Impact of industrial intelligence on green total factor productivity: The indispensability of the environmental system

Existing research suggests that the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in industrial fields can promote the development of a green economy. However, for most developing countries, due to imperfect technological capabilities, human capital constraints and other factors, the impact of industrial intelligence on the green economy still needs to be verified. Based on city panel data from China, we find that industrial intelligence has no significant impact on green total factor productivity (GTFP). This conclusion is still valid after GMM estimation, instrumental variable (IV) estimation and a series of robustness tests. After incorporating the environmental regulation into the analysis framework, the impact of industrial intelligence on GTFP is found to be regulated by the intensity of the environmental regulation; that is, industrial intelligence can improve GTFP only in cities with strong environmental regulation. Further research shows that industrial intelligence can optimize and upgrade the industrial structure, given strict environmental regulations, thereby improving city GTFP. We confirm that the institutional premise of environmental regulation in developing countries is indispensable for industrial intelligence to promote the green economy, which has important theoretical and practical significance.