AI Internship 2024
Kickstarted our first ever AI Internship in 2024. After vetting through all students who applied for the internship, we narrowed down to the selected ones, mainly from Singapore and Vietnam.
Internship Period: from Dec 2023 to April 2024
The 2024 AI Internship challenged students to collaborate on real-world AI missions, applying machine learning and automation techniques while developing problem-solving skills in a fast-paced environment.
Program Overview
Period:
3-6 months
Total No. of Teams:
3 (3 students each team)
6 students from universities based in Singapore while 3 students are from Vietnam.
Learning Approach:
Solve AI Challenges Through Missions
Total missions given:
3-4 (depends)
Each intern in each group came from different academic backgrounds. They tackled 3-4 AI missions over six months, learning to develop and deploy AI solutions under real-world constraints.
Missions
What are the missions given to the interns?
Winner: Team 2
Mission 1: Easy to Forget These Days
Target Audience:
Busy Business Owners (45-60+ yrs old) who do not wish to clear cut Private-Public (work) communication.
Objective:
- Consolidate all communication channels into one so I only need to look at one place to start my morning.
- AI with similar priority setting as mine can filter & create “To do” for next day while I am sleeping?
- Choose what to remember and forget
- Unlimited memory and instant extract by time/date/visuals
- Proactive inputs (my brain done by manual) vs Reactive inputs (inflows from Communication Channels)
Winner: Team 2 & Team 3
Mission 2: Long, Long and Very Long List
Target Audience: International Market Research Company for Retail Industry.
Objective:
- Consolidate all communication channels into one so I only need to look at one place to start my morning.
- AI with similar priority setting as mine can filter & create “To do” for next day while I am sleeping?
- Choose what to remember and forget
- Unlimited memory and instant extract by time/date/visuals
- Proactive inputs (my brain done by manual) vs Reactive inputs (inflows from Communication Channels)
Mission 3: Clone Me!?
Target Audience:
Busy Business Owners (45-60+ yrs old) who do not wish to clear cut Private-Public (work) communication.Target Audience: International Market Research Company for Retail Industry.
Objective:
- To be able to collect 50,000 products data (auto-scraping) via Web, SNS platform in one click.
- To communicate with AI to make a list for me with relevance, similarity of the products, prices
- Can ask AI which type of products growing or shrinking and why.
- To collect Social Listening Trends for target products (Consumer Negative/Positive Analysis)
- To be able to collect relevant companies (Brand Makers / Distribution channels) with sales and # of physical shops, etc.
- Our final products are AI Tool which the client can update data by themselves. Rather than “old-fashion” report to overflow with data coming from limited source.
- Our engagement with the client is to become a partner to “discuss HOW to cut market together”
Testimonials
Let’s see what our past interns has to say about their experience during their internship with us!
How this internship benefit you?
With Data Science/ Computer Science and technology students overall, one of the critical aspects that we need are real projects that address real-world problems. With FunAI Internship Program, throughout 6 months I have the chance to do 4 different projects that related to real-world problems with newest technology tools provided.
How did you manage this long internship while studying?
I think the company has given us great working hours. We only must catch up with the supervisor once or twice a week and meet up at the office once a month for presentation, so it is appropriate for students.
How much time did you allocate for this internship per week?
At that time, I spent around 2-3 hours a day developing the project and still maintaining good grades at school.
What was a biggest difference from regular internship?
I think it’s about the permission and scope of work. In the regular internship, we usually put in the same scope of work with the Job Description, and we only perform a specific task during the internship. With FunAI, we have full access to the newest tools available, we can be creative and create many kinds of projects, the limit is our creation. Because of that, the scope of work may change during different projects, and I have learnt many new things during the internship.
Any advices / messages for future interns?
Be creative, let’s have builder-mindset instead of a developer, you need to start fresh and bold. Take advantage of the tools-fund that the FunAI gave you. Try as many new things as possible and focus on new technology only.
How this internship benefit you?
As a Data Architect, I have encountered a variety of real-world problems during this internship. I took the initiative to research and design logical data structures to ensure the project’s success and provide value to users. Additionally, I gained deeper insights into how AI can help solve various problems in daily life.
How did you manage this long internship while studying?
My schedule was quite flexible. I primarily focused on the project after my classes. I dedicated about 7-8 hours per day to researching and working on this internship project.
How much time did you allocate for this internship per week?
I spent approximately 35-40 hours per week on this internship.
What was a biggest difference from regular internship?
In a traditional internship, interns are typically required to work full-time or part-time at the company and receive guidance from a leader and team. However, in this internship, the company presented a problem, and my team and I were responsible for developing a solution on our own. We applied our existing knowledge and conducted additional research from various sources to complete the project independently, without direct supervision.
Any advices / messages for future interns?
I believe that you shouldn’t fear AI replacing humans. Work with determination and confidence, always be creative, and continuously update your knowledge of new technologies. And never forget that data is crucial — “Data collection is not a one-way street.”
How this internship benefit you?
It was my first experience leading the end to end software development process in a team, and I gained invaluable insight about the process behind understanding user pain points, creating solutions and the mindset of continuous improvement.
How did you manage this long internship while studying?
Since I am studying Computer Science, many of the knowledge that I learnt in class became applicable during this internship, so working on the projects were just another part of my process. Furthermore, being able to come up with my own approach to tackle the problem at hand, gives me more ownership towards my own work.
How much time did you allocate for this internship per week?
Depends on the project, but typically an hour a day would be sufficient.
What was a biggest difference from regular internship?
The part time nature of this internship and the full control that the intern team receives for projects makes this a very unique opportunity, compared to regular internships that typically operate on a fixed schedule, with clear objectives to meet.
Any advices / messages for future interns?
How much you learn from this internship comes down to how much you personally want to achieve, and if you test the boundaries of what you and your fellow interns can do, you will learn rapidly and achieve some surprising outcomes.
How this internship benefit you?
Coming from JC without any programming knowledge and only having finished one semester in university, end-to-end software development was a new endeavor for me. Through the internship, I gained great experience in the process of problem to product, which was tiring but fruitful!
How did you manage this long internship while studying?
As I am studying Information Systems, it felt like I was learning the same things in school and during the internship at the same time, which helped to boost my skill in both avenues. The flexible work hours allowed me to balance my various commitments easier.
How much time did you allocate for this internship per week?
The hours varied based on the task at hand. On some days, no time was spent, while other days could involve several hours.
What was a biggest difference from regular internship?
The self-governed work hours and work-from-home nature of the internship made a huge difference to the experience of this internship. On top of that, we were given even more control (and therefore responsibility) because aside from the problem statement provided, the rest of the project was completely self-directed.
Any advices / messages for future interns?
Be brave and use this opportunity as a safe space to try out new ideas and learn new things! How much you get out of this internship solely depends on how much you choose to put in.
How this internship benefit you?
This internship was a great opportunity to delve deep into the generative AI space, and understand how AI tools can be commercialized. The process of understanding different stakeholder pain points and coming up with AI solutions to solve them definitely helped me to improve both my business acumen as well as business strategy skills.
How did you manage this long internship while studying?
Since I take a business degree and compete in case competitions, I used whatever I learned from both school and extracurricular activities to improve my working efficiency within this internship and vice versa. In addition to this, prioritizing different tasks from both school and the internship helped me to manage my time effectively.
How much time did you allocate for this internship per week?
I allocated about one hour per day, so it works out to around 7 hours per week.
What was a biggest difference from regular internship?
I think the way this internship is structured makes it a lot more flexible than a regular 9-5 internship. Being more project-based, the team was able to set our own guidelines and milestones in order to create the best possible solutions. The self-initiative involved definitely makes it more fulfilling than most regular internships.
Any advices / messages for future interns?
As mentioned above, initiative is a key driver for the kind of internship experience you’ll obtain. The exposure and learning opportunities are immense, all you need is to continuously hunger for more knowledge.
Excited for the 2025 Internship?
If you’re applying for 2025, be ready to adapt, collaborate, and think critically. No AI background? No problem—just show your eagerness to learn!