At the 2025 World Conference on City Culture held in Shanghai’s Hongkou district from November 14 to 16, experts emphasized the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in reshaping urban cultural landscapes. Against the backdrop of AI’s rapid proliferation, they called for innovative approaches to infuse city culture with renewed vitality. The conference highlighted how AI technologies are fostering new cultural ecosystems by integrating sectors such as tourism, business, and sports, thereby creating robust consumption engines. AI is also revolutionizing the production and delivery of culture, enabling creative expressions that transcend traditional time and space constraints. Emerging models like digitalized tourism and smart technology-based industries are providing deeper, more detailed insights into city culture. Hongkou district, a focal point of these advancements, has seen significant economic growth during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), with its GDP surpassing 150 billion yuan ($21 billion) by the end of 2024. The value of technology service providers in the district has surged ninefold since 2020, underscoring AI’s pivotal role in driving development.