artificial intelligence

artificial-intelligence

Locked Out of China’s AI Boom, Graduates Turn to Bootcamps

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

With new graduates facing a crowded job market, AI bootcamps are offering three-month courses designed to turn newcomers into junior AI workers.

Fan Yiying

Mao Rui

China’s Lifelike Emotional Companion Bots Go on Sale

The life-size robot is billed as an emotional companion, employing both affective AI and encrypted memory storage.

Jiang Xinyi

Keep Drawing Your 0.5-Yuan Masterpieces, Kid

Contributions from individuals with unique perspectives to share. Hear from everyone, from experts and commentators to those whose voices are often marginalized.

VOICES & OPINION

In a world still in awe of artificial intelligence, the best power we have is our urge to create and connect.

Wu Haiyun

AI Hallucinates Flight Refund, Sparking Memes in China

A chat log in which an AI assistant confidently presented a user with numerous inaccuracies has inspired a wave of AI hallucination spoofs, a growing trend in the country.

Flying Solo: The Rise of China’s One-Person Companies

Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

FEATURES

Thanks to AI, a new form of solo entrepreneurship has taken root, granting individuals the ability to perform tasks that once required many workers.

Li Xin

China’s Top Phone Companies Launch Packages Covering AI Use

The plans offer millions of AI tokens per person for a fixed monthly price. Insiders say the packages’ main customers are government entities and state-owned enterprises.

Chen Yiru

Handmade: Two Chinese Productions Go Viral for Skipping AI

The productions, made by two amateur teams using their own savings, have garnered hundreds of millions of views on domestic video platforms.

AI Took His Job. A Chinese Court Awarded Him $38,000.

After his company asked him to accept a pay cut and demotion following an AI rollout, a fintech worker sued — and won.

When Big Tech Needed Mothers in Rural China to Train AI

China’s rural data-labeling centers relied on mothers who could work, care for children and hold households in place all at once. Now many of those same women are being judged unfit for the future of AI.

Wu Tongyu

Behind China’s AI Boom Are Computer Rooms Full of Rural Workers

In the country’s less-developed hinterlands, labeling data to train AI models has become a poverty-alleviation tool.

Chinese Sites Are Selling Tutorials on How to Use AI to Create Porn

Though AI chatbots and apps are moderated for explicit content, using specific prompts, English, or vague wording allows users to bypass restrictions.

China Issues Draft Regulations on AI Copyright Infringement

The draft comes amid growing pressure from the entertainment industry to combat “AI face stealing.”

The Enthusiasm and Anxiety Behind China’s OpenClaw Craze

While plenty of Chinese AI users see the new technology as a tool for creativity and convenience, others use it just to not fall behind.

Zhan Beibei

Ten Lives in China’s Age of AI

AI has spread across China with startling speed. Ten people describe what it now allows them to do, what makes them uneasy about it, and what life might look like without it.

China’s Tech Giants Are Recruiting High Schoolers

Citing insufficient talent in universities, tech companies are increasingly seeking out high schoolers to fulfill research and internship roles.

Yang Yang

Shanghai Concludes Its First AI-Assisted Surgical Training Program

Doctors can choose between two training pathways to obtain AI-assisted surgery certification, granting them permission to provide cutting-edge surgeries going forward.

Controversy Erupts Over Chinese AI Actors in Upcoming Short Drama

The announcement has sparked debate on social media about the AI performers’ resemblance to real actors, as well as the potential impact on industry jobs.

‘GEO’ Services Are Flooding the Chinese Internet With Misinformation

Highly lucrative services offering generative engine optimization, initially conceived of as a way to improve search results, have been called out for “poisoning” AI models with misinformation.

Love in the Time of Algorithms: What Chatbot Romances Reveal About Connection

When OpenAI announced that it would retire its ChatGPT model GPT-4o, it sent shockwaves across the internet and an outpouring of grief. Yet the real question is: What void was 4o filling to begin with?

Gong Xin

Chinese University Cuts Arts Majors, Citing an AI-Driven Future

An explanation from the university’s top official led to debate on social media. But students say they’re not surprised by the cancellation.