China's AI Push Displaces Workers as 47.5% of Industrial Firms Adopt Models
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 24
China's AI Push Displaces Workers as 47.5% of Industrial Firms Adopt Models
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Aug 24
Summary
Fei Zhaojun lost his Beijing programming job with about 160 colleagues two weeks after his boss asked whether AI could replace coders, underscoring how quickly automation is hitting white-collar work in China.
IDC said 47.5% of Chinese industrial enterprises used AI models and agents last year, up from 9.6% in 2024, as Beijing's "AI Plus" drive pushes businesses to deploy AI and robotics across the economy.
The disruption is spreading beyond coding: a translator said industry pay has fallen by more than half, China's short-drama output dropped about 75% in the first quarter, and delivery and warehouse robots are expanding.
Economists say higher productivity may come at the cost of weaker hiring, softer consumer spending and greater social strain in an economy already slowed by a housing slump; urban unemployment is around 5%, but roughly triple for ages 16 to 24.