How Did a Tsinghua Art Graduate Become the 'New Godfather of Chinese AI'?
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The spark of the Sora model has once again ignited passion in China's AI industry, simultaneously thrusting internet influencer Li Yizhou, who sells AI courses, into the limelight.
In recent days, an image titled 'Two AI Titans' has gone viral: Li Yizhou, a Tsinghua PhD selling AI courses, and OpenAI's Sam Altman have become hot topics of discussion. However, the discourse surrounding Altman is largely filled with praise and admiration, whereas discussions about Li Yizhou are predominantly critical and skeptical.
Critics question: Although Li Yizhou holds a PhD from Tsinghua University, he actually graduated from Tsinghua's Academy of Arts & Design, not from a genuine engineering or computer science background. The AI courses he sells have also been criticized by the industry as 'lacking substantial content,' raising doubts about their professional credibility. Sina Tech reviewed his past works and discovered a course-selling tactic:
- Present an attractive topic
- Share some superficial content
- Suggest that AI is needed for the answer
- Conclude with a course sale
However, an increasing number of course buyers are now demanding refunds and leaving groups. The question arises: is Li Yizhou, once regarded as 'China's new AI godfather,' genuinely knowledgeable about AI, or is he merely using AI as a facade to create new anxieties and exploit the situation?
"The $29 AI course left me with nothing" Is Li Yizhou's AI course worth buying (15.940, 0.00, 0.00%)? After purchasing and staying up all night to watch Li Yizhou's 36 AI lessons, a blogger's most direct impression was, "It's completely over the top. I really admire Dr. Li for being able to present such nonsense so logically and confidently."
According to the blogger, in this 36-lesson course they bought for 199 yuan:
- The first 3 lessons introduce how humanity will eventually transition from carbon-based to silicon-based life, with AI being just the beginning.
- Lessons 4-6 are about how amazing GPT is and why buying this course is worthwhile.
- Later, Li Yizhou uses ChatGPT to teach how to write resumes, help children with homework, and assist businesses in reducing costs and increasing efficiency—all scenarios for GPT applications. After staying up all night to watch the entire course, the blogger reflected, "If you have no idea about ChatGPT at all, it's still worth watching because Dr. Li explains some theoretical knowledge of artificial intelligence in a very accessible way and teaches you step-by-step how to use ChatGPT. But I think the biggest takeaway is his mastery of marketing academia, setting a new benchmark!"
However, in today's highly developed internet age, do these routine ChatGPT operations and scenario introductions really need to cost 199 yuan? Especially when you have access to ChatGPT, aren't these common-sense questions readily available? As doubts about the real value of Li Yizhou's AI course emerged online, screenshots circulated showing that "Li Yizhou's AI practical training camp group was allegedly disbanded by the teaching assistant."
According to the screenshot content, there had been disputes between the teaching assistant from Li Yizhou's team and group members. The teaching assistant bluntly stated, "If anyone feels they are more capable than Teacher Yizhou or have more followers, they are welcome to leave the group. There’s no problem with that—self-awareness is precious." After continued questioning from students, the teaching assistant abruptly disbanded the group.
Earning 50 million a year by selling anxiety and harvesting韭菜 (a metaphor for scamming)? According to Feigua data, in the past year of 2023, Li Yizhou's 199-yuan AI course "Everyone's Artificial Intelligence Course" sold approximately 250,000 copies, with sales revenue reaching about 50 million yuan. However, behind the impressive sales figures, Li Yizhou, who claims to be a Ph.D. graduate from Tsinghua University in science and engineering, was revealed to actually hold a Ph.D. from Tsinghua University's Academy of Arts & Design, majoring in "Industrial Design and Design Innovation Methods, Design Strategy and Prototype Innovation Research Institute." He completed his undergraduate and master's studies at the School of Design and Art of Hunan University.
"Indeed, the most profitable business within the wall is definitely scamming the gullible," faced with similar skepticism, Li Yizhou responded, "We need our own large models, our own real AI. Those who mock and persistently disparage are either foolish or malicious. Focus on your own work and let others talk."
A long-time observer of Li Yizhou's videos told Sina Technology bluntly, "After watching several of his videos, the biggest impression is that the topics he chooses are tailored for traffic. For example, his previous video 'Is There a Mastermind Behind Crazy Little Yang?' The topic is attractive, but after watching for 10 minutes, there's no answer. The answer requires using AI, so you need to buy the course!"
The observer added, "His logic isn't complicated, and his tactics are quite obvious. He can ask questions about anything, give superficial comments, and then abruptly shift—'The real answer is unknown, but big data can tell you. If you want to understand big data, you need to learn AI, so you have to buy my course.' This is his consistent marketing strategy." A knowledge payment industry insider commented, "Li Yizhou's success stems from his insight into the various career dilemmas faced by contemporary office workers. With the new wave of AI impacting professions so severely, people desperately want to change their situation. Buying courses becomes the best psychological outlet - even if they gather dust afterward, it allows people to deceive themselves into thinking they've made an effort."
In reality, all the money Li Yizhou earned came from emotional manipulation.
The industry professional cited Tang Nuo, author of "The End," stating: "Commerce requires passion rather than knowledge. In our current era where knowledge is ubiquitous, the real key to commercial success lies in reigniting people's primitive passions." This precisely explains how Li Yizhou, through his exceptional live-streaming rhetoric and audience control skills, quickly identified his target users and efficiently harvested profits.
After all, compared to studying AI research papers or reading AI-related books, watching just a few minutes of video per lesson is much easier. But is this monetization approach truly advisable? And can the AI knowledge and skills acquired through such methods really be considered solid?