CSET Event:  China’s AI Workforce – Demand for AI Talent in a Global Marketplace

In our recent analysis of CSET’s research on China’s Advanced AI Research, we applauded the efforts of the CSET China AI Watchboard pilot program. OODA Loop is all about pattern recognition, sensemaking, risk awareness, and informing decision-making processes – and the pilot project has great potential for innovation.

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We also offered insights on the potential of public/private policy research collaborations.  These insights were not designed to single out the CSET researchers and the CSET China AI pilot program – but were directed to the policy research community in general.  OOD Loop implications, considerations, and recommendations included:

• Take cues from a vital trend in venture capital, the financial sector, and USG RE: innovation, collaboration, and funding at scale:   Certain high-level stakeholders in the government and industry are shaking off the abysmal historical albatross that is the private sector’s lack of contribution to capital flows (‘skin in the game”) for deep tech and large-scale USG projects of any consequence (dating back to the success of the industrial mobilization around WWII and, arguably,  no later than the role of the private sector in Eisenhower’s highway system infrastructure build-out). Yes, yes:  there is the systems integrator’s historical relationship with the Department of Defense (DoD). OK.  Fair enough. We are speaking of something entirely different here: a recent pattern of ambitious public/private strategic partnerships with actionable tactical goals and strategic foresight – launched only in the last two years.  Based on our research, analysis, and feedback from the OODA Network membership, there is a new era of public/private partnership afoot, represented by:
  • The proactive national technology strategy in the Great Power Competition with China articulated in the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) 189-page report, Mid-Decade Challenges for National Competitiveness;
  • The work of the MIT AI Policy Forum (taking AI principles to AI practice at a Global Scale); and
  • The structure of America’s Frontier Fund and the Quad Investor Network
• Arguably, the bias here is industry practice over pure academic theory or the discovery of ‘high-level’ operational principles.  Nevertheless, the opportunity exists for research policy organizations and small to mid-sized enterprises, as well as large companies, to replicate this public/private partnership approach, structured around specific projects (like the CSET China AI pilot program) or larger strategic initiatives.
• Policy Research Organizations like the CSET Should Not Reinvent the Wheel or Operate in a Product/Platform Design Silo:  Time and time again, we have seen a university-affiliated project of great promise never leave the academic setting and sink into the valley of death. Strategic public/private partnerships with industry practitioners and with the right companies, as well as an all-of-government outreach program feels like the logical next step for policy research organizations – leveraging product design and development and lean startup methodologies as a ‘common ground’ language to engage industry.
• CSET is on to something and already has an operational model in-house:  the open-source taxonomy and collaborative partnerships designed into CSET research on AI Accidents and the Artificial Intelligence Incident Database are instructional. The question is:  how do policy research organizations extend this open-source data taxonomy structure and collaborative approach to include industry practitioners and companies and governmental organizations? Further:  how can academia finally shake off a cultural bias against corporate/private sector sponsorship of research?  In this era of simultaneous global crises and uncertainty, how can universities and policy research organizations shift to more of an ‘all hands on deck” approach to their outreach and collaboration efforts?

In light of our recommendations, we were really pleased to see the CSET in-person and virtual event (which was held this week, Thursday, November 10th at 4 pm EST) included a collaboration with AMPLYFI , a UK-based startup that offers what it describes as an “Insights Automation Platform“.  The event is now available on-demand online.

CSET Event Details

AI workforce demand in China is fairly concentrated in economically important regions. About 60% of the technical job postings analyzed in our study — done in collaboration w/ @AMPLYFItech — are located in just three provinces. Read more 👇 https://t.co/v0C7mO9gZ9

— CSET (@CSETGeorgetown) November 8, 2022

China’s AI Workforce – Demand for AI Talent in a Global Marketplace

Join CSET Research Analysts Dahlia Peterson and Luke Koslosky for a discussion on Chinese AI workforce trends. In-person and virtual registration options are available below.

A discussion assessing China’s demand for AI talent:  Understanding China’s AI workforce could provide important insight for the United States, which relies heavily on foreign-born, top-tier tech talent. However, little information about the state of China’s AI workforce is publicly available. To date, what is known comes mainly from sporadic Chinese ministry, university, and company reports, or from news media outlets.

To bridge the Chinese AI workforce data gap, CSET partnered with AMPLYFi to develop a novel dataset of Chinese job postings and used it to analyze AI workforce demand in China. Join us for a seminar to discuss the initial findings of this research. CSET Research Analysts Dahlia Peterson and Luke Koslosky will be discussing their work on this topic with moderator Oliver Hayman, AMPLYFI’s Head of Professional Services.

This event will be hosted in a hybrid format with in-person attendance based on room capacity constraints.

Participants

Dahlia Peterson is a Research Analyst at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Her research work focuses on how China harnesses predictive policing algorithms and facial, voice, and gait recognition technologies for AI-powered surveillance programs within its own borders and abroad. At CSET, she also studies how China is developing its artificial intelligence education and workforce pipelines. Her work has been published by the Brookings Institution, The Diplomat, The Hill, The National Interest, and Routledge. She has been quoted in Marketplace and The Wall Street Journal, among others. Prior to joining CSET she worked for the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, the U.S. State Department’s Virtual Student Federal Service, and the Foreign Commercial Service at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. She holds a B.A. in Economics and Chinese Language with a minor in China Studies from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

Luke Koslosky is a Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). Previously, Luke was a Research Associate at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (PIPS), where he worked on science and technology policy and founded the Center for Enterprise, Exploration, and Defense in Space (CEEDS). Luke has also served as a staffer in the House of Representatives. Luke holds a B.S. in Political Science from Santa Clara University.

Oliver Hayman has almost 15 years of experience in consulting and technology, delivering business-critical solutions for leading organizations across Europe, Asia and the United States. For the past 5 years, Oliver has held leadership roles at AMPLYFI, one of Europe’s leading AI scale-ups, and currently leads AMPLYFI’s Professional Services team. Oliver thrives on delivering cutting edge AI-solutions for CSET and other mission-based clients around the world. Oliver has a degree in Chemistry from the University of Nottingham.

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