ILO partners with Microsoft to strengthen AI skilling in China

The ILO and Microsoft are building the capacity of TVET teachers and in-company trainers in China to better understand and utilize AI in vocational training.

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On 5 November 2024, the ILO project Quality Apprenticeship and Lifelong Learning in China Phase 2 successfully organized the AI for Better TVET webinar in partnership with Microsoft, kicking off the AI-VIBES Series (AI for Vocational Instructors Boosting Education and Skills) which builds the capacity of TVET teachers and in-company trainers.

The AI-VIBES Series is part of the project initiative Core Skills for NextGen Trainers. With technical support from Microsoft, it aims to improve teachers’ and trainers’ understanding of Artificial Intelligence and core competencies in utilizing AI in vocational training. Almost 300 participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, China Enterprise Confederation, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, enterprises, TVET schools and local authorities joined this first webinar.

In the opening remarks, Srinivas Reddy, Chief of ILO’s Skills and Employability Branch, expressed appreciation to the global partner Microsoft for such fruitful collaboration in China and the unwavering support in digital skills development with a lifelong learning approach. He highlighted that targeted interventions and grounded collaboration like the AI-VIBES Series are needed to fully harness AI’s potential in skills development.

Xiaochu Dai, Deputy Director of the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia, emphasized the urgency to better understand how AI impacts skills development and the need to prepare teachers and trainers with AI skills for better teaching efficiency and training outcomes. The ILO is committed to empowering vocational training with AI in China.

Crossing Wang, Asia Lead of Employee Engagement, Microsoft Philanthropies, thanked the ILO for the joint efforts in promoting AI skills in the field of vocational education and training in China. She indicated that AI is a general-purpose technology.  To support its broad adoption across the economy, this kind of skilling initiatives will position citizens to thrive in the new age of AI.

In the keynote session, Mary Kent, Skills and Employability Specialist from the ILO’s Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, comprehensively introduced AI and its impact on skills development from the ILO perspective. She encouraged teachers and trainers to regard AI as a co-worker and attached importance to core skills development such as analytical thinking.

Senior AI Applied Scientist at Microsoft, Dr. Sanping Li presented how Generative AI can practically empower vocational training. He explained how AI can help develop training materials, accelerate daily work and enhance personalized learning experiences.

From 2022, the ILO and Microsoft have built a global partnership to combine expertise and joint initiatives to promote the digital transformation of skills development with a lifelong learning approach. Since 2024, at the country level, the ILO and Microsoft have been working together on this pioneering AI-VIBES Series under the Quality Apprenticeship and Lifelong Learning in China Project Phase 2. Responding to the current demands of Chinese practitioners, the series will adopt a step-by-step approach, from knowledge sharing webinars to hands-on training workshops to upskilling through Microsoft AI for Trainers Toolkit localized by Microsoft and ILO. It is committed to strengthening TVET teachers’ and trainers’ core competencies in AI in skills development.