世界经济论坛《21世纪工业革命的前沿技术：AI智能体的兴起》

Core Viewpoint - The global manufacturing industry is at a critical crossroads, facing unprecedented challenges such as skilled labor shortages, rising costs, and increasing consumer expectations for personalization and rapid delivery. Traditional automation technologies are insufficient to address these issues, necessitating a shift towards AI-driven, nearly autonomous industrial operations [2][3]. Group 1: Future of Manufacturing - The report envisions future factories as self-controlling intelligent entities, defined as "AI-centered, nearly autonomous operational models." These systems will manage daily tasks autonomously, optimizing production processes in real-time based on market demands and equipment status [5][6]. - Four core advantages of this autonomous operation model include unprecedented efficiency through predictive analytics, extreme flexibility in production customization, deep sustainability by optimizing resource use, and true employee empowerment through AI-driven tools [6][7]. Group 2: Human Role Transformation - In this autonomous environment, human roles will evolve from traditional operators to "AI-enabled orchestrators," focusing on performance supervision, continuous improvement, strategic decision-making, and fostering creativity and innovation [8][9][10]. - This transformation necessitates significant investment in employee skill enhancement and retraining to adapt to new collaborative roles with AI systems [10]. Group 3: AI Agents as Change Drivers - The report categorizes AI agents into two main types: virtual AI agents, which operate in the digital realm, and embodied AI agents, which integrate AI into physical systems like robots. These agents will enable complex task execution and dynamic interaction with the environment [11][13]. - Virtual AI agents progress through three maturity levels: assistant, recommendation, and automation, with the highest level capable of independent decision-making [12]. Group 4: Strategic Blueprint for Transformation - Successful transformation requires a value-driven, end-to-end perspective, ensuring that technology serves clear business objectives and is scalable [14]. - Key organizational foundations include governance adjustments, skills and capabilities development, change management, and ecosystem partnerships to leverage external expertise [21]. - Essential technological foundations encompass data sourcing and processing, user-friendly AI interfaces, high-performance computing, robust network connectivity, and comprehensive cybersecurity strategies [21].