Nonetheless, there’s a vital difference. While many educators within the West see AI as a threat they must manage, more Chinese classrooms are treating it as a skill to be mastered. In truth, because the Chinese-developed model DeepSeek gains in popularity globally, people increasingly see it as a source of national pride. Theconversation in Chinese universities has progressively shifted from worrying in regards to the implications for educational integrity to encouraging literacy, productivity, and staying ahead.
The cultural divide is much more apparent in public sentiment. A report on global AI attitudes from Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) found that China leads the world in enthusiasm. About 80% of Chinese respondents said they were “excited” about latest AI services—compared with just 35% within the US and 38% within the UK.
“This attitude isn’t surprising,” says Fang Kecheng, a professor in communications on the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “There’s a protracted tradition in China of believing in technology as a driver of national progress, tracing back to the Eighties, when Deng Xiaoping was already saying that science and technology are primary productive forces.”
From taboo to toolkit
Liu Bingyu, considered one of He’s professors on the China University of Political Science and Law, says AI can act as “instructor, brainstorm partner, secretary, and devil’s advocate.” She added a full session on AI guidelines to her lecture series this 12 months, after the university encouraged “responsible and assured” use of AI.
Liu recommends that students use generative AI to put in writing literature reviews, draft abstracts, generate charts, and organize thoughts. She’s created slides that lay out detailed examples of excellent and bad prompts, together with one core principle: AI can’t replace human judgment. “Only high-quality input and smart prompting can result in good results,” she says.
