Held recently at the Taiwu Town venue in Chongli under the theme "The Future is Now," the 2026 Chongli Forum convened thought leaders to explore the intersection of technology and daily life. The gathering, jointly organized by Taiwu Town, Jiaziguangnian, and Po Culture, provided a platform for key figures to share their vision on how emerging technologies will shape human experience.
Delivering a keynote titled "In the Face of Human Richness, What Artificial Intelligence Cannot Do," New Oriental Education & Technology founder Yu Minhong championed the proactive use of AI while firmly outlining its boundaries. He asserted that while AI excels at solving problems related to tools and efficiency, it remains incapable of making final decisions for individuals and cannot deliver genuine human care. Rather than by-passing human touch, he argued AI should be harnessed in education to help discover children's interests, ignite intrinsic motivation, and free up more time for teachers to provide companionship and guidance.
During his speech, Yu detailed a vision for the classroom of the future. While tasks like knowledge delivery, lesson preparation, and assignment grading can be effectively assisted by AI, he noted a critical gap: when a child faces ridicule or setbacks, they still need a teacher who can offer emotional and character support. Emphasizing that teachers should become "awakeners of the soul" and "guides for growth," he cautioned that if technology only serves to let kids solve more problems faster, the most crucial questions in education remain unanswered.
Concluding his address, Yu quoted the ancient philosopher Mencius, citing "A person must have things they choose not to do before they can achieve something," as a reminder for the audience. He urged everyone to consider what AI cannot do for us before focusing on what it can, and to clarify which tasks we should deliberately avoid delegating to this technology in the first place.
Lai Lipeng, co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of XtalPi, delivered a separate presentation titled "Technology Towards People: Life, Health, and Future Living in the AI Era." He posed a poignant question: as humans gain longer lifespans, how can we secure a higher quality of life? In his view, the most significant value of AI in life sciences lies in its ability to uncover hard-to-see patterns and achieve a more precise understanding of every unique individual.
Zhang Yijia, founder and CEO of Jiaziguangnian, expanded on these ideas by releasing the "2026 AI Lifestyle White Paper." The report illustrates how AI is developing across four interconnected worlds: digital, physical, scientific, and social. Its impact extends beyond daily necessities into work styles, social roles, and self-actualization. Zhang stressed that understanding an AI-driven lifestyle involves more than simply counting how many tasks we can offload to automated tools.
During a lively "Pioneer Debate" panel, Li Zhifei, founder and CEO of Mobvoi, predicted that a dominant hardware entry point like the smartphone might not emerge in the AI era. As AI shifts from being passively responsive to becoming more proactive, he argued that a personal assistant capable of continuously understanding and helping the user could hold more importance than any single device.
Shen Yanan, founder of Habitat Intelligent Living and Ngorongoro Robotics, agreed on the importance of AI agents but stressed the continuing value of integrated software-hardware terminals. He projected that spatial intelligent terminals, such as smart homes and smart vehicles, will assume an increasingly significant role in everyday life.
Chen Hua, founder and CEO of Changba, predicted that breakthroughs in image, video, music, gaming, and programming capabilities will each create new application opportunities. Zhang Shaoting, CEO of SenseTime Medical, offered a final insight, distinguishing between health consultations and serious medical care, noting that the latter will continue to depend on professional services within hospital settings.
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