Before the AI stars shine, Tangshan first believed in that group of young people.
# Before AI stars shone brightly, Shangtan first believed in those teenagers In 2018, Wang Yansen was still an undergraduate. At that time, CV was popular, and the Transformer wave was just beginning. He tried to explain the value of “emotional companionship” to the world, but he faced more doubts. During the interview for Shangtan scholarship, he also faced the dilemma of “how to explain”. But that year, he received a notification of being selected with a bonus of 20,000 yuan—a recognition from top AI institutions, which gave him confidence in the most uncertain moment. Four years later, ChatGPT emerged, and generative AI gradually entered thousands of households. Wang Yansen’s and his peers’ lonely exploration that year was validated by time. Now, he works at Microsoft Research Asia (Shanghai). In a dialogue with Leifeng Network AI Technology Review, he recalled: “The process of doing research can be lonely, but you know, there was someone who lit a lamp for you at that crossroads. Looking back later, those solitary paths weren’t so lonely after all.” At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), Yan Xianglong from Shanghai Jiao Tong University stepped onto the stage, bringing a mobile robot…