'AI Farms' Are at the Forefront of China's Global Ambitions

He weighs a little over 100 pounds, has auburn dyed hair, and wears a hoodie emblazoned with the words "Dope Shit." But in China's rise to superpower status, the 20-year-old student is a foot soldier playing a vital role. Yin works at Bainiaohe Digital Town, a tech hub set deep in the tree-covered hills of China's southwestern province of Guizhou. The region is traditionally known for growing tea and producing fiery Moutai liquor, but today it's luring Yin, and hundreds of young Chinese like him, to work in the booming sector of Artificial Intelligence or AI. For eight hours each day, they sit at computer terminals on brightly colored swivel chairs and help refine the reliability of facial and voice recognition software, driverless car programs, and even mobile apps that are used to identify plants and insects.