Editor’s Note
This dispatch from a community in Shenzhen highlights an innovative approach to public education. By bringing high-level AI instruction directly to residents and local enterprises after hours, the “AI Night School” initiative demonstrates how grassroots programs can effectively bridge the digital divide and foster inclusive technological literacy.
Last Friday night (May 16), my colleague, Shenzhen TV News reporter Wang Yingxuan, interviewed an impressive ‘AI Night School’ at the Party-Mass Service Center in Zhangge Community, Fucheng Subdistrict, Longhua District, Shenzhen.
This was the enterprise-focused session of the Zhangge Community ‘AI Night School’.
What makes it ‘impressive’ is that despite being a grassroots-level initiative, its caliber is anything but low. The instructors were Huawei Cloud AI expert Zhang Jun and Zhong Yangyang, a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (Shenzhen) Advanced Research Institute. The attendees were employees and even executives from enterprises within the subdistrict.
Longhua District is a major industrial hub in Shenzhen, ranking 10th among China’s top 100 industrial districts in 2024. It is also a provincial-level core area for the artificial intelligence industry and a provincial-level demonstration base for the industrial internet.
Fucheng Subdistrict is the only subdistrict in Shenzhen that hosts two world-class digital flagship enterprises, Huawei and Foxconn. It is home to both the mysterious ‘Lighthouse Factory’ and a ‘Digital Factory’ recognized as a case study by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Subdistricts are the smallest administrative units. This ‘high-level’ street ‘AI Night School’, much like the recently popular ‘Shenzhen Robot Valley’, adds a particularly vivid stroke to the panoramic picture of Shenzhen’s full-speed sprint in the AI race.
This AI Night School is the first pilot program launched in Longhua District under the city’s ‘Shen i Warm Current Action’ initiative deployed by the Municipal Organization Department. Classes are held every Friday and Saturday.
The on-site schedule shows that the night school has already offered courses such as AI Agent Development, AI E-commerce Design, and AI Video Creativity.
Since late 2024, this AI Night School has conducted over 30 training sessions, covering more than 1,700 participants. The learners include Foxconn employees, food delivery riders, as well as corporate executives and community residents.
According to previous media reports, assembly line worker Wang Li introduced AI data analysis technology into production process optimization through her studies. The intelligent inspection solution she proposed increased the workshop’s product yield rate by 12%. Food delivery rider Duan Zhijun learned new skills including industrial robot and drone operation, as well as AI writing and video production.
Why would AI experts from leading companies come to teach the public at a community night school?
Zhang Jun told the Shenzhen TV News reporter that this work helps enterprises and individuals adapt to industry changes and avoid falling behind due to the impact of AI technology.
Learner Huang Rong said that although she works in a traditional industry, she has felt the impact of artificial intelligence on work and life, creating an instinctive thirst for AI knowledge and technology.
Feng Suiting, Deputy Director of the Party Building and Organization Personnel Office of Fucheng Subdistrict, introduced that this was the second enterprise-focused session of the Zhangge Community ‘AI Night School’, addressing the needs of about 30 surrounding enterprises. Subsequent sessions will focus on key industries like electronic information and advanced manufacturing, inviting experts from specific fields to provide customized solutions.
With strong demand and rich course offerings, ‘AI Night Schools’ have now blossomed across the city.
The Shuibei Community ‘AI Night School’ in Cuizhu Subdistrict, Luohu District, tailored its curriculum to the local gold and jewelry industry, creating a course system focused on AI technology applications like AI video editing, AI office skills enhancement, and AI jewelry design. It has held 86 sessions, benefiting over 3,000 learners and helping nearly 200 successfully find employment or start businesses.
Subdistricts and communities in Yantian District comprehensively collect residents’ diverse needs, forming a ‘personalized ordering, precise service’ model. From AI technology applications to graphic design and new media operations, the diversity of courses meets the learning needs of people from different industries and backgrounds.
As a city of technological innovation and an AI pioneer, Shenzhen is currently emphasizing application orientation and accelerating its efforts to build a national and even global highland for AI industry development. Over 2,200 AI enterprises are gradually forming a ‘flying geese formation’ echelon, with industrial competitiveness ranking in the nation’s first tier. The city continues to build a complete AI industry ecosystem, and a list of nearly 200 ‘City + AI’ application scenarios is empowering thousands of industries.
As the saying goes, “It’s not that AI replaces humans, but that humans who don’t use AI get replaced.”
Shenzhen is vigorously promoting technological and industrial innovation while actively popularizing AI applications. Therefore, it’s not surprising that ‘AI Night Schools’ have become a ‘phenomenon-level’ learning trend in Shenzhen. It would be strange if such a trend didn’t take off in Shenzhen.