Huang has been experimenting with generative AI technologies in her investment work. "AI enables us to quickly generate investment analysis reports and even predict market trends," she told newspaper China Youth Daily.
"The role of an AI trainer is to bridge AI technology with specific industries, helping companies achieve intelligent transformation," Huang added.
AI trainer was recognized as a new profession by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MHRSS) in 2020.
As AI applications expand across industries, the demand for professionals like Huang is surging. AI industry leaders such as Unitree Robotics and DeepSeek are actively seeking top talent by offering high salaries.
Expanding opportunities
AI has created more career choices. From a young age, Lai Nuolin was acutely sensitive to sound, able to distinguish the footsteps of each family member. This sensitivity led him to become a "noise hunter," a nickname for engineers who use AI to track, capture and eliminate unwanted sounds in communications via terminal devices such as mobile phones and computers.
Lai works at tech giant Tencent's Ethereal Audio Lab, an audio research lab of the Tencent Meeting live audio and video conference application. Inspired by the human ear's ability to selectively filter sounds—like hearing a butcher's conversation over the din of a wet market—Lai's team aims to replicate this function through technology. Their approach involves identifying and actively intervening to eliminate noise.
To identify noise in audio, engineers must first gather extensive noise data. They then extract common characteristics from this data and incorporate them into algorithmic models.
Lai explained to China Youth Daily that dealing with sudden noises and complex acoustic environments poses a challenge in noise processing. "Traditional noise reduction technology often struggles with sudden sounds, like clapping or putting down a cup, and can only effectively handle stable background noise," he said. To overcome this, his team has collected a vast library of sounds from diverse environments, creating a database of over 300 distinct noises. This comprehensive database is used to train their noise reduction model, which leverages AI to isolate and prioritize useful speech signals, ensuring clear communication for users.
Zhao Zihe, a graduate of Shenyang Aerospace University with a degree in aircraft power engineering, discovered a passion for machine perception—the ability of machines, particularly computers and AI systems, to interpret and understand data from the world around them using sensors, cameras, microphones and other input devices. This led him to focus his research on psychological treatment, a field seemingly distant from his initial area of study.
He found that traditional psychotherapy faced limitations due to factors like high workloads and variations in experience among practitioners. Doctors often see a large number of patients daily, and their treatment approaches can be influenced by patients' emotional states. Driven to improve this process, he envisioned creating a psychological treatment assistant tool to assist doctors in developing more accurate and efficient treatment plans.
"When AI possesses a fundamental understanding of human intentions, equipping it with sensors and providing specialized training can enable it to address psychological issues, acting as both a doctor and a friend," Zhao said.
However, prior to the emergence of ChatGPT, the integration of AI and psychological treatment was largely confined to the research phase with limited practical application. A turning point arrived in the latter half of 2023 when reports of patients finding anxiety relief through conversations with ChatGPT prompted a reassessment of AI's capabilities.
Zhao established a tech company in Shenzhen, a tech hub in the southern province of Guangdong, in 2024 to begin research and development, resulting in a psychological treatment assistant tool that is now being implemented in select hospitals in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong.
The tool takes the form of a desktop ornament, and it can autonomously analyze patients' descriptions of their problems and providing doctors with real-time, quality emotional data.
"We are planning further clinical collaborations with pain management and oncology departments to explore psychological interventions for patients with chronic illnesses," Zhao said. He also expressed the hope to expand the product's application to help primary medical care facilities screen for patients with mental disorders.
A contestant participates in the artificial intelligence trainer competition at the first Liaoning Provincial Vocational Skills Competition in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, on October 27, 2022 (XINHUA)
Future prospects
Zhao Luoxi, a researcher at the Digital Innovation and Public Communication Research Center of Jinan University in Guangzhou, believes that new technologies are reshaping traditional industries and expanding occupational diversity. "New occupations like big data engineers and AI trainers have been officially recognized by the MHRSS, providing job seekers with more choices and career paths," Zhao said.
A big data engineer, officially recognized as an occupation in 2019, is a skilled professional responsible for designing, building and maintaining the infrastructure necessary to manage big data. These experts collect, process, store and analyze massive datasets using advanced tools and frameworks.
"AI professionals need to understand the underlying principles and logic of large models. Building on that foundation, they can then explore broader application scenarios and conduct customized research and development tailored to different contexts," Jia Zixi, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Robot Science and Engineering at Northeastern University in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, told China Youth Daily. He believes that AI, particularly large AI models, can foster a more thriving job market by integrating with various industries.
Large AI models, also known as foundation models or language models, represent a new generation of AI systems capable of processing and generating text, images and other data like humans.
Universities are responding to the growing national demand for AI professionals. Tsinghua University, one of the top universities in China, announced on March 2 that it will increase its undergraduate admissions by approximately 150 students in 2025, intensifying its efforts to cultivate interdisciplinary talent grounded in AI.
The university recently unveiled plans to establish a new undergraduate college of general studies, which will accommodate the additional students.
The college aims to foster interdisciplinary expertise with a strong foundation in AI, mastery of AI technologies and exceptional innovative capabilities.
Tsinghua is also developing minors and certificate programs in AI and introducing 38 AI-related general education courses to enhance students' understanding and command of AI knowledge. BR
