Nature專題報道：中國 AI 人才爭奪戰，你在哪裡？

中國政府意識到，想要在2030年前領導世界 AI 產業，就需要培養和留住更多的 AI 專業人才。去年7月，《國務院關於印發新一代人工智慧發展規劃的通知》發布，《通知》中呼籲加強對中小學學生的 AI 教育。在線人工智慧培訓課程越來越受歡迎。北京師範大學教授、集智AI學園創始人張江表示，國內學習人工智慧的熱情很高。但中國能否在未來十年實現開創性突破，仍有很大的不確定性。由於缺乏基礎創新，要成為真正的全球 AI 領導者，中國還相差甚遠。中國擅長學習但不擅長創新。

阿里巴巴 CEO 張勇在2017年12月的雲溪大會上，向公眾介紹了阿里雲人工智慧 ET 大腦。圖片：Li Xin/Xinhua via ZUMA

北京西郊的門頭溝區以寺廟和蘑菇聞名，但也許將來會是中國人工智慧產業中心。本月早些時候，中國政府宣布在這裡的人工智慧產業園投資138元人民幣（約合21億美元），這是中國為2030年領導全球人工智慧產業的戰略所作出的第一筆重大投資。

當地科學家卻對這個距離市中心30公里、佔地55公頃的人工智慧產業園能否吸引足夠多的研究人員，尚存疑慮。政府希望它能吸引400家公司，提供雲計算、大數據、生物識別和深度學習的產品與服務，每年創造500億元的產值。一位在北京某家 AI 創業公司工作的科學家表示，頂尖人才並不願意到那裡工作和生活。

世界各地的 AI 公司和研究機構都面臨著尋找資深 AI 研究人員的難題。微軟亞洲研究院主管研究員戴維·維普夫表示，人工智慧的未來將是數據和人才的爭奪戰。

人才爭奪愈演愈烈

中國 AI 公司的發展速度令人驚嘆。至少有5家公司在研發人臉識別技術，其中包括商湯科技和曠視科技，它們的總部都在北京，也都拿到超過10億美元的投資。但是許多 AI 公司卻找不到理想的研究員。2016年工信部估計中國需要500萬的 AI 從業者才能填補行業需求。

全世界的資深 AI 人才總量本身就不大。中國企業還不得不面臨谷歌等跨國企業用高薪吸引 A I 研究員。烏鎮智庫理事長張朝陽表示，這是一場人才大戰，誰出價高誰就贏。騰訊和百度的 AI 研究中心愿意為 AI 專家提供百萬美元甚至更高的年薪，這在5年前是不可能的。

中國沒有許多經驗豐富的 AI 專家，但聰明、勤奮、有計算機背景的年輕學子卻很多，他們了解機器學習等領域的專業知識。北京大學於2004年開設了第一門面向本科生的人工智慧課程，到目前為止，中國已經有30所高校開設了類似課程。

但現在大學培養的人才還是不能滿足行業需求，尤其是在大量優秀畢業生選擇出國的背景下。年輕的中國研究員會選擇到美國、以色列的 AI 實驗室發展。2017年12月，上海紐約大學舉辦了人工智慧海外博士研討會，幾乎所有參會者都是在美國知名大學的留學生或工業界實驗室工作的華人研究員。會議組織者張錚表示，他常常為去美國深造的中國學生寫推薦信，但也希望他們學有所成後能回國發展。

國內，AI 研究人員競爭非常激烈。張錚說，國內大多數資深 AI 研究員會去工業界而非學術界。維普夫表示微軟之所以成立微軟亞洲研究院，部分原因是希望能吸收來自北大清華的優秀畢業生。

2017年12月，谷歌在華成立 AI 中心，也是為了吸引這些優秀人才。張錚表示，對中國而言，跨國企業在國內成立研究中心對中國業界是好事，因為谷歌和Facebook 這樣的美國公司比國內公司更注重基礎研究。他認為國內缺乏 AI 頂尖人才，而在國內設立外國 AI 研究所，是培養國內人才的一種方式。

AI 教育方興未艾

中國政府意識到，想要在2030年前領導世界 AI 產業，就需要培養和留住更多的 AI 專業人才。去年7月，《國務院關於印發新一代人工智慧發展規劃的通知》發布，《通知》中呼籲加強對中小學學生的 AI 教育。

在線人工智慧培訓課程也越來越受歡迎。北京師範大學教授、集智AI學園創始人張江表示，國內學習人工智慧的熱情很高。

烏鎮智庫數據顯示，中國在大多數 AI 指標上都落後於美國，比如私人投資和專利數量。但張曉東說現在差距正在縮小，尤其是像計算機視覺等應用領域。

中國能否在未來十年實現開創性突破，仍有很大的不確定性。張江表示，由於缺乏基礎創新，要成為真正的全球 AI 領導者，中國還相差甚遠。中國擅長學習但不擅長創新。

附上原文：

China enters the battle for talent

The country』s ambition to become the global leader in artificial intelligence will require a large, highly skilled workforce.

David Cyranoski

Zhang Yong, head of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, introduces the company"s artificial intelligence ET Brain at a conference in December 2017.Credit: Li Xin/Xinhua via ZUMA

A mountainous district in western Beijing known for its temples and mushroom production is tipped to become China』s hub for industries based on artificial intelligence (AI). Earlier this month, the Chinese government announced that it will spend 13.8 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) on an AI industrial park — the first major investment in its plan to become a world leader in the field by 2030.

But scientists there wonder whether the proposed 55-hectare AI park, in the Mentougou district 30 kilometres away from the city centre, will be able to attract enough researchers. The government wants it to house 400 companies that will make an estimated 50 billion yuan a year developing products and services in cloud computing, big data, biorecognition and deep learning. 「I don"t see any top talent willing to go to work and live there,」 says a scientist working at an AI start-up in Beijing, who asked to remain anonymous because the government is sensitive to criticism.

Sourcing accomplished AI researchers is a problem that』s confronting AI-related companies and research centres around the world.「The future [of AI] is going to be a battle for data and for talent,」says David Wipf, lead researcher at Microsoft Research in Beijing.

Talent grab

Chinese AI companies are progressing at a dizzying pace. At least five companies developing facial recognition technologies — including SenseTime and Face++, both based in Beijing — pulled in more than $1 billion from investors in 2017. But many AI companies there are struggling to hire researchers.In 2016, the information-technology ministry estimated the country needed an additional 5 million AI workers to meet the industry』s needs.

The global pool of experienced AI talent is small.Chinese businesses also have to compete with the aggressive hiring techniques of multinational players such as Google, which some fear are draining universities of researchers by tempting them with high salaries. 「It"s a talent war — whoever makes the best offer wins,」 says Nick Zhang, president of the Wuzhen Institute, an AI think tank in Wuzhen. He knows of experienced people getting salary offers of $1 million or more to work at the AI research centres of Chinese social-media giant Tencent or the web-services firm Baidu. 「This was unimaginable five years ago,」 he says.

Accomplished industry veterans might be scarce in China, but it is rich in bright, hard-working computer-science graduates who have expertise in machine learning and other AI-related fields. Peking University established the country』s first undergraduate course in AI in 2004, and since then 30 universities have introduced similar courses.

But universities are struggling to meet industry』s demands, especially because many of the best graduates leave the country. Young Chinese researchers populate AI laboratories from the United States to Israel. At a December 2017 workshop held at New York University (NYU) Shanghai, called Future Leaders of AI Retreat, almost all of the attendees were Chinese researchers working at US universities or industrial laboratories. Zhang Zheng, an AI researcher at NYU Shanghai who organized the retreat, says that he often writes letters of recommendation for Chinese students to study in the United States. 「The hope is for them to return later on in their career trajectories,」 he says.

There』s also stiff competition for AI researchers within China.Most of the country』s leading AI scientists go to work in industry rather than in academia, says Zhang Zheng. Wipf says that Microsoft set up in Beijing partly to hire the best graduates coming out of nearby Peking and Tsinghua universities, the nation』s premier higher-education institutions.

Last month, Google also established its own AI research centre in Beijing to attract these prodigies. Zhang Zheng says it』s good for the Chinese AI community that international companies are setting up there, because US companies such as Google and Facebook do more fundamental research compared with local tech giants, he says. 「China is lacking top talent, and [working at China-based foreign research hubs] is a way to train them.」

AI training

The Chinese government realizes that it needs to train and retain more AI graduates if it is to become the world leader in the field by 2030. Its AI roadmap, released by the Communist Party』s powerful State Council last July, calls for increased education in AI at primary and middle schools.

Online AI training courses are also becoming popular. 「The enthusiasm for learning AI is very high,」 says Zhang Jiang, who teaches AI at Beijing Normal University』s School of Systems Science.

The country still trails behind the United States in most AI indicators, such as private investment and number of patents, according to figures from the Wuzhen Institute. Nick Zhang says that gap is closing fast, especially in applications such as computer vision.

There』s greater uncertainty about whether China will be able to achieve pioneering breakthroughs in the next decade. 「There is still a very big gap before China can lead the competition, because China lacks fundamental innovations,」says Zhang Jiang. 「China is still a good learner, but not a good innovator.」

喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！