Exploring Pathways for the Green and Digital Transformation of the Three Elements of Productive Forces Driven by New-Quality Productive Forces

Artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, and related technologies are increasingly embedded in production, while green and low-carbon development imposes stricter requirements on resource use and technological application. This study employs a qualitative, literature-based conceptual method to distinguish factors of production from the three elements of productive forces and to clarify the position of data within the productive-force system. It develops an integrated framework for examining how new-quality productive forces promote the green and digital transformation of workers, means of labor, and objects of labor. The analysis identifies four interconnected pathways: strengthening workers' green digital literacy, incorporating ecological objectives into intelligent means of labor, supporting precise and circular resource governance through digital technologies, and coordinating the three elements through data governance. Sustainable productivity gains depend on the joint integration of human agency, technical efficiency, data responsibility, and ecological limits into production decisions.