Industrial AI usage jumps to 47.5% as workforce faces displacement
China‘s accelerating deployment of artificial intelligence is triggering job losses across software development, media production, and logistics, as corporate adoption expands under national policy incentives. Software coders, translators, and delivery workers face immediate displacement or severe wage reductions as enterprise implementation of AI models and automated robotics systems scales across the domestic market.
Industrial AI adoption rose to 47.5% as video production dropped 75%
The share of Chinese industrial enterprises using artificial intelligence models and automated agents rose to 47.5% last year, up from 9.6% in 2024, according to market intelligence firm IDC. In Beijing, computer programmer Fei Zhaojun, 40, was laid off alongside approximately 160 colleagues after management evaluated automated coding tools, reflecting a pattern of retrenchment across technology teams. Media sectors face similar disruptions, with production of live-action short and vertical video series designed for mobile phones falling about 75% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier as generative AI tools substitute traditional filming pipelines. In Chengdu, part-time translator Du Qinchun reported that overall industry compensation has dropped by more than half compared to prior years, even as workers take temporary contracts to train machine translation models.
Plenum senior analyst Shujing He noted that tasks previously requiring specialized training can now be executed by general staff using AI tools, heightening displacement risks for workers in narrowly focused roles. Physical automation is simultaneously moving into blue-collar industries, where humanoid robots sort parcels in postal centers and automated food delivery robots threaten the livelihoods of millions of courier workers nationwide.
