AI's role in cultural domain discussed

Cultural innovation and development empowered by artificial intelligence have become hot topics at the ongoing Forum on Building up China's Cultural Strength 2026 in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, with the participants, including officials and scholars, emphasizing the need to mitigate the risks of applying AI in the cultural domain.

At the two-day forum, which opened on Thursday, Li Shulei, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a keynote speech.

Huang Kunming, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, attended the forum and delivered a speech.

Li said in the keynote speech that the new round of technological and industrial revolution, represented by AI, is profoundly changing the ways in which cultural creation, production, dissemination and consumption occur, significantly reshaping media forms, public opinion ecosystems and cultural industries.

While calling for accelerating the integration of culture and technology and promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of cultural development, Li noted that it is important to enhance efforts in risk mitigation and response when applying AI technology in the cultural field, in order to ensure that AI develops for good. He emphasized the irreplaceable value of traditional artistic creation rooted in personal talent and inspiration, saying that technology should always remain a tool for humanity.

Sun Maosong, a professor of computer science and technology at Tsinghua University, said that generative AI driven by large language models represents a shift in knowledge production models and creates huge development opportunities when applied across the economy, culture and society.

However, Sun also acknowledged that large language models are far from perfect and that generative AI presents new challenges in many areas, including authenticity, reliability and security.

"In the process of knowledge creation and dissemination through generative AI, how should we manage the relationship between humans and machines? Undoubtedly, humans should always maintain a leading role in this process," he said. Generative AI should serve as a helpful assistant and good partner to humans, but must never be allowed to overstep the line and take on a primary role, he added.

The discussions came amid the rapid evolution of AI-empowered cultural production in China. In December, the nation's first animated film produced entirely through AI-generated content, The Reunion Journey, underwent a test screening in Beijing. Last month, Bona Film Group Co received regulatory approval to release the AI-generated animated sci-fi film Sanxingdui: Future Memories in Chinese cinemas.

At Thursday's forum, experts also called for greater efforts to advance cultural heritage protection.

Wang Jun, a research curator at the Palace Museum, said that it is crucial to recognize traditional settlement heritage and cultural landscapes as indispensable types of heritage, and to incorporate them into the legislative framework for the protection of cultural heritage.