engineering for Innovative Technologies, warned that a widening gap in access to emerging technologies could deepen existing inequalities.
Innovation does not necessarily have to be expensive, she said, pointing to opportunities to use relatively simple technologies to improve farming and livelihoods in developing economies.
She cited possible projects involving drone-assisted fertilization, agricultural automation and improvements to the production and marketing of crops such as rice and pineapples in Southeast Asia.
Some technologies considered outdated in advanced economies could still deliver substantial benefits in communities where they had never been widely deployed, she said.
The challenge, in her view, is to ensure that innovation reaches the people who need it most, rather than becoming another force widening the gap between rich and poor.
Such an emphasis on tangible results resonated with Carlos Eduardo Pereira, a former president of the Brazilian Society of Automatics and professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul.
Pereira said China and Brazil have considerable scope to cooperate on AI, agricultural automation, engineering education and the challenges facing smaller producers.
He urged the two sides to ensure that their cooperation "goes beyond only signing the piece of paper, to really do something concrete".
Pereira proposed a Brazil-China Automation Day at an upcoming academic gathering, bringing researchers and engineers together to explore how AI could transform industry and education.
chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn
