Female workers at AI factory inspired by jobs

Editor's note: China Daily reporters recall events or stories from the past year that have left a deep impression on them.

Yan Dongjie (center) interviews an official in Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar autonomous county, Gansu province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It was two weeks before a 6.2 magnitude earthquake jolted Linxia Hui autonomous prefecture in Gansu province, when I visited a group of female artificial intelligence trainers in an ethnic county.

It took me four hours to reach Jishishan Bonan, Dongxiang and Salar autonomous county by car after landing at Lanzhou International Airport as there is no train station in Jishishan.

The first meal I had there was a bowl of Lanzhou beef noodles for 8 yuan ($1.12), about a quarter of the price in Beijing.

At an industrial park funded by Ant Group and the China Women's Development Foundation to support the employment of women, I met the female AI trainers beside what was probably the only coffee machine in the county.

The trainers teach AI systems how to think, interact and become useful.

Zhang Juan, 25, is the oldest sibling in her family and has two younger sisters and a younger brother. She is a university graduate and the main breadwinner in her family after her father passed away due to illness. Her uneducated mother used to work as a waitress and in a factory, but is now sick and getting old.

Zhang earns about 5,000 yuan a month. She uses half the money for rent and living expenses, and sends the other half to her family.

Despite her difficulties she laughs frequently. She talks, sings, and plays games with her colleagues during her work break. "I'm very happy with my life now as it is much better than when I was working as a surveyor in Lanzhou," she said.

She's proud being an AI trainer. "I'm AI's teacher. AI becomes smarter because I have been teaching it," she said.

I was touched by her attitude toward life and work — the attitude that many young people in big cities have been missing and longing for — to be fulfilled, relaxed, proud, and hopeful.

AI and ChatGPT have been hot topics in recent years, leading the ever-changing world and making it more fast-paced. However, it has also made some people feel under pressure and anxious.

But in this county in Northwest China, I witnessed its impact on ordinary people.

Even though their jobs are the most basic positions in an AI factory and involve simple and repetitive tasks, their lives have changed enormously in positive ways.

As women from previously impoverished ethnic minority counties, they now have stable jobs and incomes. They no longer need to move for work and can stay in their hometowns to take care of their elderly parents and children.

They can earn an annual salary of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan, ensuring that their families won't return to poverty, which is defined as an annual income lower than 7,200 yuan.

On the morning I met them it was obvious they had put on makeup and dressed nicely for the occasion. In the office, they drank coffee like any white-collar worker in any city. During their break, they exercised on treadmills and elliptical machines, chatted, joked and laughed. After work, they had enough time to help their children do their homework.

When I asked AI trainer Ma Lei's 7-year-old son what he wanted to do when he grows up, he said he wanted to be an "AI trainer like my mom".

Maybe it's because his mother has shown him the best possibility in life, I thought.

In an era of urban overwork and stress, their attitude toward life is very precious for a city dweller like me.

After the earthquake on Dec 18, I texted everybody I interviewed in Jishishan. They all replied with short phrases such as — "Don't worry. We are all good."

From the WeChat moments they have posted I can see how the people in the county are coping well in the earthquake's aftermath. They eat hot noodles in tent shelters, have enough supplies and necessities, and classes for students have restarted. In their smiles, I discovered the secret of happiness.

yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn

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