No longer token economy? SenseTime bets on ‘task economy’ as token prices set to drop

SenseTime CEO Xu Li said AI commercialization will shift from a 'token economy' to a 'task economy' as token prices inevitably drop, comparing the trend to telecoms data costs two decades ago. Speaking at the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Xu argued that true commercial value will come from users paying for completed complex tasks like reviewing architectural blueprints, not raw computing usage. China's daily AI token consumption has surged over 1,000-fold in the past two years, but Xu predicted the next breakthrough in work and design scenarios could expand the addressable market at least tenfold.

No longer token economy? SenseTime bets on ‘task economy’ as token prices set to drop AI’s true commercial value will shift towards a ‘task economy’ where users pay for completed, complex tasks, says Xu Li. Ann Cao /author/ann-cao in Shanghai The commercialisation of artificial intelligence is poised to transition from a “token economy” to a “task economy” as token prices decline in the coming years, according to Chinese AI company SenseTime. “The pricing of tokens will inevitably drop, much like the cost of telecoms data did two decades ago,” SenseTime CEO Xu Li said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. After foundational models and computing power become basic infrastructure, the true commercial value will shift towards a “task economy” where users pay for completed, complex tasks like reviewing architectural blueprints or generating product videos, rather than raw computing usage, Xu said on the sidelines of the World AI Conference WAIC in Shanghai on Saturday. His comments come as major AI companies in China are banking on the so-called token economy, as enterprises increasingly adopt AI to boost productivity and automate business operations. China’s daily AI token consumption surged more than 1,000-fold in the past two years, according to official data. With AI coding currently proving to be one of the most popular verticals for AI to generate cash flow, Xu said the next breakthrough lies in work and design scenarios. While early adoption focused on programmers, the next wave would reach the masses, he said, adding that the total addressable market was likely to expand by at least 10 times. “Major shifts in industry conditions can produce tenfold changes when a critical inflection point is reached,” Xu said. The nature of demand would expand beyond professionals, to a new scenario where they represented only a small fraction of the total user population, he added.