On December 3rd, a beautiful piano melody quietly filled the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center in Beijing, causing a wave of amazement among the audience — the performer was a young man missing his right forearm. With the assistance of BrainCo's brain-computer interface technology, he wore an intelligent bionic hand that moved with the commands of his mind, allowing the silver mechanical fingers to skillfully dance across the black and white keys, turning the "cyber future" once seen only in science fiction into reality.
This was a touching moment at the 2025 Sustainable Social Value Innovation Conference (referred to as "S Conference" for short). "AI for Good" is no longer a distant slogan but has become a tangible, touchable, and applicable practice. The S Conference was jointly hosted by the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office (UNRCO), the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Association, the Institute for Sustainable Social Value of Tsinghua University, and Tencent's Sustainable Social Value Business Unit (SSV). This year's S Conference took "Solutions" as its theme, aiming to explore feasible paths for technology to support sustainable development in an era where AI is profoundly reshaping society.
Yang Bin, vice chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee of Tsinghua University and director of the Institute for Sustainable Social Value of Tsinghua University, pointed out in his keynote speech that in the face of challenges brought about by the rapid development of technologies like AI, enterprises should leverage their advantages in technology, scenarios, and resources to actively promote the "retraining of skills" for society. This is not only what the public needs and what the government expects, but also a key path for companies to contribute social value and help achieve a smooth transition. Xi Dan, senior vice president and chief talent officer of Tencent, also stated: "Artificial intelligence makes us stronger, but we need humanistic values to correct it. We must remain clear-minded, keeping people at the center and serving society."
Caption: At the S Conference, Xiaojiang, a product experience officer from BrainCo, played the piano using an intelligent bionic hand.
Entrepreneurs, scientists, and researchers have crossed boundaries to discuss the action plan for "AI for Good"
Turing Award winner, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Information Studies and the School of Artificial Intelligence at Tsinghua University, Yao Qizhi, delivered a speech at this year's S Conference. He pointed out that focusing on "AI for Good" not only enables artificial intelligence to play a role in major social issues such as poverty eradication, climate change, clean energy development, and wildlife protection, but more importantly, it can stimulate or even create new scientific fields worth exploring, thereby having a profound impact on global sustainable development.
Chang Qide, UN Development System Resident Coordinator in China, emphasized that artificial intelligence provides a powerful engine for sustainable development, but it may also deepen inequality. It is essential to ensure that AI innovation is inclusive and benefits vulnerable groups and remote areas. Fan Jianlin, vice president of the China Enterprise Reform and Development Research Association, believes that fairness and inclusiveness are the foundation of social progress. Technological breakthroughs and model innovations provide unprecedented pathways for fairness and inclusiveness. By building an open and shared ecosystem, enterprises can break traditional resource barriers, enabling different groups to participate equally in value creation.
In the roundtable session, Han Bicheng, founder and CEO of BrainCo, shared a memorable story. More than ten years ago, he and his team visited over a hundred families of people with physical disabilities, trying to map their daily routines, but eventually only drew 100 static "points" — because the living radius of people with disabilities was almost limited to their homes. It was this reality that drove BrainCo to invest in the development of brain-computer interface prosthetic limbs. Today, users of BrainCo's intelligent prosthetics can perform high-precision actions such as grasping, writing, and playing the piano, and even complete extreme sports like rock climbing and surfing.
According to Han Bicheng, the next generation of brain-computer interface technology is expected not only to help people with obesity, insomnia, and autism lead normal lives, but also to potentially break sensory limitations and natural laws, allowing blind people to see in the dark or see up to ten kilometers away. This innovative practice that combines technological breakthroughs with human care sparked heated discussions among the attendees, demonstrating the infinite possibilities of "AI for Good."
Huang Dinglong, founder of Moolon Tech, believes that AI can play the role of a "leveler" in education: by learning advanced teaching methods in developed areas and continuously transmitting them to resource-poor regions, it can promote the effective flow of educational resources and avoid widening the education gap due to unequal technological empowerment. Xue Lan, a senior professor of humanities at Tsinghua University and dean of the Schwarzman College, pointed out from the perspective of technological ethics that as artificial intelligence enters its "adolescent period" and rapidly evolves, on one hand, we need to build a "cage" to constrain its risks, and on the other hand, we should incorporate the dimensions, costs, and functions of "goodness" into engineering design from the source, making AI safer and better serve humanity.
Chen Juhong, vice president of Tencent and head of Tencent's Sustainable Social Value Business Unit, shared some practical cases of Tencent's efforts in "AI for Good." She believes that social innovation needs to play a role in commercial blind spots and market failures. When solving complex social problems, the capabilities of individual products and enterprises are always limited, and platforms need to connect the gaps in problem-solving.
In addition, Dr. François Bonnici, director of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Alastair Colin-Jones, executive director of the Reciprocal Value Lab, and Luo Shuoquan, director of the SK Institute for Social Value, among other guests, explored ecological solutions to social issues globally from multiple perspectives such as social innovation, economic models, and business practices.
Caption: Diverse participants had cross-disciplinary exchanges at the S Conference to discuss technology for good
Youth innovators are paving the way for "AI for Good," and cutting-edge research is gathering consensus on the value of "intelligent civilization"
The rapid development of new technologies represented by artificial intelligence brings what benefits and challenges to human society? Discussions and reflections on the relationship between technology and society have become one of the core topics of concern for the attendees. At this year's S Conference, there were hard-core technology projects such as the "Thunderbolt Plan" for preventing lightning disasters and the "Global Recovery Alliance" for assisting emergency medical calls, as well as in-depth dialogues on topics like AI governance and social value. Representatives from various fields such as technology development, business practice, economic policy, cultural research, and public administration gathered together to exchange ideas on "AI for Good," seeking a balanced solution between technological efficiency and human care, and between instrumental rationality and value rationality, and jointly exploring feasible paths for technology to support sustainable development.
Youth are not only the masters of the future but also the active subjects of the present. At this year's S Conference, the younger generation demonstrated strong action power in promoting "AI for Good." Zhu Haoyu, 19 years old, shared his innovative practice of founding AdventureX, a global youth hackathon. Based on a reflection on the exam-oriented education system, he is committed to creating a co-creation platform that does not ask about background, set any barriers, or relate to grades, encouraging more young people to release curiosity and freely explore. So far, AdventureX has successfully held two editions, and this year it attracted over 7,000 young people worldwide, showcasing the international vision and energy of China's new generation in education innovation and technology for good.
In the frontier research forum, top scholars from institutions such as Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Paris Graduate School of Business, Tongji University, and Tencent discussed several interesting questions:
"What would be the relationship between humans and machines if a silicon-based life form with ten times the human IQ appeared?"
"Would excessive reliance on AI lead to a new type of digital romantic relationship?"
Experts at the conference believe that AI has already surpassed individuals in knowledge acquisition, but true "intelligence" requires factors such as responsibility, judgment, and creativity. Therefore, AI development should not only pursue "strength" but also focus on "goodness," ensuring that technological progress serves human well-being and sustainable social development through institutional design and ecological collaboration. At the same time, as time and social cognition advance, people's understanding and trust in AI will increase, and we need to design mechanisms for "intervention" and "exit" to address potential risks arising from human-machine dependence.
In addition, the S Conference also launched the first phase of the "Global Open Research Program" and initiated the second phase. This program will focus on "AI for Good," pooling global wisdom to drive real value for human sustainable development through artificial intelligence.
Social value ecosystem collaborates to build the foundation and systematic solutions for social innovation
Currently, systemic social challenges are becoming increasingly complex. In this context, the power of individuals is extremely limited, and social innovation urgently needs to shift from "single-point breakthroughs" to "ecological co-construction." To this end, this year's S Conference specifically set up a "Social Innovation" section, through two parallel forums on "ecology" and "impact investment," promoting discussions on the ecological path of social value innovation in the AI era.
Wang Zhenyao, professor at Beijing Normal University and founder and director of the China Institute of Public Welfare, pointed out at the conference that the global economy is undergoing a major structural transformation since the Industrial Revolution, and the "good economy" is entering a critical stage of high-quality development. Therefore, he called on enterprises and social forces to shift towards "value coexistence," jointly building an ecosystem oriented toward "goodness," and collectively facing the civilizational challenges of the digital and intelligent era.
This view was recognized by many participants. No single organization can solve systemic social challenges such as educational equity, aging, and rural revitalization. Building a collaborative and symbiotic innovation ecosystem is imperative. In this process, as a key node with core capabilities and social resources, enterprises need to take the leading role, shifting from traditional value seekers to ecological co-builders.
Xiao Liming, vice president of Tencent's Sustainable Social Value and incoming secretary-general of Tencent Foundation, proposed through the case of the "Tencent Digital Care Platform" that "digital capabilities should become the foundation of the social value ecosystem"; Kai Li, vice president of Meituan and chairman of Meituan Public Welfare Foundation, shared the exploration of building a large-scale trust network through the platform, promoting the deep integration of commercial value and social value via specific projects such as rural children's playgrounds, the Green Mountains Project, rider-friendly communities, and Kangaroo Babies. These examples indicate that enterprises are transitioning from past social responsibility performers to key forces participating in value co-creation through core capability openness.
This role shift of enterprises not only requires model innovation but also relies on systematic financial capital support. Currently, global impact investment is moving toward a trillion-dollar scale, with Asia becoming the fastest-growing and most dynamic market. Cao Baidu, chairman of TPC, and Liu Xu, partner of Xihexiang, believe that new technologies are reshaping the underlying logic of impact investment, making it go beyond simple moral demands and deeply integrate value transformation and business logic. Innovative cases from companies like Jiage Tian Di and Wu Zhi Technology have found a balance between commercial benefits and social value. Notably, the Value Balance Alliance, SK Institute for Social Value, Xiangguang Future, and Tencent SSV jointly announced an action initiative at the event, marking the entry of the Asian impact investment ecosystem into a substantive advancement phase.
From low-carbon fashion shows to cyber nursing homes, the S Conference makes the "sustainable future" within reach
During the S Conference, the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center in Beijing transformed into an immersive experience hall themed "Sustainable Future." This year's conference broke the traditional exhibition model of one-way output, creating a "sustainable lifestyle" carnival that integrates interaction, perception, and co-creation.
The Tencent "CarbonXmade" project officially launched six low-carbon products, including HAY's Mags carbon-sequestering sofa, Tims Tian Hao Coffee's eco-friendly straws, Haowangshui's eco-friendly bottles, and Decathlon's Earth Protection Sports Field volunteer shirts. These products use raw materials sourced from captured and utilized carbon dioxide from industrial emissions, vividly illustrating the concept of "turning waste into treasure."
Caption: Tencent's "CarbonXmade" collaborated with multiple universities and art institutions to organize a fashion show inspired by low-carbon products, becoming the highlight of the event.
At the exhibition site, the cyber nursing home equipped with smart wheelchairs, the holographic AI health assistant "Xiaohui" offering personalized health consultations, the robot dance group from Robotics X and UBTech, and interactive projects such as the AI species identification technology experience and the city ecology map "Yeyoupeng" all attracted great interest and active participation from the audience. People stopped to experience these interactive scenes, feeling the deep integration of sustainable concepts with daily life through tangible technology.
As Professor Yao Qizhi mentioned in his speech, "AI for Good" holds profound significance in three dimensions: scientific research, global consensus, and China's development. Especially considering China's significant advantages in data resources, application scenarios, and talent reserves, China's "AI for Good" has great potential.
