Later this year, students in China’s capital will begin taking compulsory classes in artificial intelligence, according to a statement from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission.
Starting this fall, students, including elementary schoolers, will begin receiving a minimum of eight hours of AI tuition per academic year. Schools are given the option to either teach AI as a standalone course or integrate it into an existing curriculum, like science.
Artificial intelligence education will focus differently depending on the age. The subject is covered throughout China’s compulsory six years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and three years of high school.
Students in elementary school will have a more hands-on learning experience that will help them acclimate to the technology. Children in middle school, on the other hand, will learn how they can leverage AI in schoolwork and day-to-day activities. Lastly, high school students will focus on strengthening AI applications and innovation.
In North Texas, the debate over the appropriate use of artificial intelligence in education is yet to be settled. In 2023, The Dallas Express reported that Carroll ISD adopted a policy that sought to regulate the use of AI platforms like OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While the policy did not outright ban the use of the tech, it did prohibit students from using AI to plagiarize assignments.
Earlier this year, China made headlines after a small startup in the country surprised Silicon Valley by releasing a powerful low-cost AI model, illustrating that China was further ahead on AI than initially thought. DeepSeek’s open-source model, R1, shocked Wall Street and sent tech stocks tumbling over fears that it would disrupt the rapidly growing sector, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Just days before the company’s R1 model was unveiled, the White House announced a historic $500 billion private-backed AI investment. The investment is meant to boost U.S. domestic artificial intelligence infrastructure, with Texas set to host the project’s first phase.