The survey was commissioned by US AI and analytics software company SAS and conducted by Coleman Parkes Research, which polled 1,600 decision makers across various industries in 17 countries. Notably, 83% of respondents in China reported using generative AI (GenAI).

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A staff member demonstrates how generative AI is used to restore ancient books to visitors at the 2024 World AI Conference in Shanghai on July 6. Photo: Xinhua

That’s higher than the other 16 countries, including the United States, where 65% of respondents said they had adopted GenAI. The global average was 54%. China’s higher adoption rate of generative AI doesn’t necessarily equate to better implementation, according to Stephen Saw, CEO of Coleman Parkes. In fact, the survey found that organizations in the United States led the way in fully deploying GenAI technology, with 24% of organizations, compared to 19% in China and 11% in the United Kingdom.

In recent years, China's AI industry has made progress in technological innovation, product creation, industrial applications, and other areas. Last week, a report from the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) found that China ranked first in the number of GenAI patents, filing more than 38,000 applications from 2014 to 2023, compared to 6,276 filed by the United States during the same period.

China now has more than 4,500 AI companies. The country’s core AI industry is expected to be worth more than 578 billion yuan (about $79.5 billion) by 2023, up 13.9 percent from 2022, according to official data. The country will also develop more than 50 national and industry standards for AI by 2026 and develop a standards system to guide quality development.

Industries surveyed included banking, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications, manufacturing, retail, and energy. Among industries that used GenAI on a daily basis to some extent, telecommunications led at 29%, followed by retail (27%) and banking (23%).

GenAI ecosystem of US and China

To fully exploit the benefits of generative AI, the technology must be fully integrated into manufacturing systems and processes at an enterprise-wide level, according to Udo Sglavo, vice president of applied AI & modeling research and development at SAS.

He pointed out that the US has several advantages in integrating GenAI, including a more mature ecosystem and a large pool of talented AI experts and researchers. In addition, it has a culture of innovation, strong leadership from private companies, and a transparent regulatory environment.

But China is well placed to catch up. AI experts told CNBC that Beijing was ahead in rolling out general AI regulations before ChatGPT helped make the technology mainstream in 2022. Authorities are also working to control content created by GenAI that goes against social values ​​and is illegal.

While this may make domestic technology companies more cautious about launching services similar to ChatGPT, it also pushes them to focus more on businesses and narrow down the scenarios for using generative AI. Meanwhile, with a large population and a rapidly growing digital economy, the demand for AI technologies is huge, motivating organizations to quickly adopt and integrate GenAI solutions to improve efficiency and innovation.

Overall, the survey highlights the importance of using generative AI across all sectors and industries. Organizations that have adopted GenAI report significant improvements, with approximately 90% reporting satisfaction and 80% reporting operational cost savings.

(According to mobileworldlive, cgtn, cnbc)