"Peeling a raw quail egg without breaking the membrane."

On July 26, the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference opened in Shanghai. Stepping into the exhibition venue feels like entering a global "Olympics" in the AI field. Robots showcased their talents and skills—whether picking up tofu or peeling raw quail eggs—amazing all visitors.

"In the intelligent era, we stand together as one global community." Statistics show that this year’s conference gathered over 1,200 top global guests, including 12 Turing Award and Nobel Prize winners. It also displayed more than 3,000 cutting-edge exhibits and over 100 "global premieres" and "China debuts". Among them, the stunning appearance of embodied robots attracted much attention.

On July 29, the "Intelligent Future—Nanny Robot Conference" hosted by China Media Group will also kick off, focusing on displaying technological innovation achievements and industry application scenarios.

In recent days, "watching how robots change future life" has become a hot topic, sparking people’s beautiful imagination. As robots evolve, they keep pace with the times and respond to human needs. One example is that robots are not only for viewing but also have practical functions. Their application scenarios are expanding from industry to full-domain services.

From industrial production to household services, from medical care to education and training, robots are profoundly changing our lifestyle with their remarkable practicality and intelligence.

"Cyber Elderly Care": Technology Empowers Silver-Haired Life

Take elderly care robots as an example. They are increasingly used in more scenarios—from being dance partners for square dances and table tennis training partners, to folding clothes, mopping floors, washing dishes and wiping tables, to helping the elderly with mobility issues and monitoring their health.

In February this year, the world’s first international standard for elderly care robots, led by China, was officially released. The standard focuses on the elderly’s daily life, health care and other aspects in an interconnected home environment, and puts forward specific technical requirements for housework, entertainment, home management, care, as well as going out and mobility assistance.

By the end of 2024, the number of people aged 60 and above in China reached 310.31 million, accounting for 22.0% of the total population; the number of people aged 65 and above was 220.23 million, accounting for 15.6% of the total population.

It is estimated that by 2050, the global population aged 60 and above will reach 2.1 billion, including 426 million people aged 80 and above. In this context, enabling the elderly to live a more dignified old age requires both a sound institutional guarantee and increased technological empowerment.

Not long ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly issued a notice to launch a pilot program for paired research and scenario application of intelligent elderly care service robots, with the pilot period from 2025 to 2027. It clearly proposes to implement a number of key projects for intelligent elderly care service robots in stages, aiming to "accelerate the empowerment of robots in smart elderly care services and the development of the silver economy".

With the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the widespread application of robots, smart elderly care has become common. The "technology + humanity" development model has improved the quality of life for the elderly in their later years.

"Creative Stunts": Robots Have a Wide Range of Applications

In the life sector, robots also have their "unique skills". Recently, China Media Group reported a case where a robot, supported by AI technology, not only learned the latte art techniques of a barista but also mastered various delicate latte art through high-precision control.

From automatically planning routes to clean the floor, to shuttling between tables to deliver food, and even chatting to provide emotional support, robots are constantly expanding their boundaries in the life field.

The development of robots has also spawned new business forms. In the education sector, robots are involved in programming education, daily teaching, special education and other application scenarios, and help the education industry move from "traditional office" to "digital-intelligent collaboration".

In the medical field, the National Health Commission has proposed to apply new technologies such as artificial intelligence, surgical robots and internet medical care to meet people’s medical service needs.

Currently, various regions are actively developing medical scenarios for robot applications. For example, the clinical application of surgical robots is becoming more common. A doctor vividly described that performing a regular laparoscopic surgery is like holding chopsticks in hand and using them to hold a needle for the operation; while using a robot, it is like holding the needle directly with the hand without chopsticks, making the operation more flexible.

In short, robots are being applied in more and more scenarios. From production and daily life to emergency safety, from medical and health care to education and teaching, from intelligent inspection to supervision and law enforcement, to cultural tourism consumption, many places across the country are exploring the wide application of robots.

Gathering Advantageous Resources: Robots Have a Promising Future

The rapid development of the robot industry and the expansion of application scenarios are closely related to national institutional arrangements. The "14th Five-Year Plan for the Development of the Robot Industry" clearly states that "service robots and special robots will be applied on a large scale in warehousing and logistics, education and entertainment, cleaning services, security inspection, medical rehabilitation and other fields". The plan also puts forward clear requirements: "Focus on meeting the needs of manufacturing, mining, construction, agriculture and other industries, as well as family services, public services, medical and health care, elderly care and disability assistance, special environment operations and other fields, gather advantageous resources, and focus on promoting the development and application of key products such as industrial robots, service robots and special robots."

Robots are known as "the pearl at the top of the manufacturing crown". Their research and development, manufacturing and application are important indicators to measure a country’s scientific and technological innovation and high-end manufacturing level.

Today’s China is full of momentum in scientific and technological innovation, with new productive forces developing vigorously. Artificial intelligence technology is accelerating its iteration and is ushering in explosive development.

Statistics show that China has been the world’s largest industrial robot market for 11 consecutive years, and its industrial robot installation volume accounts for more than 50% of the global total. It is certain that with the rapid development of technology and the improvement of the system, humanoid robots will make greater breakthroughs and bring more surprises.

Empowering thousands of industries and entering thousands of households, when technology and humanity coexist harmoniously and efficiency and care complement each other, robots will better shape people’s better life.