Tim Cook 

Artificial intelligence (AI) will never be a threat to humanity, according to remarks by Internet titans at the 4th World Internet Conference that started on Dec. 3 in Wuzhen, Zhejiang.

The development of AI technology is another revolution in human history, said Tim Cook, CEO of technology giant Apple, adding that it will help improve people’s work, especially in education and medical services.

He believes that technologies are not developed with good or evil intentions, but it is everyone’s responsibility to keep them people-oriented.

Cook said he does not worry that robots will think like humans, but thinks humans will think more like robots.

Pony Ma

Pony Ma, founder of Chinese tech firm Tencent, noted that AI is being developed to serve people better.

“Tencent’s projects this year are mostly related with AI, visual reality, and other cutting-edge technologies,” Pony Ma introduced. The company has made remarkable achievements in various fields with increased investment in new technologies. It has established its first overseas AI laboratory in the US state of Seattle.

AI will embrace a broader application in medical science and transportation, and it should not be considered a threat to human beings, he added.

Lei Jun, CEO of the promising Chinese company Xiaomi, agreed with Ma’s point, saying that integrated development serves as an important driving force. He called AI a key technology in the development of the digital economy.

Integration itself is innovation, because the application of the Internet and the technologies in each field is a result of innovation-driven development, Lei added.

E-commerce giant Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma, a four-time attendee at the conference, said the human race has only developed less than 10% of its brain capacity, and machines with a similar level of development will never be comparable with human beings.

“I believe that robots will bring more dignity, value, and creativity for humans in work,” he said, adding that people worked like machines in the past 30 years, and robots will be turned into human-like machines in the next three decades.

However, the ultimate goal, he said, is to “make machines machine, and humans human.”

He stressed that instead of worrying about robots taking human jobs, people should embrace new technologies and solve new problems. The world is entering a new era of opportunities, and the digital economy will reshape the global economy, he said.