On September 20, ZHIHU-W (02390) launched its inaugural TechClub New Knowledge Technology Conference in Hangzhou under the theme "AI-driven Tech Reconstruction." Academic experts, corporate executives, AI developers, and Zhihu contributors gathered to engage in deep discourse on AI technology evolution, tech reconstruction, human-machine collaboration, and other topics. During the conference, Zhihu released the "AI Pioneers" list and "Tech Translator Brand" list, selecting developers and corporate brands leading technological and product innovation from an industry perspective. The National Artificial Intelligence Application Scenario Innovation Challenge (CICAS) organizing committee jointly with Zhihu officially launched the 2025 3rd National Artificial Intelligence Application Scenario Innovation Challenge Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) special competition, promoting deeper implementation and broader application of AGI in more vertical fields.

Expert Sharing + Contributor Debates: How Does Technological Evolution Reconstruct Human Life?

Based on Zhihu's discussion community, the TechClub New Knowledge Technology Conference focused on two major topics: envisioning the boundaries and future of AI technology, and exploring how technology reconstructs life. At the conference, academic experts and scholars delivered highly forward-looking technology sharing sessions.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Chair Professor, Honorary Committee Member of Shanghai AI Strategic Advisory Expert Committee, and European Academy of Sciences Academician Xu Lei interpreted AI development paths from an academic perspective. He believes that while humans and technology have previously interacted in spiral upward progression, we are now entering an era where AI technology comprehensively transforms humanity. However, whether AI development will lead to AGI or Brain 2.0 still requires further exploration and practice.

Nankai University Professor Duan Feng shared research achievements in interventional brain-computer interfaces. In his view, when AI achieves multimodal fusion, brain science research will drive the development of next-generation AI technology and new information industries.

Peking University Psychology and Cognitive Science School Professor and Doctoral Supervisor Wei Kunlin shared the present and future of human-machine collaboration. He believes that the carbon-silicon symbiotic future will be achieved through parallel development of AI+ applications and AI+ exploration.

Taking strategic partner China Mobile as an example, this telecommunications giant has already achieved carbon-silicon symbiotic solutions in scenarios including AI+ high-standard farmland, AI+ smart mining and metallurgy, and AI+ smart living.

Technology companies and brands, backed by technology, are committed to accelerating AI industrial implementation to serve mass markets. UC Berkeley AI Racing Team Chairman, UC Berkeley Vive Augmented Reality Center Founding Executive Director, and Hitch Open World AI Racing Championship Referee Committee Chairman Allen Yang shared topics on promoting intelligent applications with universal AI technology. He believes that for AI technology to benefit the masses, key issues to solve include model development cost problems, safety issues in autonomous driving, and mobile application problems.

Strategic partner Gree Electric vividly demonstrated China's manufacturing technological strength. Gree Electric Market Director Zhu Lei stated that innovation, quality, and culture are three keywords for Gree's global expansion. Gree currently possesses 50 internationally leading technologies, including self-developed innovative distributed air supply technology and the world's first 1300RT magnetic levitation centrifugal refrigeration compressor unit, continuously expanding air conditioning technology boundaries.

Additionally, conference partners JD.com, UWANT, Nutrilite, and other companies and brands deeply participated in the conference, sharing technological productization achievements and demonstrating how technology changes life.

AI development also accompanies both applause and controversy, just like discussions on Zhihu where different viewpoints coexist harmoniously. "Will having AI work for us ultimately create useless people or superhumans?" "Has AI made the world more interesting or more boring?" At the conference venue, 12 Zhihu contributors with different viewpoints engaged in a unique "Knowledge-style Debate," revealing humanity's profound thinking about AI development's double-edged nature.

Some contributors believe AI is fostering human laziness, stifling creativity, and even exacerbating structural unemployment. Others argue that AI hasn't made the world boring nor is it creativity's enemy; conversely, AI's disruption of efficiency and capability boundaries has extended to daily life. For example, previously buying air conditioners required repeatedly comparing parameters, performance, and prices, but now you only need to search in Zhihu Direct Answer, and AI will automatically present the most suitable purchase cards based on your needs, directly linking to JD.com.

Zhihu Founder and CEO Zhou Yuan also shared his thoughts on AI. He believes that while AI iteration makes many people anxious, technological development won't leave anyone behind. Many questions may not have answers now, but as long as questions and exploration are planted, they will eventually become a forest.

On Zhihu, AI is not only a technological revolution but also a cognitive revolution. You can see both grand narratives of world change and small scenarios of life improvement, truly bringing AI into ordinary households.

Beyond exciting sharing within the venue, the conference also established a "Tech Walk" themed exhibition area on Hangzhou's Lakeside Pedestrian Street, featuring numerous high-tech products. Aosha Intelligence showcased cool exoskeleton robots, Lingxin Qiaoshou brought multiple embodied intelligence specialized dexterous hand solutions, Gree Electric's coffee robot booth attracted tremendous popularity, Nutrilite's nutrition charging station provided professional nutrition assessments advocating healthy lifestyles, while Zhihu Direct Answer, Zhihu Academic Bar, Question Store, and Liu Kanshan and other Zhihu AI products and IP series all participated, concretizing technological innovation and bringing vivid tech interaction experiences to the public.

Two Major Lists Revealed: Partnering with AI Pioneers and Brands to Accelerate Tech Inclusivity

As a Q&A community centered on professional discussion, Zhihu gathers the most professional technology practitioners and developers, building a highly dynamic domestic technology and AI communication ecosystem, making Zhihu a platform where developers debut projects, discuss directions, and showcase achievements.

Recently, Zhihu launched the "AI Pioneers" program, continuously connecting investment institutions, media, and industry observers, combining Zhihu user nominations and recommendations, professional assessments, and industry insights to create authoritative, forward-looking, and influential lists. This list not only focuses on existing renowned entrepreneurs but also commits to discovering pioneers who are defining the future with innovative technology and unique thinking.

At the conference venue, Zhihu officially unveiled the first "AI Pioneers" list. The list includes not only star enterprise entrepreneurs like Unitree Robotics Founder and CEO Wang Xingxing, Moonshot AI Founder and CEO Yang Zhilin, and DeepSeek Founder and CEO Liang Wenfeng, but also academic leaders such as Institute of Computing Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences Associate Director and Advanced Computing Research Center Director Bao Yungang, Tsinghua University Electronic Engineering Department Professor and Wuwen Qiankun Initiator Wang Yu, Carnegie Mellon University Machine Learning and Computer Science Department Assistant Professor Chen Tianqi, and Moonshot AI Researcher and "Scientific Space" technology blog creator Su Jianlin, as well as innovative project explorers including Boson AI Founder and MXNet deep learning framework author Li Mu, vLLM open-source project core contributor You Kaichao, ControlNet open-source project author Zhang Lümin, and Network Dissection technology pioneer Zhou Bolei. They are all active on Zhihu, creating and leading AI's latest achievements and development directions.

In Zhihu's view, the AI wave can create entrepreneurial stars, but developers working solidly on the technical frontlines are equally driving the technological wheel's rotation. Some overcome efficiency bottlenecks, some use open source to lower innovation thresholds, some explore new possibilities in niche tracks – AI's future is being rewritten by them.

Besides cutting-edge technology developers, Zhihu is equally active with numerous brand pioneers committed to empowering products and services through technological innovation. At the conference, Zhihu unveiled the "Tech Translator Brand" list combining community discussions and network popularity. The list encompasses AI ecosystem builders like China Mobile, Huawei, Lenovo, Baidu Intelligent Cloud, and Infineon, as well as practitioners accelerating AI industrial applications like Gree, Meituan Medicine, Quark, Avatr, and iFLYTEK. Guided by technology for good and with a mission of tech inclusivity, they jointly promoted the implementation and flourishing of this epoch-making technological revolution.

CICAS x Zhihu AGI Special Competition: Creating AI Innovation Fertile Ground, Discovering Practical Talent

With the AI industry exploding, every developer's participation is precious. To further stimulate development enthusiasm in AI fields among research institutions, university faculty and students, and technology companies, at the TechClub venue, Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence Deputy Secretary-General and CICAS Organizing Committee Executive Secretary-General Yu Youcheng and Zhihu COO Zhang Rongle jointly launched the 2025 3rd National Artificial Intelligence Application Scenario Innovation Challenge Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) special competition.

This special competition adopts an "open scenario" competition model, publicly soliciting no fewer than 120 AGI scenario application innovation projects from across the nation. In competition design, it establishes five sub-topics: vulnerable group care, workplace efficiency improvement, educational learning assistance, health smart home appliance ecosystems, and household assistant intelligent agents, covering the most attention-grabbing AI application scenarios while demonstrating strong humanistic care.

Zhihu COO Zhang Rongle expressed hopes to leverage both platforms' professional strengths to connect technology practitioners, university faculty and students, and technology enthusiasts broadly, promoting deep integration of innovation chains, talent chains, and industrial chains in the artificial intelligence field.

The AI wave surges powerfully, concerning both the global technology industry's vast horizons and affecting everyone's actual life. Using the community as a base and TechClub New Knowledge Technology Conference as a stage, Zhihu will continue leveraging platform value in the AI era, connecting industry, academia, and the public, transforming high-tech into perceivable life solutions, helping more people discover a larger world.