Back in time ten years ago, at the 2014 China Internet Conference, there was a session that many people will never forget - a live conversation between Zhou Hongyi of 360 and Zhang Chaoyang of Sohu. At that time, the two were still talking about how "Internet +" was changing all walks of life and the new opportunities on their respective entrepreneurial paths.
Today, ten years later, at the 2024 (23rd) China Internet Conference, another roundtable forum on the "Ten Years Promise" was set up, and the two were on the same stage again. In the past few years, Zhang Chaoyang has been a hot topic because of his physics class in the live broadcast room, and Zhou Hongyi has also been frequently out of the circle because of "auto shows". Today, they are not only senior Internet practitioners, but also star entrepreneurs and “new internet celebrities”.
Under the spotlight, Zhang Chaoyang is wearing a gray shirt, a typical image of a science and engineering man; Zhou Hongyi still appears as the "uncle in red". From 2014 to 2024, what changes have taken place in the Internet industry in the past ten years, how Internet entrepreneurs "break the circle", and where will the trend of the next decade be... a feast of ideas has begun.
At the "Ten Years Promise" roundtable forum, Zhou Hongyi, founder of 360 Group, and Zhang Chaoyang, founder, chairman and CEO of Sohu, discussed the development of the Internet industry.
Talking about the changes in the past ten years -
AI large model, mobile Internet, social network
"What impressed me most is the breakthrough of artificial intelligence in the past two years. In the past, artificial intelligence technology was a bit like 'artificial retardation', but this big model breakthrough This brings artificial intelligence to a new stage," Zhou Hongyi said.
Looking back on the past few years, web3.0, blockchain, metaverse, etc. are like a flash in the pan. When many people question whether the development of the Internet has reached a bottleneck, the breakthrough of large models has injected new vitality into the Internet. Zhou Hongyi believes that large models will set off a new round of industrial revolution, and all Internet applications will be reshaped. It will also bring new revolutionary opportunities to the Internet industry and strengthen the demand for Internet entrepreneurship and investment.
"Without the development of the Internet, there would be no development of artificial intelligence. It is precisely thanks to the accumulation of computing power, data, algorithms, etc. on the Internet that it has laid the foundation for the development of artificial intelligence. Therefore, we would like to thank the Internet for its 30 years of accumulation." Zhou Hongyi Put it this way.
In Zhang Chaoyang’s view, the most impressive thing is undoubtedly the rise of the mobile Internet. In the past ten years, the development of the Internet has basically taken two directions: one is about the development of algorithms and artificial intelligence; the other is that with the development of bandwidth, short videos, graphics and text, etc., their imaging and live broadcast content have become very rich.
In addition, in terms of content distribution, we are also following two routes: one is based on algorithm recommendation, backed by AI technology, which is very accurate; the other is the development of social networking and the distribution of social networks.
Talking about the feelings of "Internet celebrity entrepreneurs":
Put down your airs, don't hold yourself high, and don't have a "daddy taste"
In the past few years, Zhang Chaoyang and Zhou Hongyi have both become "Internet celebrity CEOs". It can be felt from the words of the roundtable dialogue that they all recognize entrepreneurs as "Internet celebrities". Zhang Chaoyang believes that live broadcasts of shows in the past had a relatively narrow definition of "Internet celebrity", but today's "Internet celebrity" is broader, and anyone who is influential in a certain aspect can become an "Internet celebrity".
"In the era of video and self-media, communication and marketing have also entered a new field. Whether it is promoting a brand or 'selling things', current marketing must be based on the account matrix, as well as the 'viral communication' generated by the account, and the marketing form Compared with 20 years ago, there have been earth-shaking changes. "Zhang Chaoyang believes that when entrepreneurs and famous figures become "Internet celebrities" or broadcasters, they must deal with the new era of media communication models and strategies, and even very accomplished people must let go. Shelf, accept new changes and embrace new changes.
Zhou Hongyi also believes that "Internet celebrity entrepreneurs" should pay attention to the following when doing live broadcasts: first, don't stay on top, don't have a "dad-like" attitude, communicate at a level, cannot "boast" to educate others, and should put down your posture and be able to "laugh at yourself" Second, entrepreneurs should focus on promoting the company's product concepts. If it is just advertising, ordinary people will not be able to stand it. They may also need to share their lives and create "pan-content" to win "pan-fans."
Talking about the future:
We are in the eye and center of the AI storm
Currently, chatgpt has become a topic that everyone cannot avoid. Zhang Chaoyang believes that artificial intelligence, especially AIGC, is very powerful in its ability to imitate and find certain logic from large amounts of data to provide repetitive answers. "I am very optimistic about AI. We are in the eye of the storm of the AI revolution, in the center."
"AI has a very wide track. It is an industrial revolution-level innovation that will change all industries and reshape all products... …” Zhou Hongyi also believes that large models will become an important component of the entire society, the entire country, the entire industrial and commercial enterprises, and the entire digital business in the future. For example, a large model can be turned into a car like a "motor" by attaching four wheels, and a fan by attaching fan blades. It can also be turned into a razor, hair dryer, electric toothbrush, etc. A large number of traditional enterprises and government departments also have the opportunity to customize their own professional large-scale models.
Where will the Internet’s popularity be in the next ten years? "Ten years later, I hope that today's imagination and expectations can be confirmed, and I hope they can all be implemented." Zhou Hongyi firmly believes that based on computing power and data, the trend of generative AI technology represented by large models will not pass away soon, at least The next 10 to 20 years will profoundly change the world.
"On the one hand, artificial intelligence is very good, but we must also pay attention to the negative aspects it may bring." Zhang Chaoyang gave an example. For example, false information, identity authentication, personal privacy, etc. all need to be followed up by corresponding laws.
Zhang Chaoyang believes that social networking will still be mainstream and very important in the future. Maybe everyone has never met in person, but they all seem to be the most familiar strangers. They all know each other online and communicate 24 hours a day. This will be the trend in the future.
It is understood that the China Internet Conference is a brand event hosted by the Internet Society of China. It has been held for 22 times since 2002. This year marks the 30th anniversary of China's full-featured access to the international Internet. The theme of this conference is "Thirty Years of Internet and New Qualitative Changes in Intelligence", and special sessions such as the "China Internet 30th Anniversary Theme Ceremony" have been set up.
(Text/Guangming.com reporter Li Zhengwei)
Source: Guangming.com
