The smart wind blowing in Davos cannot cure the current haze in the manufacturing industry

In recent days, strong north winds have brought rare blue skies and white clouds to Beijing.

At the same time, in the small town of Davos, Switzerland, a wave of "smart wind" has attracted global attention. From smart manufacturing, artificial intelligence to smart robots, this time, the concept of intelligence has taken advantage of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution" and has become popular in front of people all over the world.

These two words will make people think of the domestic smart industry in the cold winter. Seeing such a lively scene, will the "smart" startups that suffered setbacks in financing in the second half of last year be excited? Especially when some analysts pointed out that smart manufacturing will become a major investment theme in 2016.

Is this really the case? Is the spring of the smart industry just around the corner?

Popularity is false, proliferation is true

Some commentators pointed out in their reports that it is very common for robots to serve tea and water to people in our daily lives, and that intelligent robots have become popular. However, for most people, this judgment may not be true.

There is no exact data on the shipment volume of service robots in China in 2015. In fact, looking back at one's own life may be more convincing than numbers. When we say that a certain product is popular, the most intuitive standard is to observe whether most people around you own and use it. In this way, the only smart product that can be called "popular" is the smartphone. As for robots, I am afraid they are still in the stage of being watched by onlookers.

When talking about artificial intelligence, Baidu President Zhang Yaqin also shared a true story. He said that he received a call from the property management when he was out, and was told that his home had been illegally broken into. After returning home, he found that it was actually the sweeping robot at home that was "causing trouble." This example does not mean that robots have entered thousands of households, but rather reveals the opposite message: intelligent robot technology is not yet mature and is still in the stage of testing high-end users.

In recent years, the concepts of intelligence and artificial intelligence have expanded widely. The abuse of concepts and hype from all walks of life may have a greater impact than the actual progress of technology.

Key point: Manufacturing rather than intelligence

It is reported that there are many smart products on display at Davos, such as virtual reality, smart clothing, smart bracelets, etc. It should be made clear that these products are not the focus of smart manufacturing.

The concept of Industry 4.0, which corresponds to intelligent manufacturing, was first proposed by Germany. It refers to the use of the Internet of Things information system to digitize and intelligentize the supply, manufacturing, and sales information in production, and ultimately achieve fast, effective, and personalized product supply.

It can be seen that the core problem that Industry 4.0 needs to solve lies in the production process rather than product design. Even if the two will eventually be closely linked, the former still occupies an absolutely dominant position. If we must talk about products, industrial robots, that is, robots on the production line, are the nodes of intelligent manufacturing.

As we all know, the biggest problem facing the domestic manufacturing industry is overcapacity. With the advent of the era of intelligent manufacturing, production efficiency will be further improved and the demand for workers will be greatly reduced. It is difficult to say that there is some inevitable connection between the two.

More attractive than intelligence: the future

Zhang Yaqin believes that artificial intelligence is the technological cornerstone of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This does not mean that the era of artificial intelligence will come before Industry 4.0, and the transformation of a single field cannot represent a brand new era. Perhaps the development speed of artificial intelligence is indeed much faster than we imagined, but so far, its emergence is always inevitably accompanied by a vague and beautiful word: the future.

"Looking at it now, artificial intelligence will be the foundation of technology in the next few decades and the driving force for the development of everything else. So if you are starting a business or investing, consider artificial intelligence, it is a necessity for everything else," said Zhang Yaqin.

The future itself is a very tempting word. It is an era when driverless cars and robot services are truly popular. Of course, it is not ruled out that some horrible things will happen.

This so-called smart manufacturing trend may ultimately have nothing to do with the smart industry or the manufacturing industry for the domestic market. After all, the road ahead is long and the mountains are high. The sensitive A-shares may have their own responses, but the fact remains that the winter is still going on.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.