Shanghai Inclusion 2026: AI agents and embodied intelligence get to work
Artificial intelligence is ceasing to be a purely digital phenomenon. It is acquiring arms, legs and the ability to act in the real world — and this is changing not only technology but the very nature of work.
The four-day Inclusion Conference 2026 opened on Saturday at the Bund in Shanghai, with artificial intelligence (AI), embodied intelligence and other new technologies taking centre stage. Under the slogan "Building the AI Economy Together," the conference attracted more than 300 companies presenting their technologies across various application areas — from AI agents and financial services to embodied intelligence and industrial systems.
The showcased developments marked a new stage in the integration of AI into corporate workflows, financial transactions and industrial automation, as the tech industry moves from building ever-larger models to deploying practical applications in the real world.
"I expect that in a year or two — in fact, it is already happening — this will become the platform on which we do all our work. So what matters now is that it will affect all areas. The question is how we will use the advantages of AI to do our work at a higher level," said Chua Tat-seng, a research fellow at the Singapore National Academy of Science.
For enterprises, the commercial incentive lies in increasing productivity, reducing operating costs and automating complex tasks, with experts noting that digital agents are already delivering the greatest benefit to narrow specialists. "In the digital world, the question is how we can scale this and make very versatile agents available to everyone. So at this stage, the greatest benefit from digital agents can be gained by experts in various fields," said Liu Ziwei, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University.
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond the digital world. More than 40 companies involved in embodied intelligence are presenting technologies designed for real-world conditions, signalling a shift from information generation to robots performing real labour. This transition could mark the beginning of the next stage of the AI economy.
"Painting a fan may seem like a fun and simple task, but it actually demonstrates the evolution of robots, which previously could only grasp and lift objects. Each joint has a built-in torque sensor, so the whole arm feels force," said Yang Wentao, director of the business unit at Flexiv, a high-tech company developing and manufacturing versatile adaptive robots. Yang added that combined with precise force control and fast response, the robot can determine contact in real time and adjust its movements accordingly.
Despite rapid progress, developers emphasise that the integration of hardware and software is still in its formative stage. "Robotics, whether hardware or software, is still far from maturity. We are working on the development of robotics. For example, in the case of work at long distances or in hazardous spaces where people or labour are reluctant to take on such tasks, we can replace them with humanoid robots," said Li Hongyang, a winner of the Ant Intech Awards 2026.
As reported by CCTV+, Inclusion Conference 2026 in Shanghai became a platform where AI demonstrates its transition from generating information to real action. More than 300 companies and 40 embodied intelligence developers showed that technology is ready to change workflows and open a new chapter in the AI economy.
