Across China, where education is notoriously ruthless, parents are turning to artificial intelligence to gain a competitive edge. Some create interactive educational games or use chatbots to correct their children’s homework. Others use AI-based gadgets to overcome language barriers – writes the New York Times.
Their eagerness to experiment is an example of how Chinese users are adopting artificial intelligence for learning, despite many in the United States fearing it fuels misinformation among students or erodes critical thinking. This cultural divide is supported by data: a 2025 global survey conducted by the service company KPMG found that over 90% of Chinese respondents felt optimistic about technology, compared to just over 50% in the United States.
The enthusiasm in China has fueled a sprawling, often unchecked market for educational technology, which some estimates value at over $43 billion, where gimmicks and exaggerated marketing are commonplace. Yet, for some families, these tools are providing real relief. Three parents shared videos of their routines, showing how artificial intelligence, though imperfect, has made raising and teaching their children a bit easier.
AI TRANSLATION MASK
A mother of two with a full-time public relations job, Zheng Wenqi had little time to practice English, let alone teach it to her children. She knew her 9-year-old son needed more conversation experience but didn’t know where to turn. Then she saw a live stream promoting a gadget she could wear to learn English. It consists of two parts: a mask that covers her mouth and a speaker hanging from her neck. Mrs. Zheng speaks Chinese into the mask, which also muffles her voice. Then, a translation comes out of the speaker. She started wearing it at home for 30-60 minutes a day.
According to the Shenzhen-based company, the device costs about $375 and is called Native Language Star, based on language and speech models developed by various Chinese tech companies. Although the translations were sometimes a bit stiff, after about a month, her son spoke more confidently and started conversations. Zheng also uses the device with her 5-year-old daughter, who had never learned English before. The girl can now describe daily activities, such as dressing and putting on shoes.
A CHATBOT WITH “EYES”
Li Linyun often argued with her ten-year-old daughter over homework. Now Li has delegated homework supervision to an AI-powered chatbot. “It’s an online teacher available 24/7, knowledgeable and extremely patient.” The AI chatbot used is Doubao, the most popular in China, created by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company. It features a camera function called Doubao’s “eyes.” People can use it to learn more about their surroundings, for example by asking Doubao to identify plants or provide more details about museum exhibits. (ChatGPT offers a similar feature for paying users; Doubao’s is free.) Doubao also explains grammar rules better than Li ever could.
The girl likes being able to ask for explanations to be repeated as many times as she wants, while teachers move on quickly. The chatbot identifies wrong answers and corrects them. The camera can also monitor posture, and despite doubts, Li is not worried about providing so many videos of her daughter to the chatbot. In the social media era, “we don’t really have much privacy anyway.” And the benefits have been more than satisfactory. She no longer has to spend hundreds of dollars a month on private lessons, and grades have improved. “This makes educational resources more equitable for ordinary people.”
CREATING LEARNING GAMES
Yin Xingyu uses AI-based chatbots like DeepSeek in her marketing work. She began wondering if the tool could also be useful for her 6-year-old daughter. Yin didn’t know how to program, so she turned to what is known as “vibecoding”: using AI models to create software by describing what you want in simple language. She collaborated with DeepSeek to create an interactive English word game for her daughter. The chatbot wrote the code for her. She now shares the prompts on social media so other parents can input them into their own chatbots and replicate the games.
Yin has experimented with other models as well. She used Google’s AI image generator, Nano Banana Pro, to create comics using her daughter’s Chinese vocabulary, starring her favorite movie characters like “Zootopia” and “Frozen.” Yin doesn’t believe her daughter will become dependent on AI because she designed the games to prioritize active thinking over passive stimulation. She plans to encourage her to use these tools even more as she grows, for example by using chatbots to brainstorm essay ideas. “This will most likely be the future, and I want her to get used to it from a young age.”
AI SELF-LEARNING CLASSROOMS
Not all efforts to use artificial intelligence in education have been successful. Some companies have launched products that critics say are more hype than real ventures. The so-called “AI-based self-learning classrooms,” for example, are advertised as physical spaces where students can learn via AI-equipped tablets that personalize learning plans according to individual needs. Costs range from a few dollars an hour to hundreds of dollars a month.
A 2024 state media report on this trend showed a classroom in Zhejiang province full of cubicles, where students sat silently in front of tablets that assessed the accuracy and speed of homework completion. But some parents and former employees complained that the AI was just a marketing facade for prerecorded lessons or other less advanced technologies, and that the tablets were just basic, off-the-shelf devices.
State media also accused some center operators of trying to circumvent the 2021 ban on for-profit tutoring, which was supposed to prevent children from having too much homework and families from overspending. Many tutoring services continued to operate clandestinely. (Study centers claimed the teaching was entrusted to AI, not tutors, so the ban did not apply.) According to media reports, many study rooms have already closed. The New York Times tried twice to visit one in Beijing, only to find it locked and empty, with posters still on the walls showing satisfied parent reviews.
(Excerpt from the foreign press review by eprcomunicazione)
