The increasing application of intelligent agents is playing an essential role in accelerating digital transformation in traditional industries, such as oil and gas, in China, while simultaneously creating new professions to propel intelligent development across sectors.
At the China Petroleum and Petrochemical Enterprise Information Technology Exchange Conference, held in Beijing from May 15 to 16, enterprises showcased numerous cases of application of intelligent agents integrated into various industries.
One such case was from Changqing Oilfield, China's largest oil and gas field, which has achieved automated control of over 50,000 oil wells through intelligent agent coordination.
"Coordination of the intelligent agent has enabled the intelligent analysis of videos from over 40,000 cameras. It can instantly detect oil leaks or fires, with the rate of accuracy improved to over 90 percent," said Shan Jiquan, executive director of the digital and intelligent business department of the Changqing Oilfield, a branch of PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer.
This intelligent agent is designed to assist experts in the oil and gas industry. It possesses professional expertise and comprehension on a par with industry specialists through the accumulation of vast cross-disciplinary knowledge in the field.
"Through this intelligent agent, we can help our employees in the oil and gas industry quickly search for information, generate documents, and conduct document reviews. Moreover, it is self-learning and self-evolving, continuously acquiring more real-time knowledge," said Qi Chen, chief planning engineer of the industrial digitalization solutions department at Chinese tech company ZTE.
In the new model of human-machine collaboration, artificial intelligent agents will handle standardized, repetitive, and even complex tasks, while humans will focus on innovation and decision-making. This complementary partnership boosts both work efficiency and quality.
From digital avatars to industry-specific assistants, artificial intelligent agents not only introduce a new model of human-machine collaboration but also create new career opportunities.
"This transformation will create at least three entirely new professions: intelligent agent systems operation maintenance specialists, intelligent agent resource distribution coordinators, and intelligent agent collaboration designers. Driven by this trend, artificial intelligent agents will become the core force driving productive force leaps, profoundly reshaping our industrial ecosystem, organizational structures, and the role of humans," said Huang Jizhou, chief architect of intelligent agent business at Chinese tech giant Baidu.
Increasing use of intelligent agents accelerates digital transformation, create new professions across industries
The heartbreaking story of 96-year-old Peng Zhuying, one of the last living survivors from the Japanese military's "comfort women" system in the Chinese mainland, has been shared in a moving documentary produced by the China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Peng remains one of only seven registered survivors in the Chinese mainland of the Japanese military's "comfort women" system, a brutal a state-enforced regime of sexual slavery during World War II, victimizing over 400,000 women across Asia.
She is also the only living survivor who is officially documented as a victim of both sexual slavery and of Japan's chemical warfare during the Japanese militarists' war of aggression against China.
Eight decades on, Peng has bravely shared the story of her horrifying experiences in the CGTN original documentary "Last Daughters," which reveals the deep scars left by war and captures the quiet strength and warmth that endured, even in the darkest depths of human suffering.
Blinded by mustard gas at age nine and mutilated at 14 before being forced into a military brothel during the war, Peng was able to survive despite facing these unimaginable hardships in her young life.
Peng shared some of the artifacts and the stories behind them from those difficult days.
"This is a fortune slip, a divination note, meaning you need to be cautious in what you do. When I was 16, my father forced me to study fortune-telling. He told me if I didn't learn, I would not get any food. At that time, I wanted to care for children instead, but I could make the call myself. I had to listen to him to make a living," she said.
She memorized every incantation as part of the fortune-telling custom. For 80 years, it was her livelihood, and she has continued to show strength to overcome any challenges in her life.
"I've gone through so much hardship, and yet I'm still alive. Now, I'm only afraid of getting sick and dying from it. I was sick for most of last year, and have yet to recover until now," said Peng.
Though she survived all the tortures and survived from the atrocities conducted by the Japanese aggressors, Peng's health is never been too strong, as she suffered from severe gynecological injuries and became infertile, while also losing her sight as she fell victim to a chemical warfare attack.
"These are gallstones. She had them for several decades. But she lost her eyesight early on and never had toxic exposure. The only explanation is the mustard gas she inhaled. Life for her has been harsh, far harsher than it appears on the surface," said her nephew Peng Zifang.
Japan's "comfort women" system, a state-sponsored sexual slavery scheme by the military, was unprecedented in modern history. It enslaved at least 400,000 women across Asia and the Pacific, including Chinese, Korean, Filipino and many other victims.
Half of those who suffered were Chinese. The Japanese opened its first "comfort women station" in Shanghai and over 2,100 followed in other places they invaded. Girls, deemed "military supplies," were trafficked like weapons.
Later in life, aged 43, Peng married a fisherman 20 years older than her. Only after his death did she speak openly about what she faced.
"Before my father passed away, he told me the stories of my two aunts. I was deeply shaken. Both of my aunts revealed the truth about the 'comfort stations' only after their husbands died. The often-cited figure [of 400,000] known victims barely scratches the surface of the true scale. Many more endured in silence because of the conservative traditions of that era. To speak up meant risking scorn, oppression and even violence. So they bore it quietly," said Peng Zifang.
Documentary reveals life of Chinese survivor of Japan's sexual slavery during WWII
