Villagers rely on AI to revitalize economy

Huang Jinqing, Party secretary of Leshui village in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is pioneering digital transformation as the way forward for rural development.

The 40-year-old took a bold step by teaching villagers how to use artificial intelligence software to create short videos, promoting the local tea, star anise and other specialty products, which quickly gained popularity on the internet.

Located in the mountainous area in Wuzhou city, the village has a population of 1,168, with only 10 percent of young laborers staying at home.

"Our villagers' livelihoods are mainly tied to the cultivation of Liupao tea, star anise and vegetables. Despite the backdrop of lush green mountains and clear waters, we often face the challenge of agricultural produce remaining unsold during harvest seasons," Huang said.

In 2022, he opened a personal account on the popular social media platform Douyin to centralize the purchase of star anise and vegetables from villagers for online sales, alleviating the pressure of surplus. "I realized that doing livestreaming requires a professional team. It would be too difficult for villagers to do livestreaming themselves," he said.

After some trial and error, Huang found that using short videos for product promotion was more convenient. What was needed was to shoot a video, add a link, and wait for customers to make purchases.

Given that a majority of the villagers are elderly, he faces the formidable task of teaching them how to produce short videos and engage in marketing activities via livestreaming.

At the end of last year, Huang's cousin, who works outside, recommended an AI software that could easily generate videos.

What's more, the company providing the software now offers free services to villagers, with the aim of exploring the role of AI in rural vitalization.

By entering keywords, such as Leshui village, Liupao tea and product promotion, the software quickly generated a script.

With the assistance of the software, recording, editing and adding subtitles were seamless, and in less than 5 minutes, a complete video was produced.

"Empowered with AI, one person is now a whole team," Huang said.

Starting from June of this year, Huang first trained six of his fellow villagers.

Li Pinyu is a 47-year-old chicken farmer in the village, with a yearly poultry scale of over 50,000. Now, Li also has over 100 followers on her online account.

"With the AI software, I found that making short videos isn't as difficult as I thought. Although my content isn't very polished, online users still leave encouraging comments," she said.

As a professional in chicken and bee farming, villager Li Junfu is occupied with various things.

Huang spent a few days motivating him, even squeezing in time to teach him. "I never thought it (making short videos) would be this simple. It used to take me forever, but now it only takes a few minutes," Li Junfu said. Now, he has become an expert in using AI software to create short videos.

Li Junfu said that the content on his social media account has started to diversify, and he is gaining more followers. "I'm still in the stage of accumulating followers. In the future, I aim to expand the market for fresh chicken through online channels," he said.

There is also an ecological tea plantation in the village. Chen Biao, manager of the plantation with an area of 73.3 hectares, said that with the integration of AI technologies into the community, villagers have actively produced many videos showcasing the tea plantation, steadily enhancing its reputation.

"It has been transformed into a tourist attraction," Chen said.

The expansion of the plantation has also provided employment for more than 160 villagers.

The tea garden is planning to use AI technology to design a trademark for the village's Liupao tea and establish a short video production training base to further enhance the reputation of the tea industry.

Huang said that the current video production efforts serve as valuable groundwork for next year's sales. "We hope to attract more young people to return to the village and start their own businesses," he said.