Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 3, 2025

Fundamental Social Contradictions and Driving Forces of Social Development in the Intelligent Era

(Abstract)

Sun Weiping

Artificial intelligence (AI), as a revolutionary and disruptive advanced technology, is undergoing rapid development and widespread application across economic and social domains, unleashing an unprecedented industrial revolution and societal transformation. This process is fundamentally reshaping the structure and character of society as a whole. The swift innovation of intelligent productive forces is accelerating the emergence of a new techno-social paradigm—the intelligent society. However, the capitalist production relations rooted in industrial society increasingly lag behind the advancing level of intelligent productive forces. This growing disconnect exacerbates the misalignment between the superstructure and the evolving economic base, which, in turn, severely impedes the progress of intelligent productive forces and the intelligent society itself. Addressing the fundamental social contradiction of the intelligent era demands the vigorous advancement of intelligent productive forces, coupled with the establishment of novel production relations attuned to their developmental stage. Simultaneously, the superstructure must be reformed to align with the conditions of the economic base. By transforming the social contradictions of the intelligent era into a potent driving force for progress, this approach can propel the intelligent society onto a development “fast track,” ultimately creating the conditions for the arrival of a new socioeconomic form—the communist society.