Young Tech Entrepreneur Develops AI Capabilities Mimicking Influential Figures

China's Open-Source AI Project Aims to Preserve Human Skills Amid Job Security Concerns

A 24-year-old engineer in China has developed an open-source artificial intelligence project that claims to turn human abilities into reusable AI "skills" that can be downloaded and used by others. The project, called Colleague Skill, has gone viral amid growing concerns about job losses caused by AI.

Zhou Tianyi, an engineer at the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, created the project as a quick experiment, which took less than four hours to develop. The aim was not to replace workers, but to help teams preserve knowledge when employees leave their jobs. The project includes skills linked to everyday office workers, as well as those attributed to well-known figures such as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and spiritual leader Gautama Buddha.

According to the project's description on Microsoft-backed GitHub, the tool can convert work chats, documents, and experience into AI skills. The project is designed to deal with situations where a colleague quits and leaves behind poorly organised files or unfinished documentation. The tool can turn "cold goodbyes into warm skills."

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The idea quickly struck a chord with young professionals in China, many of whom are worried about job security as companies adopt AI tools. One widely shared image showed an empty office desk and chair, with a caption that read: "My desk has been emptied and my skills have been uploaded."

As the project spread, online users began creating spin-off versions. These included AI models said to reflect Steve Jobs' product judgment and storytelling skills, as well as a Buddha-inspired model that claimed to summarise Buddhist teachings to guide life decisions. The creators of the Buddha model warned that it was only an imitation and should not be treated as real spiritual advice.

Zhou has played down the claims around the project, stating that AI skills can only help with basic and repetitive tasks, such as answering common questions or summarising documents. They cannot match human judgement, creativity, or flexibility.

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Note: The table above presents a comparison of the different models created using the Colleague Skill project.