AI takes center stage at China International Cultural Industries Fair

Artificial intelligence (AI) took center stage at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair (ICIF), where tech companies showcased AI agents designed to support content creation, sharing and user experience across the cultural industries.

From models to agents, AI ignites creation

This year's fair featured AI agents supporting every stage of cultural content, from creation and distribution to user engagement. The Wenxiaobo model, developed by ICIF and Tencent Cloud, uses Tencent's Hunyuan model and models from DeepSeek. Trained on two decades of ICIF data, Wenxiaobo can match potential business partners, provide real-time translation and generate event reports.

People's Daily Online also launched a platform, which uses proprietary and third-party AI models to enable automated Q&A and public opinion analysis, supporting news production and policy interpretation.

AI transforms cultural experiences

AI-powered robots at the event made lattes in 90 seconds and created latte art from photographs. Another robot performed live music on both the piano and the guzheng, a traditional Chinese musical instrument. Robotic replicas of Tang Dynasty poets Li Bai and Du Fu also performed, providing visitors with an interactive experience of Chinese literary classics. International guests said the technology could help Chinese poetry reach a wider global audience.

EX ROBOT's humanoid robot performs at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fengtao)

AI glasses developed by Shenzhen-based Rayneo were also on display. The latest model, which weighs 76 grams and is powered by a multimodal large model and Qualcomm's Snapdragon AR1 chip, features an AI agent app store. It can translate speech and images in real time, summarize information, answer questions, recognize objects, provide navigation and record first-person videos.

A humanoid robot plays the guzheng, a traditional Chinese musical instrument. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fengtao)

People's Daily Online showcased its intelligent hardware system, which uses computer vision and speech recognition to simulate a human tour guide and provide real-time explanations. The system allows visitors to interact with ancient artifacts through multimodal technology, offering a personalized museum experience.

A smart device of People's Daily Online is displayed at the 21st China (Shenzhen) International Cultural Industries Fair. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fengtao)

AI breathes new life into cultural classics

AI-powered VR devices at the fair attracted visitors eager to watch digital recreations of Tang Dynasty figurines and interact with virtual cultural relics. The Ningxia-themed exhibition area enabled users to explore scenic spots via VR glasses that recognize gestures for interactive engagement.

A young visitor tries a VR headset. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fengtao)

People's Daily Online also presented a pop-up theater with LED screens, lasers and mirrored stages. The theater, which can be assembled or dismantled in under 48 hours, featured AI-powered performances, with virtual performers appearing onstage.

Children explore a pop-up theater by People's Daily Online. (People's Daily Online/Ren Fengtao)

Beyond showcasing cutting-edge technology, the ICIF also serves as a platform for promoting cooperation and developing an integrated cultural industry.

A program initiated by People's Daily Online has established a mainstream values corpus containing more than 30 million high-quality entries to help large language models address specific topics.

In addition to highlighting new technology in the cultural sector, the ICIF featured exhibits emphasizing the resilience and adaptability of Chinese civilization. Various AI tools are helping traditional culture remain relevant in the modern era.

Intern Geng Yujie contributed to this story.