Remote county taps into AI buzz

Now, as the main pillar of her family and living closer to it, Zhang said she feels "empowered and valuable". After paying rent and personal expenses in the county seat each month, she can still contribute around 2,000 yuan a month to her family in their home village.

She knows the repetitive and straightforward AI training work is similar to the early days of the industrial revolution, but when asked to describe her profession in a few words proudly says, "I am a teacher of AI."

"When I first heard about AI, I thought it was amazing and distant," Zhang said. "But after getting involved in data annotation work, I realized that AI can become smarter because we are teaching it. Our work is helping AI become more intelligent."

When Zhang and her close to 10 colleagues encounter something they do not know how to annotate, they discuss it and laugh together. During breaks, they chat, sing and play games. When they've been staring at the computer for too long, they exercise on the fitness equipment in the office's rest area.

Zhang said one project she worked on was related to a "tourist city". While doing data annotation, she saw pictures of tourist attractions, and read news from cities across the country such as Beijing, Chongqing and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province.

She thought, "It's as if I'm a little closer to this world."

"I may never have the chance to visit these places in person, but through the AI annotation work, I feel like I have a small connection to the development of these cities and the people there," she said.

"When you go through short videos, have you noticed that the content the app sends you happens to be the type you like? If you enjoy watching cooking videos, it will show you more cooking videos. If you like watching beautiful women, it will recommend more of them to you. These apps are so clever because we taught them."

On weekends, Zhang goes home to help her mother with farm work and shares interesting stories from work with her family. She tells her siblings the future is "full of hope" and they should "just go for it".

Contact the writers at yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn