According to the People’s Daily, 16,300 people in Shanghai applied for the AI trainer vocational skill rating evaluation last year, and 10,900 of them obtained certification. Demand for AI trainers in Shanghai surged by more than 30%, showing high growth.
AI trainers are an emerging profession that supports learning and optimization so that AI products work properly in real-world environments. Initially, relatively simple tasks such as data annotation and effectiveness evaluation were centered, but recently, the scope of work has been expanded to include industrial AI data processing, model parameters adjustment, and embedded intelligence workflow design.
“Industrial demand is the fundamental driving force,” said Zhong Junhao, secretary of the AI Industry Association in Shanghai, seeing people’s attention on AI trainers. “As the cycle of changes in AI technology is getting shorter and shorter, the content of education should be updated quickly,” he added. “Some industries require a certain level of major knowledge.”
Accordingly, the curriculum is also being reorganized around practice. Currently, related education is being designed in a direction that values field applicability so that the proportion of practice reaches 70%.
In the field, the shortage of complex talents with both technology and industry understanding is particularly noticeable. “We especially lack complex talents with a background of ‘technology + vertical industry (specific industry expertise),” said an official at a company in Shanghai’s AI industrial complex. “In the market, the supply of talent that meets the conditions cannot keep up with demand, so the recruitment period is prolonged and the cost is increasing.”
The AI sector has become a key pillar in creating new jobs. The People’s Daily said, “Currently, the size of China’s AI core industries is continuously expanding and has created abundant job opportunities,” adding, “More than 20 of the 72 new jobs announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security over the past five years are related to AI.”
JENNIFER KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
