How Artificial Intelligence Empowers Rural Industrial Revitalization: A Case Study of Hebei Province

Industrial revitalization is the foundation and top priority of rural revitalization, and artificial intelligence (AI) serves as a core driver of industrial revitalization. This study analyzes how AI empowers the rural industrial revitalization, and it measures the comprehensive development level of AI and rural industrial revitalization using the entropy-weighted TOPSIS method. Utilizing data on prefecture-level cities in Hebei Province from 2003 to 2023, this research empirically investigates the impact of AI on rural industrial revitalization through a two-way fixed-effects model and a mediation effect model. The findings reveal that AI development significantly promotes rural industrial revitalization, a conclusion that holds after robustness tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that AI facilitates rural industrial revitalization by promoting agricultural technological innovation and driving industrial structural upgrading. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the empowering effect of AI on rural industrial revitalization is more pronounced in areas lagging in technological innovation and in the Functional Expansion Zone of Central and Southern Hebei.