As synthetic intelligence reshapes inventive industries globally, specialists, students and officers from the world over convened in Beijing to debate the mixing of science and know-how with cultural growth.
Themed “Integrated development of culture and technology”, the 2025 Beijing Culture Forum, which opened on Tuesday and runs via Wednesday, attracted greater than 800 visitors from 58 nations and areas to take part in its boards and discussions.
Addressing the discussion board”s opening ceremony, 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, highlighted the mixing of tradition with science and know-how as a big characteristic of China’s cultural growth in the brand new period.
Li famous that the speedy development of digital know-how has led to the worldwide recognition of Chinese digital cultural merchandise, equivalent to on-line literature, net collection, on-line video games, quick movies and livestreaming, which have additionally change into avenues for cultural exchanges.
To grasp the route of the mixing of tradition and know-how, he stated that by adhering to worth steerage, know-how ought to be utilized as a software and means to make sure it persistently serves cultural inheritance. He talked about China’s fourth nationwide cultural relics survey for example, highlighting how the use of progressive applied sciences led to the invention of many vital relics.
Li additionally expressed a willingness to reinforce cooperation with different nations in the sphere of cultural heritage.
Yin Li, Party secretary of Beijing, stated that in the capital metropolis, new kinds of cultural enterprise represented by web tradition, leisure, gaming and recreation animation generated practically 1.6 trillion yuan ($225 billion) in income, injecting nice vitality into town’s numerous sectors.
Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin remarked that China is especially certified to debate the intersection of tradition and know-how, because the nation boasts a wealthy historic heritage and has achieved vital technological advances.
Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of UNESCO World Heritage, praised China for its unwavering dedication to world heritage safety and its management in digital innovation.
“With 60 World Heritage sites, China has demonstrated how the power of technology can be harnessed to safeguard cultural treasures while enriching public understanding and engagement,” Assomo stated, including that cutting-edge instruments are remodeling the way in which cultural heritage is protected throughout the nation.
He stated he expects a future in which each World Heritage web site can profit from the complete potential of digital know-how — as an ordinary software for conservation, administration and schooling.
In a letter to the Beijing Culture Forum, French Culture Minister Rachida Dati mentioned the affect of know-how on tradition, saying that France, like China, firmly believes tradition is expounded to innovation, funding and financial development, and is immediately influenced by the capability of disruptive applied sciences for innovation and development.
Dati emphasised that AI is especially prone to result in profound adjustments in the cultural sector worldwide. She additionally stated that whereas this subject is full of alternatives and innovation, it urgently wants regulation to guard and promote cultural range on a world scale.
Other members attending the discussion board identified that new applied sciences like AI might result in dangers equivalent to information breaches and the unfold of misinformation. They additionally warned that competitors in digital know-how might exacerbate imbalances in technological growth, thereby affecting cultural range.