Artificial Intelligence, Technological Innovation and the Upgrading of China’s Equipment Manufacturing Industry

Abstract

This article identifies and screens out companies applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) through Enterprise Search, and measures the level of AI empowerment in the industry in terms of the number of companies applying AI as a proportion of the number of companies in the industry as a whole, and based on the panel data of China’s equipment manufacturing industry from 2001-2017, we empirically test the impact effect and mechanism of action of AI empowerment on the upgrading of the equipment manufacturing industry. The research results show that: AI empowerment has a significant positive impact on the upgrading of the equipment manufacturing industry, but there is industry heterogeneity, and AI empowerment has a greater positive impact effect on the upgrading of the high-end equipment manufacturing industry. Technological innovation plays a mediating role in the process of AI empowerment for the upgrading of equipment manufacturing.