Artificial Intelligence and Local Development Experiment in Rongjiang County, China
Following the success of the village super league after overcoming extreme poverty, Rongjiang County in Guizhou Province is making digital tools and artificial intelligence available to the public.
Located in a mountainous region in southwest China, Rongjiang County is launching an economic development drive by spreading artificial intelligence and digital tools to the grassroots after its process of escaping poverty.
Rongjiang's Process of Emerging from Poverty
Hidden in the Guizhou mountains in southwest China, Rongjiang became one of the last counties to escape extreme poverty on November 23, 2020, and in 2022 its per capita national income was at one-third of the national average.
The Village Super League and Its Economic Impact
In May 2023, the Village Super League, known as Cun Chao, was launched and quickly managed to fill stadiums by attracting immense interest at both the national and global levels.
The organizational talent required for weekend matches turned into a genuine economic development engine by increasing tourism revenues and creating thousands of new market elements.
Putting Artificial Intelligence into the Hands of the People
Since 2023, the county has been carrying out various efforts to integrate artificial intelligence into the daily lives of villagers, with everyone including elderly farmers and village cadres using these technologies.
Instead of building large language models or data centers, government departments, villages, and businesses were included in the process through a joint mobilization.
The Process Supported by Infrastructure and National Policies
Roads paved thanks to national poverty alleviation campaigns, reliable electricity, and 4G and fiber-optic broadband infrastructure formed the basis of this experiment.
In line with the State Council's artificial intelligence action plans, the county aims to become a national benchmark in universal artificial intelligence learning by the end of 2027.
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Promotion and Administrative Affairs
Villagers produce posters and short videos using smartphones and artificial intelligence-supported content production tools to promote local products and events such as the village super league.
While artificial intelligence alleviates administrative burdens such as preparing reports and compiling statistical tables, it also translates complex official policies into simple language for the villagers.