China has announced formal plans to integrate artificial intelligence into all levels of school education, aligning its education system with President Xi Jinping’s campaign to dominate advanced technology.
The State Council on June 29 released a five-year blueprint that includes plans to make AI a core competency for all students, echoing President Xi’s earlier call to develop high-tech talent as the world’s second-largest economy seeks new drivers of growth.
The plan encourages efforts to “advance artificial intelligence education across all levels of education to improve students’ AI literacy and their ability to identify and solve problems.” China’s de facto cabinet called on local authorities to implement the policy.
The push for AI is part of a broader effort by the government to gain an edge in cutting-edge technology. The Chinese government is particularly keen to develop homegrown winners to counter the West’s tightening export controls on advanced hardware.
Policymakers are trying to balance AI adoption with productivity gains and job security amid a fragile labor market and rising youth unemployment. The Ministry of Education previously asked universities to provide AI training to students to help them find jobs.
In several recent cases, Chinese courts have ruled that companies can’t fire employees just to replace them with AI systems, underscoring Beijing’s desire to protect jobs even as it seeks to compete with the United States. – Bloomberg
