However, there is an important difference. Many educators in the West see it as a threat that AI must manage, but more Chinese classrooms treat it as a skill to master. In fact, as China's model Deepseek gains global popularity, people see it as a source of pride for the people. The conversations at Chinese universities gradually shifted from worrying about the impact on academic integrity to literacy, productivity and moving forward.
Cultural disparities are even more evident in public sentiment. A report on global AI attitudes from the Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute (HAI) at Stanford University found that China leads the world with enthusiasm. Approximately 80% of Chinese respondents said they were “excited” about the new AI service. This is compared to just 35% in the US and 38% in the UK.
“This attitude is not surprising,” says Fang Kecheng, a professor of communications at China University in Hong Kong. “China has a long tradition of believing in technology as a driving force for national progress, dating back to the 1980s, when Deng Xiaoping already said that science and technology are the main productive forces.”
From taboos to toolkits
Li Bingyu, one of the professors at the Chinese University of Politics and Law, says that AI can act as “instructors, brainstorming partners, secretaries and devil advocates.” She added a full session on AI guidelines to this year's lecture series after the university encouraged the “responsible and confident” use of AI.
Liu recommends that students use the generated AI to create literature reviews, draft summary, generate charts, and organize ideas. She created a slide that lays out detailed examples of good and bad prompts along with one core principle. AI cannot replace human judgment. “Only high quality input and smart prompts can lead to good results,” she says.
