Strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural advancement, livelihood security, and social governance. – Excerpt from the "16th Five-Year Plan" outline.
Upon entering the elderly canteen in Chongkou Village, Shilian Village, Dongjin Town, Guigang City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, a young girl wearing a headscarf and a lotus-patterned skirt appears on the TV screen. Her name is "Gui Xiaoshe," an AI (Artificial Intelligence) social worker capable of real-time interaction.
"How can we install streetlights on the village road to make walking at night safer?" villager Jiang Yafu asked loudly. "You can apply for a government project, but it requires a joint application from the villagers. First, clarify which specific road, its length, how many households are involved, and if there are villagers' joint signatures. Then, draft an application and submit it to the village or town authorities for government arrangement. Let's proceed step by step," Gui Xiaoshe immediately replied.
"Logical and practical!" said Jiang Yafu. "When someone asks about policies, Gui Xiaoshe can reply in seconds," remarked Jiang Shaogeng, chairman of the Chongkou Village Council, adding, "This 'new colleague' has been a great help to me, an 'old social worker'."
Grassroots governance involves a wide scope and significant challenges. The introduction of AI can effectively address issues such as insufficient social worker resources. From policy consultation to information services, AI empowers rural governance, making Gui Xiaoshe a versatile assistant in grassroots management.
Why was Gui Xiaoshe introduced to the village? "Intelligent grassroots governance holds great potential in rural areas. We have the technology and hope AI can genuinely serve the people," said Liu Chengcheng, General Manager of Yufei Technology (Guangxi) Co., Ltd., the developer of Gui Xiaoshe.
In November 2025, Yufei Technology's "AI Agent for Grassroots Social Governance" won first prize in the Guangxi AI + Social Work Innovation Application Competition. The Guigang Municipal Committee's Social Work Department collaborated with the company to leverage the competition results, piloting Gui Xiaoshe in Chongkou Village, which has a large resident population and tourist flow, to meet high-frequency consultation demands.
"Research showed that developing new devices involves high technical thresholds and costs, making implementation difficult. What grassroots levels need are usable, effective, and practical tools," Liu Chengcheng explained. Avoiding redundant construction, computing power is handled in the "cloud." Gui Xiaoshe is downward compatible, features simple interaction, and can adapt to devices like TVs, computers, and mobile phones.
Engineers "fed" Gui Xiaoshe with policy documents from government websites, over 1,200 representative local case studies of deliberative consultations provided by social work departments, and geographic information data, building a solid data foundation for the AI agent.
"When faced with policy Q&A, if the AI agent hasn't been trained on relevant content, it might 'speak nonsense with a straight face'," Liu Chengcheng noted. To address this, the company conducted deep customization, enabling Gui Xiaoshe to base its responses on laws, regulations, and verifiable local cases, identifying reliable solutions to problems and improving answer accuracy.
What changes has Gui Xiaoshe's launch brought? It can "listen," providing an additional channel for people to voice their concerns; it can "speak," offering policy answers and solutions with a single query; and it can "act," assisting in drafting notices for village meetings. Since its launch, Gui Xiaoshe has interacted with the public through over 5,000 messages.
"Gui Xiaoshe operates 24/7, addressing people's daily concerns, lightening the load for grassroots social workers, and helping resolve challenges in grassroots governance," said Liang Jincheng, Deputy Director of the Guigang Municipal Committee's Social Work Department.