In an opinion piece published Wednesday in the People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, an artificial intelligence (AI) specialist said AI will have a huge influence on society and the international community.

East China University of Political Science and Law professor Gao Qiqi noted that many companies with the highest market value worldwide are all U.S. science and technology companies that had made roads into AI.

In May this year, AlphaGo beat the world's best Go player Ke Jie.

The response from the public was mixed. With this in mind, Gao posited that China should map out strategic plans for AI development.

Saying that China has "a colossal market that will help a product accumulate data," Gao said China lags behind in some areas.

One area where it is a leader is research, he said, China releases more science and technology papers and applies for more patents than any other country.

He lauded the progress achieved in AI development and said that some Chinese companies are already competing with leading enterprises.

Gao suggested that science and technology institutes should collaborate more with businesses.