"10,000 Certified"… What Is the Emerging "AI Trainer" Profession in China?

In Shanghai, 10,900 Obtained Certification Last Year
Recruitment Demand Up 30%... Shortage of Practical Talent
"Versatile Professionals with Both Technical Skills and Industry Expertise Needed"

As the artificial intelligence (AI) industry rapidly grows in China, a new profession known as "AI trainer" is attracting significant attention. The demand for recruitment is rising, and the number of people obtaining relevant qualifications is also increasing quickly.

Robot Training. Yonhap News Agency

According to the People's Daily on March 26, a total of 16,300 people in Shanghai took the professional skill assessment for the AI trainer occupation last year, and 10,900 of them obtained certification. AI trainers are an emerging profession that helps ensure AI operates correctly in real industrial settings.

Zhong Junhao, Secretary-General of the Shanghai AI Industry Association, explained that the fundamental driver behind the growing interest in AI trainers is "industrial demand." In fact, demand for AI trainer recruitment in Shanghai has increased by more than 30%.

In the early stages, the work of AI trainers was limited to relatively simple tasks such as classifying data or checking results. Recently, however, more specialized roles are required, such as handling AI models tailored to each industry or designing the operational process of AI in real-world environments.

An official at an AI company in Shanghai stated, "There is a shortage of versatile talent with both technical skills and industry understanding," adding, "It has become common for recruitment periods to be extended and costs to rise, as the supply of talent cannot keep up with demand."

Regarding this, Secretary-General Zhong Junhao explained, "The replacement cycle for AI technology is getting shorter and shorter, which means our educational content must be updated rapidly." He added, "In some industrial sectors, AI trainers need to have a certain level of specialized background knowledge to do the work." He also introduced that practical training accounts for as much as 70% of the related educational programs, and the latest industry application scenarios are closely reflected in the curriculum.

The Chinese government is also enhancing its support in line with this trend. As recent university graduates continue to face difficulties in finding jobs, the authorities are pursuing policies that both discover "new professions" and support entrepreneurship. The AI sector is being highlighted as a "new opportunity."

The People's Daily reported, "Of the 72 new professions announced by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in the past five years, more than 20 are in the AI-related field," adding, "The scale of China's core AI industry continues to expand, creating abundant employment opportunities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.