Research on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Resilience of the Manufacturing Industry Chain

Under increasing geopolitical uncertainty, black-swan and gray-rhino events have accelerated the structural reshaping of global manufacturing industry chains, making industrial-chain resilience a key condition for stable economic operation. Existing studies mainly focus on artificial intelligence applications in single manufacturing processes, while the mechanism through which artificial intelligence affects manufacturing industry-chain resilience remains insufficiently clarified. Taking China’s manufacturing industry chain as the research object, this paper analyzes the theoretical relationship between artificial intelligence and industrial-chain resilience, identifies current resilience challenges, and conducts empirical testing based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2023. The entropy weight method is used to measure manufacturing industry-chain resilience, while a double fixed-effects model and mediation-effect model are applied to examine direct effects, transmission paths, and regional heterogeneity. The results show that artificial intelligence significantly enhances the resilience of the manufacturing industry chain, and the conclusion remains robust after robustness checks. Mechanism analysis indicates that technological innovation and digital empowerment are the main transmission channels. Heterogeneity analysis shows stronger enabling effects in eastern regions and areas with advanced digital-economy development.