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Compiled by: Zhang Chi, Da Jieqiong, Aileen

AI is booming in China! Five things I learned while teaching AI in China.

Over the past year, I've held more than 20 AI workshops in China to teach engineers the basics of AI architecture and enable them to start using it.

Teaching in China was a wonderful experience, and helping these 1000 engineers develop AI skills was unforgettable. Although I may be a teacher, I have also learned a lot about Chinese AI. Here are five of the most important things I learned while teaching in China.

Chinese engineers are extremely talented and have corresponding skills

I know there is a perception that China is all about plagiarists and that many Chinese companies and engineers have no skills other than copying others. But this is far from the truth. I have been in China for five years and I meet some talented engineers every day.

Over the past few years, many Chinese college students have settled in Europe or the United States after graduation. Now they have decided to return to China or continue their studies at China's top science and technology universities such as Tsinghua University. When I first started teaching, the plan was to talk slowly. But after class, I had to revise all the plans, because Chinese engineers are too strong to learn, and what I said could not satisfy them at all! Finally, I have to talk about the latest AI paper.

China has a huge training dataset

If AI is compared to new electricity, data is the coal that fuels the power plant. Data is very important, and I see it as the easiest way to improve deep learning performance, and the huge role of AI has not convinced everyone. Europe recently passed the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and the United States wants to join it to develop similar data regulations.

The specification, while designed to help users, greatly reduces the ability of companies and individuals to build AI systems that require free access to data.

In China, there are very few restrictions on data, so data overruns can occur. This is a problem that will only get worse as more and more Chinese companies tap into the vast amounts of data generated by 1.4 billion Chinese.

Chinese engineers are more interested in practical applications

The Chinese engineers I have taught share the same enthusiasm for learning skills and the desire to get started. It seems like everyone has a unique opinion about what they want or don't want.

Some smart and bold students want to start companies with the basic algorithms and data sets I learned in my class, but they focus more on implementing these features, which means they will lead the way and achieve early success.

Most of my students are passionate about implementing AI architecture into their products, and very few seem interested in novel approaches to deep learning systems. I think it's probably because a lot of money is flowing into AI companies, but many companies are too busy making money to dig deep into research.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to AI development

After months of training, I noticed a significant increase in the number of students in the classroom, all from major AI companies. In fact, it was the government that funded them to participate in AI training. The Chinese government's investment in AI impressed me. The Chinese government has spent billions of dollars to boost AI capabilities nationwide and has made it a key research and development direction of the National 2025 Plan. Over the past year, the AI industry has grown 67% on this massive funding and produced more patents and papers than the United States. Although China has only one-fifth of the talent pool in the United States, I wouldn't be surprised if China becomes the world leader in AI by 2030.

There is a long way to go

A lot of deep learning and AI information is only in English, although this is not a problem for my class students, but they tell that many friends are unable to get started and practice AI because of poor English. As more information crosses the language barrier, we'll see more interesting AI applications.

Author's note: To overcome the language barrier more easily, I am looking for Chinese collaborators to help me bring my articles and courses to Chinese students. If you live in China and are interested in collaborating, please contact me via Twitter or LinkedIn.

https://twitter.com/cdossman, https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherdossman/

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