The General Office of the State Council issues the "Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology and Helping to Build an Employment-Friendly Development Model"

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The General Office of the State Council recently issued the "Opinions on Adapting to the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technology and Helping to Build an Employment-Friendly Development Model" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions"), making arrangements for related work.

The "Opinions" emphasize that it is necessary to adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as guidance, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the second and subsequent plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, adhere to the close integration of investment in physical assets and investment in people, adhere to the coordination of development and security, adhere to the employment-first orientation, take the empowerment of high-quality development by artificial intelligence as an opportunity, take adapting to technological development to promote high-quality full employment as the goal, take building an employment-friendly development model as the direction, actively enhance the positive effects of artificial intelligence in creating employment opportunities, empowering traditional positions, improving employment quality, and stimulating entrepreneurial vitality, effectively mitigate the employment substitution impact of artificial intelligence applications, and strive to achieve inclusive development in which technological progress and industrial upgrading are coordinated with employment promotion and improvement of people's livelihood.

The "Opinions" deploy 18 main tasks in 6 aspects. First, strengthen the employment creation effect of artificial intelligence. Expand new space for artificial intelligence employment in emerging fields, cultivate new momentum for small and medium-sized enterprises to stabilize and expand jobs, create new models of employment and entrepreneurship in the artificial intelligence field, and accelerate the development of new occupations in the artificial intelligence field. Second, build an employment-friendly artificial intelligence upgrading path. Tap the employment potential of artificial intelligence in traditional fields, mitigate the employment substitution impact of artificial intelligence applications, and establish an employment risk assessment mechanism for artificial intelligence applications. Third, improve workers' digital literacy and employability. Collaboratively cultivate artificial intelligence innovative talents and implement special artificial intelligence training programs. Fourth, promote artificial intelligence empowerment of high-quality employment policy services. Use artificial intelligence to help implement employment policies, improve the intelligent level of employment services, and increase support for employment in transformation and job transfer. Fifth, improve the worker rights and interests protection system and the social security system. Optimize the worker rights and interests protection system adapted to human-machine collaboration, improve the social security system for flexible employment and workers in new forms of employment, and improve the income distribution mechanism adapted to the development of artificial intelligence technology. Sixth, improve the employment monitoring, early warning, and risk response system for artificial intelligence applications. Strengthen monitoring and early warning of employment risks in artificial intelligence applications, strengthen research on the employment impact of artificial intelligence applications, and improve the employment risk response mechanism for artificial intelligence applications.

The "Opinions" require that adherence to Party leadership be carried through every process and every aspect of the work of adapting to the development of artificial intelligence technology and promoting employment and entrepreneurship. All regions and relevant departments should grasp the implementation of these Opinions in light of actual conditions, further strengthen the employment-first policy orientation, comprehensively consider the employment impact of artificial intelligence applications, and accelerate the building of an employment-friendly development model. Human resources and social security departments and development and reform departments at all levels should strengthen overall coordination, promote the effective implementation of various policies and measures, strengthen publicity and guidance, and create a favorable social atmosphere conducive to promoting employment and entrepreneurship.

To the people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, all ministries and commissions of the State Council, and all institutions directly under the State Council:

Employment is the most basic component of people's livelihood. In order to implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on promoting high-quality full employment, actively adapt to the development of artificial intelligence technology, and help build an employment-friendly development model, with the approval of the State Council, the following opinions are hereby put forward.

I. Overall requirements

Adhere to Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era as guidance, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the spirit of the second and subsequent plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, adhere to the close integration of investment in physical assets and investment in people, adhere to the coordination of development and security, adhere to the employment-first orientation, take the empowerment of high-quality development by artificial intelligence as an opportunity, take adapting to technological development to promote high-quality full employment as the goal, take building an employment-friendly development model as the direction, actively enhance the positive effects of artificial intelligence in creating employment opportunities, empowering traditional positions, improving employment quality, and stimulating entrepreneurial vitality, effectively mitigate the employment substitution impact of artificial intelligence applications, and strive to achieve inclusive development in which technological progress and industrial upgrading are coordinated with employment promotion and improvement of people's livelihood.

II. Strengthen the employment creation effect of artificial intelligence

(1) Expand new space for artificial intelligence employment in emerging fields. Deeply implement the "Artificial Intelligence+" initiative, encourage the eastern region to lay out core artificial intelligence industries, guide the central and western regions to undertake upstream and downstream industries such as data annotation and intelligent terminal manufacturing according to local conditions, and accelerate the formation of new growth points for employment in the artificial intelligence field. Accelerate the cultivation of AI-native enterprises, specialized and sophisticated "little giant" enterprises, etc., include eligible enterprises within the scope of support from special loans for financial assistance to enterprises to stabilize and expand jobs in accordance with regulations, and create more new jobs and new opportunities.

(2) Cultivate new momentum for small and medium-sized enterprises to stabilize and expand jobs. Implement the artificial intelligence small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurship support plan, and use the open-source ecosystem to promote innovation and entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen the supply of public services for digital transformation, encourage the development of "small, fast, light, and precise" digital products and solutions, ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households use intelligent production factors such as data and algorithms equally in accordance with the law, support small and medium-sized enterprises in exploring low-cost and lightweight intelligent upgrading paths, further lower the threshold for artificial intelligence application, and enhance the capacity to absorb employment.

(3) Create new models of employment and entrepreneurship in the artificial intelligence field. Give full play to the role of government investment funds such as the National Venture Capital Guidance Fund and the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, and support the innovative development of enterprises in the artificial intelligence field in a market-based manner. Build high-level artificial intelligence open-source communities, deploy and implement a batch of high-quality open-source projects, and form an effect in which entrepreneurship drives employment. Implement models of "scientific and technological achievements + entrepreneurship," "industrial development + entrepreneurship," "vocational skills + entrepreneurship," and "people's livelihood needs + entrepreneurship," focus on entrepreneurial projects such as innovation in artificial intelligence application scenarios and transformation of technological achievements, implement entrepreneurship support policies, and provide entrepreneurship incubation services.

(4) Accelerate the development of new occupations in the artificial intelligence field. Focusing on the cultivation of artificial intelligence scenarios and large-scale application, accelerate the development of new occupations and release new occupation standards, and expand demand for new occupations and new job types such as digital management professionals, artificial intelligence engineering technicians, and artificial intelligence trainers. Encourage localities to add relevant professional title evaluation specialties in light of the needs of artificial intelligence industry development, and promptly carry out artificial intelligence-related vocational skill level recognition.

III. Build an employment-friendly artificial intelligence upgrading path

(5) Tap the employment potential of AI in traditional fields. Leverage AI's role in helping transform and upgrade traditional industries, guide the better adoption of human-machine collaboration models in the intelligent development of all factors of industrial production and the digital-intelligent transformation and upgrading of agriculture, and tap digital-intelligent employment opportunities in traditional fields. Accelerate the building of AI-driven new service models, advance producer services in various fields toward specialization and the high end of the value chain, promote the high-quality, diversified, and convenient development of consumer services, expand new service consumption scenarios such as experiential consumption and personalized consumption, and expand the employment capacity of the service sector.

(6) Mitigate the employment substitution impact of AI applications. Leverage AI's role in improving the employment environment, raising occupational safety levels, and enhancing work quality and efficiency, and prioritize its promotion and application in positions with labor shortages and high environmental risks. Steadily and prudently grasp the scope, intensity, and pace of AI application in labor-intensive industries to minimize the impact on workers. Encourage enterprises to explore establishing unemployment buffer period systems, and in the process of large-scale AI promotion and application, inform affected workers in advance and provide support for transition and job reassignment.

(7) Establish an employment risk assessment mechanism for AI applications. Comprehensively assess the employment impact of AI applications and guide innovation resources toward areas with greater potential for job creation. For AI application scenario projects in market access fields that may cause significant employment impact, conduct employment risk assessments simultaneously during review, and relevant departments should make overall arrangements for transition and job reassignment employment support. For AI application scenario projects in other fields, conduct employment risk assessments in light of actual conditions.

IV. Enhance Workers' Digital Literacy and Employability

(8) Collaboratively cultivate AI innovative talent. Encourage regular higher education institutions and vocational schools (including technical colleges) to accelerate the dynamic optimization of discipline and major offerings, make unconventional arrangements for disciplines and majors urgently needed in the AI field, strengthen the development of related interdisciplinary majors, increase the placement of AI "micro-majors," implement composite talent cultivation projects, and cultivate more composite AI talent. Strengthen university-enterprise joint cultivation and support leading science and technology enterprises in participating in course development, teacher training, and teaching facility upgrades. Solidly advance AI education across all stages of schooling, promote student internships in enterprises and enterprise engineers teaching in schools, and cultivate students' exploratory and creative thinking abilities.

(9) Implement a special AI training plan. Deeply implement the "Skills Illuminate the Future" training action. When carrying out project-based and order-based digital technology and skills training, localities should closely align with market demand in the AI field and encourage college graduates and other young people, migrant workers, unemployed persons, and others to participate in AI-field employment and entrepreneurship training projects. Encourage localities to actively carry out AI-related skills training relying on public training bases, enterprise training bases, high-skilled talent training bases, and others. Advance AI general education across society, and relying on the National Smart Education Public Service Platform, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's online learning platform for technical and skilled talent, continuing education online platforms, and others, launch more public welfare courses. Encourage the active conduct of AI-related skills competitions within existing vocational skills competitions.

V. Promote AI-Empowered High-Quality Employment Policy Services

(10) Use AI to help implement employment policies. Explore building an intelligent identification mechanism for policy implementation, analyze the characteristics of service recipients, intelligently push employment policies, and improve the quality and efficiency of "policies finding people." Strengthen the application of AI in employment policy evaluation, fund management, publicity and interpretation, and consultation.

(11) Improve the intelligent level of employment services. Upgrade and improve the national employment information resource database, the National College Student Employment Service Platform, and the "China Employment" public service platform, and strengthen data collection, intelligent analysis, and precise services. Advance the construction of national AI application pilot test bases, coordinate existing resources to explore the intelligent upgrading of grassroots public employment service networks, and deepen the application of AI in fields such as labor and personnel dispute mediation and arbitration. Promote AI empowerment of human resources services, and encourage business entities to innovate and optimize new products and new models such as large models for job seeking and recruitment, intelligent interviews, and virtual reality training.

(12) Increase support for transition and job reassignment employment. In accordance with regulations, provide employment assistance to workers who meet the conditions and are affected by employment substitution due to AI applications, and provide targeted career guidance, skills training, job recommendations, entrepreneurship support, and other services. In accordance with regulations, promptly and fully pay unemployment insurance benefits to relevant insured unemployed persons.

VI. Improve the Worker Rights Protection System and Social Security System

(13) Optimize the worker rights protection system adapted to human-machine collaboration. Strengthen research on the protection of workers' basic rights in light of new characteristics of social division of labor such as human-machine collaboration, improve consultation and coordination mechanisms for worker rights, and urge enterprises to protect workers' lawful rights and interests in accordance with the law, including obtaining labor remuneration, rest and leave, and access to labor safety and health protection. Regulate the application of AI in the field of human resource management, and govern in accordance with the law illegal and non-compliant acts such as employment discrimination, false recruitment, and infringement of privacy rights and rest rights caused by abuse of algorithms and other means.

(14) Improve the social security system for flexible employment and workers in new forms of employment. Adapt to the development of AI technology, enhance the flexibility and inclusiveness of the social security system, encourage and support flexible workers and workers in new forms of employment to participate in urban employee basic old-age insurance, and expand pilot programs for occupational injury protection for workers in new forms of employment. Actively make good use of the development dividends of AI to better safeguard employment and improve people's livelihoods.

(15) Improve the income distribution mechanism adapted to the development of AI technology. Guide enterprises to establish and improve compensation distribution systems suited to the characteristics of workers in the AI field, improve the wage distribution incentive mechanism for high-level talent oriented toward increasing the value of knowledge, and implement the classified reference guidelines for minimum wages for skilled talent. Cultivate and develop innovative work forms such as intelligent agents, encourage enterprises to increase investment in public-interest AI technologies, services, and open-source communities, help workers expand their capability boundaries and enhance the value of their labor, and promote more workers to actively participate in technological progress and benefit from it.

VII. Improve the Employment Monitoring, Early Warning, and Risk Response System for AI Applications

(16) Strengthen monitoring and early warning of employment risks from AI applications. Strengthen cross-departmental sharing of data on AI-related industries, employment, and other matters, and jointly build regional and industry-specific intelligent monitoring and analysis models for employment data. Strengthen pre-research and pre-judgment of employment risks from AI applications, and improve the sensitivity of employment risk monitoring and early warning.

(17) Strengthen research on the employment impact of AI applications. Conduct special surveys on the employment impact of AI applications, and continuously track situations such as AI application penetration, job creation and substitution, and changes in skills demand. Relying on existing resources such as universities and research institutions, establish a batch of AI employment research centers. Implement national social science fund and other research projects well, and conduct forward-looking research on the impact of AI technology development on employment and income distribution.

(18) Improve the response mechanism for employment risks from AI applications. Incorporate employment risks from AI applications into the scope of the mechanism for preventing and resolving large-scale unemployment risks, and make overall plans for risk response contingency plans. Strengthen joint response to AI-related labor relations risks, and do a good job in risk consultation, judgment, and handling.

VIII. Strengthen Organization and Implementation

Persist in implementing the leadership of the Party throughout all processes and all aspects of the work of adapting to the development of AI technology to promote employment and entrepreneurship. All regions and relevant departments should, in light of actual conditions, grasp the implementation of these Opinions, further strengthen the orientation of employment-first policies, comprehensively consider the employment impact of AI applications, and accelerate the building of an employment-friendly development model. Human resources and social security departments and development and reform departments at all levels should strengthen overall coordination, promote the effective implementation of various policy measures, strengthen publicity and guidance, and create a favorable social atmosphere conducive to promoting employment and entrepreneurship. Major matters should be promptly requested and reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in accordance with procedures.