AI News Monitor

Beijing wants to achieve AI dominance by advancing AI in the education system…

China is seeking to gain a lead in the AI arms race by rolling out AI in its education system. Chinese authorities believe that teaching students AI courses—in AI-powered classrooms—will “prepare them for the emerging technology era.”

China’s education minister called AI a “gold key”. The government is planning to make the country an “education power” by 2035.

Students in China’s elementary schools will focus on understanding AI, while those at the high school level will build skills that can be applied to AI projects. These include skills in areas such as programming and robotics. AI programming covers advanced topics such as machine learning and computer vision. Authorities expect students to be equipped with practical skills for real-world application right from high school.

China is also powering lessons with AI. Classrooms—including at elementary school—feature AI assistants that generate historical figures on screen. Students are able to converse with them, ask questions and receive replies, all through speech. With this, students can gain from “an immersive and interactive learning experience,” according to China’s chief news agency, Xinhua.

This comes at a time when AI has started to be incorporated into education in many parts of the world. Indeed, there are predictions that AI technology will completely transform the education sector by 2032. In Europe, countries like Estonia have launched AI in high schools, allowing teachers to incorporate it into lessons. In Africa, there have been projects using Microsoft’s Copilot to enhance education. Students were able to get personalized lessons that allowed them to outperform their peers. However, with China’s extensive AI focus in full swing, other countries may end up playing catch-up.

China’s AI education also extends to tertiary level. Last month, Chinese universities launched AI courses around DeepSeek models. The courses are expected to teach students key points about the technology. DeepSeek is the Chinese AI model that was built to match the most powerful in the US, but at only a fraction of the cost. Some analysts believe that China’s development of DeepSeek signaled that it has caught up with the US in the AI arms race. With Beijing now seeking to empower its future workforce from an early stage, US leaders will rightly be wary of losing further ground.