On August 17th, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security concluded the public comment period for a set of 123 occupational standards. This marks the first time during the 15th Five-Year Plan period that such standards have been opened for public feedback, with a headline feature being the simultaneous debut of national standards for several new AI-related professions. Roles like intelligent digital human trainers, generative AI system operators, and generative AI animation producers are now set to receive clear skill evaluation criteria and career development guides, providing practitioners with well-defined pathways for promotion and long-term professional growth.
The introduction of these national standards for AI occupations is far from coincidental. In fact, of the 72 new professions released in China over the past five years, more than 20 are directly tied to artificial intelligence, with each new profession capable of driving employment and income growth for hundreds of thousands of people. The 15th Five-Year Plan outline has explicitly called for strengthening AI's role in creating jobs. As we look toward the next five years, the question becomes: how do we secure these new AI-era roles?
New Shift: Human-Machine Synergy
The continuous renewal of AI professions and the institutional filling of occupational standards reflect a profound transformation in the job market, while also accelerating its move toward a phase of human-machine collaboration. Among the professions most affected by AI, customer service roles have felt the impact first. As one of the earliest areas to undergo digital transformation and the most extensive application of human-machine collaboration, it once served as a testing ground for replacing humans with machines. Now, however, it is carving out a path for reinvention through the rise of new AI occupations.
Previously, Yu Chen, a customer service representative at JD.com, feared that AI would take away his job as intelligent customer service systems grew more capable. Fortunately, with the company's support and leveraging nearly a decade of professional experience, he successfully transitioned into the role of an AI trainer. "Instead of being swept away by the AI wave, I used it to find a new professional position through human-machine collaboration," Yu said. Whenever he spots a flaw in AI responses, he can accurately diagnose the issue and take action—whether updating content, adjusting intelligent agents, or fine-tuning systems—to enhance the intelligent customer service's problem-solving capabilities.
"As one of the internet companies with the largest in-house customer service teams in the country, JD.com actively responds to national employment promotion policies and fulfills its social responsibilities by upgrading in advance to amplify the positive effects of AI and help employees transition to higher-value roles," said a representative from JD Group. Over the past two years, JD.com's customer service division has continuously expanded job opportunities around AI applications, creating multiple new role categories and helping thousands of employees upgrade their positions, gradually forming an ecosystem where "AI handles basic services, humans focus on complex scenarios, and multiple roles provide collaborative support."
While adopting AI, more companies are actively helping employees transition and find new employment. In the retail sector, Wumart Supermarket uses an "AI-driven new quality retail" engine to push employees toward skilled service roles, potentially adding 4,000 to 6,000 new jobs. In digital entertainment, several leading animation companies have launched generative AI skills training, allowing animators to shift their focus to high-value tasks like creative planning and quality control. In manufacturing, LONGi Green Energy has established a full-lifecycle talent development system, training core staff to move into new fields such as data analysis, simulation engineering, and digital translation, with hundreds of employees already achieving career upgrades. Policy support is also progressing in tandem.
In April of this year, the State Council's Employment Promotion and Labor Protection Working Group issued an action plan for stabilizing employment and expanding opportunities. "The document encourages companies to conduct synchronized transformation and retraining when implementing AI, helping workers remain employed as much as possible. This provides direction for businesses and reassures the broader workforce," said Liang Zheng, a professor at Tsinghua University's School of Public Policy and Management and director of its AI Governance Research Center. With the government setting policy direction, companies exploring transformation paths, and workers seeking new positions amid change, the road to career transition in the AI era is gradually becoming clearer through multi-stakeholder collaboration.
New Growth: Creating a "Blue Ocean"
"AI's impact on employment is multifaceted. It replaces some traditional roles, creating short-term structural transition pressures, but it also generates significant new job opportunities by fostering emerging industries, innovative business models, and new commercial formats," said Bao Chunlei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Labor and Social Security Sciences. What stands out even more is the vast industrial chain that has formed around AI technology itself. Bao noted that from the foundational layer of computing infrastructure and data services, to the technical layer of algorithm development and model training, to the application layer of industry solutions, and the governance layer of safety assessments and ethical reviews, every segment continuously generates new high-value-added positions, injecting sustained vitality into the job market.
Wu Jianhua, an employee at Beijing Tianyang Rongxin Technology Co., Ltd., has experienced this shift firsthand. Previously working in algorithm development, she found that training outcomes were often subpar without high-quality data as "nourishment." When AI data annotators were officially added to the national occupational classification catalog, she didn't hesitate to switch careers, eager to keep pace with cutting-edge technology and broaden her professional path. "My job is like feeding teaching materials to large models, helping them understand the real world from vast amounts of messy information—it's the most basic but crucial step," Wu said. "After switching, not only did my salary increase, but my career path also widened, giving me the chance to participate in more AI projects."
Data annotators are not alone. Digital twin engineers, embodied intelligence robot application technicians, generative AI animation producers, and AI safety assessors—AI is giving rise to a multi-layered, broad-spectrum occupational matrix. As AI deeply integrates with industries like manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, and transportation, the demand for "AI + industry" hybrid roles is set to surge, further amplifying AI's job creation effect. The World Economic Forum's latest report projects that by 2030, AI will displace approximately 92 million jobs globally while simultaneously creating 170 million new ones, resulting in a net gain of 78 million.
Looking to the next five years, the 15th Five-Year Plan outline has incorporated "strengthening AI's employment creation effect," anchoring the direction for employment in the AI era. Industry experts widely agree that as relevant policies take effect, AI will bring more job creation opportunities, and related new professions will move from "emerging sporadically" to "systematic expansion." "The landscape of future AI occupations will continue to grow. On one hand, it will focus on application deployment, responding to industrial transformation and upgrading; on the other hand, it will keep refining and deepening, spinning off more specialized roles and gradually building a modern occupational ecosystem with clear structure and flourishing branches," Liang Zheng believes.
New Challenges: Elevating Skills
The advancement of AI will bring more "new roles," but it also presents the challenge of skill elevation. Currently, the ability to master new technologies and achieve complementary human-machine advantages has become a key measure of a job seeker's competitiveness. "Practitioners need to actively embrace technology and master hard skills like AI tools and data analysis, while also continuously strengthening uniquely human soft skills such as critical thinking, creativity, and communication," Bao Chunlei emphasized. Before transitioning to become a generative AI animation producer, Li Jiaxin, an animator from Beijing, was often asked whether she would be phased out as AI animation quality improved. She firmly believes that AI will not eliminate animators as a profession, but rather those animators who fail to use AI effectively.
As AI technology evolves, those who can adapt and leverage it will find themselves at the forefront of a transformed employment landscape. The path forward is one of continuous learning and flexibility, where human ingenuity meets machine efficiency to unlock unprecedented opportunities.
Comments