Abstract:Artificial intelligence (AI) is the basic theory, method and technology of how to use computer hardware and software to simulate some intelligent behaviors of human beings by constructing artificial systems with certain intelligence. The new generation of AI technology has triggered chain breakthroughs and is accelerating the intelligent transformation and upgrading of all fields of economic development. In order to explore the impact of AI on economic development, this paper reviews and analyzes 3 314 Chinese and English articles published in China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science from 1998 to 2022. Based on this, a theoretical analysis framework of the economic effect of AI is built, and the effect and path of AI on economic development are tested. The results show that foreign research emphasizes the technology and management research of AI, while domestic research pays more attention to the impact of AI on economy and human beings. The research hotspots of the economic effect of AI include economic growth, employment, income distribution, innovation and trade. In terms of specific impact path, existing studies discuss the economic growth effects of AI from the perspectives of promotion, inhibition, and nonlinearity; the employment effects of AI from the perspectives of employment scale and structure; the income distribution effects of AI from the perspectives of capital and labor income shares and income disparity; the innovation effects through enterprise, industry, and institutional innovation; and the trade effects of AI from the perspectives of trade volume, trade structure, and competition.This paper explores the trade effects of AI from the perspectives of trade scale, trade structure and competition. It is suggested to strengthen the research from the aspects of educational transformation effect, urban governance effect and business effect of AI.