Have Fun at WAIC | WAIC UP! Night: A Stargazing Speculation on the Future of AI and Humanity
On the evening of July 27th, during the period of the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High - level Conference on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence (WAIC), the event "WAIC UP! Night" hosted by Wike Gravity was successfully held at the sunken square of the Expo Exhibition Hall.
From dusk till dawn, this in - depth speculation about technology, civilization, and the future of humanity, with the theme of "What's the Big Deal about AI", gathered pioneer thinkers from the field of artificial intelligence and the humanities and social sciences. Amid the ideological confrontations inside the venue and the inspiration collisions outside, they continued the midsummer night's dream of 1956.
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Looking back at 2025, the global AI field was in turmoil.
The rise of Chinese large models, the explosion of embodied intelligence, the rapid development of AI applications...
These news seem to proclaim that AI is reshaping the world.
While technology and capital are in hot pursuit,
ordinary people's understanding of AI
lags far behind the pace of this transformation.
Have we already assumed that it's just a matter of time before AI takes over the world?
But in this technological frenzy, a more fundamental question has been overlooked:
If AI is truly omnipotent, where exactly lies the value of humanity?
This is precisely the core proposition that the "WAIC UP! Night" event attempts to explore.
We don't want to repeat the clichés about "how many jobs AI will replace",
nor do we want to get caught up in the science - fiction imagination of "the approaching singularity".
When we put aside the media's fanaticism and return to life itself,
we may find that AI is neither that terrifying nor that miraculous.
It's more like a mirror, reflecting humanity's expectations and anxieties about technology.
What we need to do is to stay sober and curious,
and look for the glimmers of humanity that cannot be quantified by algorithms in the technological torrent.
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01.
Pushing Open the Door to the World
To Step In or to Guard?
As the lights gradually brightened, this intellectual feast officially kicked off with the human - machine co - performance of the Xiaoxu Band. The melody of the song concealed the code of collaboration, and the creator's practice revealed the path of symbiosis between technology and emotion.
In today's era of rapid development of AI technology, artificial intelligence has moved from the laboratory to the core of the industry. AI creators are enjoying the technological dividends and becoming the "super - individuals" of the new era. They command dozens of intelligent agents to work collaboratively, triggering a productivity revolution.
"AI is nothing special. It's just a repeat of the controversy between photography and painting."
——Zhao Hanqing, founder of AI.TALK, builder of the generative singer Yuri, and AI digital artist
The emergence of AI technology, in essence, provides new boundaries of possibilities for creation. Hanqing deconstructed the current controversy over AI creation from a sharp perspective. He pointed out that "those AI works denounced as 'pixel fragments' are just the modern version of the argument 'this is not art' when photography first emerged."
"The essence of art has always been ideas, not expressions." Through the case of the virtual idol Yuri, he proved that AI technology is realizing a "revolution of equal rights" in the field of creation, representing an equal relationship from the very first day of its appearance.
AI is not the terminator of art but the initiator of a new era. When technology makes creation democratic and AI reaches an industrial - level standard, what we should focus on is the value of ideas, rather than getting entangled in the tools themselves. This is the eternal proposition that transcends technological disputes.
"I was like the 'Sora' beside the director back then."
——Junie, young director, official artist of Google and OpenAI, guest of the first issue of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference's first publication "WAIC UP!", and author of the interview article"Digital Artists, Also Architects of the World — The First Batch of AI Creators Junie Lau Who Set Off the Wave"
AI is not a tool but an expander of the creative dimension. Junie redefined the human - machine relationship from a unique female creative perspective. She compared AI to a "multiplier of experience", magnifying her ten - year creative accumulation and enabling the concrete expression of those indescribable dream textures and spatial - temporal imaginations.
In the creation of "A Dream in Life", Junie practiced the state of mixed flow of "conversing with AI": This is not an employment relationship between the client and the contractor, but a resonance of two creative consciousnesses.
But she also soberly pointed out that in the wave of "cost - reduction and efficiency - improvement" dominated by capital, AI, this "new continent of creators", is facing the crisis of being re - domesticated. In the transitional period of "the old order broken and the new order not yet established", perhaps true artists always know that technology should always be a channel for "expressing unspoken regrets", rather than an end in itself.
"What artificial intelligence is good at is 'from one, many things arise', not 'the Tao gives birth to one'."
——Qin Xiaoyu, documentary director and writer
In the era of rapid technological advancement, Qin Xiaoyu, with the cold - bloodedness of a documentary director and the enthusiasm of a writer, constructed a "flesh - based ontology" to resist digital alienation. He revealed a profound paradox: When AI infinitely extends in the dimension of "from one, many things arise", humanity should instead confirm its own existence in the original creation of "the Tao gives birth to one".
The explosive poems of the miner - poet Chen Nianxi, the thousands of hours of video recordings of Cao Dewang... These life experiences based on "small data" are precisely "humanistic rare editions" that algorithms cannot replicate, and they also form a fortress against algorithmic homogenization.
Director Qin's speech ultimately pointed to a poetic ultimate proposition: AI may be able to simulate thousands of emotions, but it can never truly "love". "AI has no love, yet love is the most important emotion. As Dante said in 'The Divine Comedy', 'All the scattered papers in the universe are bound into a volume by love'."
02.
Standing on Tiptoes to Look into the Future
To See What Exactly AI Can't Replace?
As Geoffrey Hinton shared at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, "AI will seek more control." When talking about biological intelligence, Hinton said that almost all experts believe that humanity will create AI that is more intelligent than humans.
Previously, he also participated in the recording of the podcast "The Diary Of A CEO" this year. When the host asked, "Will it be like the Industrial Revolution creating new jobs?", he replied, "If AI can do all mental work, what can we do?" And he left a soul - stirring question: "What exactly can't AI replace?" The answer may lie in those traits that make humans human: emotional connection, real love and pain, and common growth in companionship.
We threw this proposition to three cross - border wise men, who outlined the survival map of the AI era from different perspectives. As technology reshapes the civilization map like the Tiktaalik's landing on land, we are both witnessing the paradigm revolution of AI technology and facing the re - confirmation of humanistic values.
"Every move of humanity today will become the corpus for training tomorrow's artificial intelligence."
——Yin Ye, CEO of BGI
"In the AI era, the most important thing is communication ability. Standardized and structured jobs are more likely to be replaced."
——Du Lan, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer of the World Digital Science Academy, guest of the third issue of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference's first publication "WAIC UP!", and author of the interview article"The Second Half of AI: How to Find Your Own Opportunities in the Shadow of the Giants?"
"AI solves problems by using new methods to solve old problems, while the essence of education is a process of life influencing life."
——Wang Jialiang, initiator of the Superbrain AI Incubator
Wang Jialiang believes that the traditional educational logic of the industrial era is being deconstructed: University diplomas are depreciating rapidly, and 90% of jobs are becoming decentralized. AI makes standardized intellectual labor easily accessible. The deeper meaning of this transformation is actually liberation. When humanity is no longer alienated into tools, "willpower" will replace ability as the core value, and education will return to the essence of "life influencing life".
AI practitioner Du Lan focused on the indispensable humanistic dimension in the AI era. She pointed out : "When the technological threshold is lowered, communication ability, aesthetic judgment, and empathy will become the core competitiveness." By analyzing the educational backgrounds of Silicon Valley leaders, she verified the value of interdisciplinary literacy and emphasized the key role of a "complete knowledge system" in cultivating the ability to ask questions. Facing the impact of AI, her solution is simple yet profound: "Mastering the ability to use AI tools well is the key to moving faster, flying higher, and going farther."
The paradox of technological development is that it is both a catalyst for civilization's leap and a touchstone for human nature's test. As Yin Ye said, Every progress of AI depends on the "corpus" provided by humanity. This view not only reveals the path - dependence of technological development but also implies humanity's ethical responsibility in the AI era. In the face of the possibility of carbon - silicon symbiosis, maintaining the ability to ask new questions may be humanity's ultimate advantage over algorithms.
Facing Hinton's warning, the conversation ultimately pointed to a way of balance: to embrace the liberating potential brought by technology and to guard those life experiences that algorithms cannot replicate. When aesthetic judgment, empathy, and creative thinking become scarce resources, humanistic education is no longer a supplement but the cornerstone of civilization's survival. In this sense, perhaps the most precious thing in the AI era is not what we will create, but what we choose to become. This is the profound meaning of the black eyes that the night gives us to seek the light.
03.
Returning to the Present
Making Choices in the Collision between Technology and Reality
The ideal is plump, but the reality is skinny. The pain points in the implementation of the integration of science and technology and humanities are essentially the conflicts between technological ideals and real - world limitations.
When ChatGPT can write papers, MidJourney can generate professional illustrations, and AlphaFold can crack protein structures, a fundamental question emerges: In this era where professional skills may be downgraded by AI at any time, how should ordinary people define their self - worth? This is not only about the choice of personal development paths but also touches on humanity's value positioning in the intelligent revolution. This debate about the future is redefining the survival philosophy of the intelligent era.
Left 1: Zhan Yun, science popularizer in life sciences, new - knowledge answerer on Zhihu
Left 2: Ni Kaomeng, initiator of the AIGC China Science Popularization Campaign, author of the first issue of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference's first publication "WAIC UP!", and author of the signed article