AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
In China, as in the U.S., many people are wary of an AI-dominated future. But for some kids, learning to use artificial intelligence is no longer an option. It's mandatory, as NPR's John Ruwitch reports from Beijing.
(SOUNDBITE OF ROBOT WHIRRING)
JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: Eleven-year-old Li Zichen shows off a small robot, a wheeled vehicle that he programs with AI and that can lift and move objects. It's a small project, but he's thinking big - about the rovers that China sent to Mars and the moon.
LI ZICHEN: (Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: He says the signal delay from Earth makes real-time human control impractical. Rovers need to make choices on their own, which he says is why AI plays a crucial role in China's deep space exploration. For his classmate, Song Haoyue, artificial intelligence has been a paintbrush.
SONG HAOYUE: (Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: She explains how she used AI in a graphic design competition, creating a poster about a mythical bird that tries to fill in the ocean one pebble at a time. It's a parable about perseverance. For these Chinese fifth-graders, AI is a tool that can be inspiring and fun and creative. But the adults in the room have a much more specific agenda.
WANG LE: (Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: Wang Le is their teacher at an elementary school in Beijing's university district. As of this school year, she explains, the Ministry of Education has put in place a new framework.
WANG: (Through interpreter) They require integrating AI courses into the information technology curriculum.
RUWITCH: In other words, AI is now officially part of the primary and secondary school curriculum in Beijing and several other places. Third-graders learn the basics of AI. Fourth-graders focus on data and coding. By fifth grade, students are learning about intelligent agents and algorithms. It's about preparing kids for the future, she says. And another thing.
WANG: (Through interpreter) It's about enhancing the country's competitiveness by securing a future pool of skilled professionals.
(Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: Build a strong nation through science and technology, she says. It's a political slogan that encapsulates perhaps the ruling Communist Party's biggest dream. And AI has been labeled essential for national security and economic competitiveness. The government aims for China to become a global leader in AI within the next four years.
(CROSSTALK)
RUWITCH: But while the state's main goal with the AI-in-schools policy is developing a pool of talent, parents here, like all parents, are thinking about their children's future.
(SOUNDBITE OF FOOTSTEPS ON STAIRS)
ZICHEN: (Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: In a tiny sixth-floor walk-up apartment, I meet Li Yutian, the father of the boy who's into robotics. He tells me he recently took his son to a Xiaomi factory. Xiaomi makes some of China's best-selling cellphones, gadgets and cars. And they talked on the way home.
LI YUTIAN: (Through interpreter) And actually, I said in the future, if you want mechanical-type work, you might, for example, do things like maintenance on robots or program them and guide them rather than competing with them.
RUWITCH: He told Zichen he'd need to find work that AI cannot do and differentiate himself to survive. In China, there is debate about some of the same issues Americans are grappling with - things like overreliance on AI or kids having stunted problem-solving skills. Zichen's father thinks China's internet restrictions will help stave off some of the worst risks of AI, like kids getting exposed to violent content. But sheltering kids from this technology is not the way to go.
LI: (Through interpreter) I've always believed that not embracing it may be the greatest risk of all.
RUWITCH: Song Zefeng, the father of the girl who made the poster with AI, agrees for the most part.
SONG ZEFENG: (Through interpreter) It depends on the level. For fifth and sixth grades at elementary school level, overexposure is not appropriate.
RUWITCH: He says 11-year-olds just should not be online much anyway. But Song thinks having AI be a part of the curriculum is a smart move.
SONG: (Speaking Mandarin).
RUWITCH: It's unclear how AI will change society, he says, but it is clear that it will. And if his daughter can be inspired by what she's learning in class, maybe she'll be in a better position to weather the coming change.
John Ruwitch, NPR News, Beijing.
(SOUNDBITE OF UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA'S "SHIN RAMYUN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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