Zhang Xue (pseudonym), a Jiangsu native who graduated from university this year, saw the current popularity and broad market of artificial intelligence and wanted to work in this field. In recent months, she has consulted multiple institutions that provide artificial intelligence course training and found that the course prices are not cheap, with institutions generally quoting between 15000 yuan and 23000 yuan. It's a bit expensive, but these training institutions all say that as long as students follow the courses of the institutions, they can master the core skills related to artificial intelligence, and it's not a problem to earn more than 20000 yuan per month after work. There are also institutions that promise to provide 'guaranteed employment' or 'recommended employment' services for students, ensuring that they can smoothly enter the workforce after completing the course Zhang Xue said that under such a propaganda campaign, she spent 16000 yuan to register for training at XX Technology Company, only to find out that the training method was to do questions for the question bank and package her own resume, without learning any real skills, and the promised "employment package" was also lost. Zhang Xue said that she is currently negotiating a refund with another friend who registered with the training company, but the progress is not very optimistic. Their experiences are not isolated. A recent investigation by a reporter from the Rule of Law Daily found that with the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) technology and the landing of new professions in recent years, the market for skills and talent training related to it has become increasingly popular. Many training institutions have launched courses related to artificial intelligence, claiming that as long as they pay to enroll in relevant courses, they can "package employment" or "recommend employment" and find high paying jobs. As a result, students encountered various training routines after registering, not only unable to learn real skills and find their desired jobs, but also unable to recover the money they were tricked into. In the opinion of the interviewed experts, the certification system for application personnel of generative artificial intelligence systems in China has not yet been established. It is recommended to establish professional standards as soon as possible, and evaluate whether individuals have the qualifications to engage in related work through the improvement of laws, regulations, and industry norms through certification exams. For regulatory authorities, it is crucial to establish expert teams and develop content standards to screen out high-quality training content and institutions, and provide safe and reliable training services for students. Not long before the rapid development of the industry and the shortage of relevant talents, China Internet Network Information Center released the Report on the Application and Development of Generative AI [2024] at the 5th China Internet Basic Resources Conference, which showed that by June 2024, the number of users of generative AI products in China had reached 230 million, accounting for 16.4% of the total population. In the context of the booming development of artificial intelligence, the new profession of "generative artificial intelligence system application-oriented" has also emerged. It is understood that the so-called application personnel of generative artificial intelligence systems are those who use generative artificial intelligence technology and tools to engage in the design, calling, training, optimization, maintenance and management of generative artificial intelligence systems. The reporter's investigation found that with the explosion of artificial intelligence applications, there is a significant talent gap in the market for generative artificial intelligence. Ms. Li, the head of office collaboration products at an artificial intelligence software company, told reporters that there is currently a shortage of product operation talents, as well as positions for testing and front-end development. Taking our company as an example, most of the artificial intelligence business teams have been in a long-term shortage of personnel, from low-level computing power and chip design to model training and commercial implementation, all of which require people. The average time to recruit a generative artificial intelligence employee is twice that of ordinary positions Ms. Li said. Not only technology companies, but also generative artificial intelligence has a wide range of commercial applications. The head of the technical department of a chain catering enterprise told reporters that the larger the enterprise, the larger the data in the backend system. If there are millions of customer evaluations that need to be processed, traditional analysis methods are not only inaccurate but also require a lot of manpower. Many enterprises urgently need to use generative artificial intelligence technology to respond to customer evaluations more accurately. Therefore, there are also many people who value the development prospects of the industry and plan to switch careers to positions in generative artificial intelligence. Ma Jie (not his real name), who is currently working as a front-end development engineer in the big language model team of an Internet enterprise, told reporters that even after seven or eight years as a bank clerk, he still resolutely chose to change his career. Due to higher salary and better development prospects, there have been many people around me who want to enter the field of generative artificial intelligence in the past two years, including some job seekers who cross industries like myself Majie said. However, many recruitment managers of related companies have stated that although there is a large gap and many job seekers in the field of generative artificial intelligence, it is not easy to find suitable talents. After all, the field of generative artificial intelligence is still relatively new, and there are few talents with certain cognitive accumulation, let alone relevant work experience. With the rapid development of related industries and the shortage of talent, generative artificial intelligence vocational training is thriving, but there have also been many problems. Liu Xi (pseudonym) from Shandong Province signed up for training at a digital technology company and found that the course progress was too fast, and the learning effectiveness depended largely on individual abilities and foundations. Resume packaging near graduation became almost standard, and the company even allowed inexperienced students to fabricate their work experience. For those recent graduates, the company will suggest that they add more internship experience to their resumes; For students who have several years of work experience, it is recommended that they exaggerate the achievements they have made after working Liu Xi said that although the employment rate data displayed by the training institution may seem impressive, in reality, many people are dismissed by the company during the probation period due to mismatched abilities, and the proportion of students who can truly stabilize in their positions is not high. A reporter's investigation found that in order to reduce costs, some training institutions also hire "teachers" who lack work experience to teach, resulting in students being unable to learn real practical skills. Mr. Su from Jiangsu has been a Java training instructor for six years. He revealed to reporters that some training institutions claiming to have strong faculty and abundant course resources are just boasting. I used to work as a lecturer after resigning from a company, and I am able to give lectures based on practical situations. But now many of the teachers recruited by the training institution I work for are specialized in training, and their teaching content stays at the theoretical level, mostly just empty talk. The fees paid to them are only half or even one-third of those paid to trainers like me Mr. Su said. The interviewed students told reporters that even if they find problems with the training, it is "extremely difficult" to get a refund. Mr. Qi, a resident of Chongqing, spent nearly 18000 yuan this summer to enroll in a generative artificial intelligence training course. After attending several classes, he found that the quality of the course was not high. After communicating with previous trainees, he learned that most of the knowledge and skills used after employment were not taught by the training course teachers at that time, which meant that he needed to learn again while working after taking up his post. In addition, the promised 'recommended employment' was not fulfilled. In the end, I found my own job, and due to institutional reasons, some of the arranged courses were not completed. I expressed to the institution that I want to refund a portion of the fees, but the institution stated that they will not refund and proposed a solution of taking a leave of absence and studying again in the future Mr. Qi said. After multiple unsuccessful negotiations, Mr. Qi can only accept his misfortune. Ms. Zhang, who lives in Jiangxi, revealed that she once worked as a teacher at a training institution for a period of time. Their promised "employment package" service was essentially established through cooperation with certain outsourcing companies, and the salary and benefits were far from as high as advertised. "The outsourcing company will also dismiss the employees during the probation period for various reasons. In this way, even if the trainees find problems, the training institutions have reasons to shirk their responsibilities." Fan Yongkai, professor of the State Key Laboratory of Media Integration and Communication and the School of Computer and Cyberspace Security of Communication University of China, said that in the face of false publicity and teaching quality problems that may exist in the training institutions, the trainees can complain to the consumer association, or report to the market supervision department and the education department, and require the relevant institutions to investigate and deal with them. You can also file a lawsuit through legal channels to demand compensation for losses and hold relevant personnel legally responsible. Experts interviewed pointed out that in reality, some workers choose the "wind" and "track" of new professions to promote healthy development through the establishment of certification systems. However, due to their inability to adapt their skills to the needs of new professions, they urgently need to improve through training. Some training institutions do not yet have the ability to train high-quality and high skilled new career practitioners, resulting in an unbalanced "supply and demand" gap in talent recruitment. This is not only a huge waste of social resources, but also delays job seekers' employment. Some interviewed experts believe that it is precisely because the certification system for application personnel of generative artificial intelligence systems in China has not yet been established that the related training market is plagued with chaos. Fan Yongkai suggests standardizing and guiding the certification system for artificial intelligence system operators from two dimensions: regulations and standards. Establish professional standards, quickly improve relevant laws, regulations, and industry norms, and evaluate individuals' qualifications for relevant work through certification exams. These standards should also be equipped with an update mechanism that can reflect technological development and market changes. For regulatory authorities, it is crucial to establish a team of experts and develop content standards to screen out high-quality training content and institutions, and provide safe and reliable training services for students Fan Yongkai said. Liu Xiaochun, associate professor of the Law School of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Internet Rule of Law Research Center, said that the chaos of the training market needs the joint efforts of all sectors of society to rectify. It is necessary to strengthen the improvement and implementation of laws and regulations, and also to enhance the public's network literacy and self-protection awareness. "It should be noted that false training propaganda is often widely spread through the Internet platform. Live streaming platforms, short video platforms, social media, etc. can all become breeding grounds for false training propaganda. Therefore, these platforms should take on certain preventive responsibilities. On the one hand, the platform should strengthen the qualification review of training institutions that have joined and conduct dynamic verification; On the other hand, upon receiving reports of false advertising from users, the platform should respond promptly and handle training institutions suspected of fraud in a timely manner to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the vast number of users Liu Xiaochun said. In Liu Xiaochun's view, one can draw on the experience of other mature professions, such as accountants and lawyers, which typically have strict entry barriers. In the field of artificial intelligence, it is also necessary to actively explore and set reasonable entry barriers, establish mature industry standards and training systems in a timely manner, clarify qualification requirements, red lines and bottom lines, etc. We also need to promote the establishment of a sound curriculum system in vocational colleges, while paying attention to cultivating high-quality training institutions, setting certain standards and conditions in the management of training venues, teaching staff and other software and hardware facilities, so as to further standardize the training market. Of course, this process may face many challenges and controversies, requiring joint efforts from industry, academia, and policy makers to gradually improve through continuous market practice and policy adjustments Liu Xiaochun said that by continuously strengthening relevant vocational training and standardization processes, the field of artificial intelligence can be promoted towards a healthier and more sustainable direction. (New Society)