China News Service, Beijing, November 7 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The China Popular Science Writers Association released the top ten popular science words in 2026 on November 7. Artificial intelligence (AI) related occupied seven seats, including "artificial intelligence +", "human-machine collaboration", "brain-computer interface", "intelligent body", "humanoid robot", "word element" and "embodied intelligence". The other three popular science words are "scientific toys", "tech ethics" and "health management".
The selection of the top ten popular science words in 2026 relies on statistical analysis on big data platforms such as the National Language Resource Monitoring Corpus, combined with scientific and technological development trends, popular science creation practices and public concerns, and is finally determined after discussion by an expert group. The selected hot words not only reflect the cutting-edge trends of scientific and technological innovation, but also reflect the close connection between scientific and technological development and public life, providing a reference for the public to understand scientific and technological progress and for popular science creators to grasp the direction of topic selection.
"Artificial Intelligence +" takes artificial intelligence as the core driving force, promotes the extensive and deep integration and development of artificial intelligence with various industries and fields of the economy and society, and promotes innovation in production methods, service models and lifestyles.
"Scientific toys" are designed based on scientific and technological principles, integrate scientific and technological knowledge, principles or methods into the play experience, and guide users to understand relevant scientific knowledge, principles or methods through one or more methods such as play, observation, experiment, measurement, construction, etc., and are toy products that have both entertainment and scientific and technological educational attributes.
"Human-machine collaboration" refers to the way humans and intelligent systems work together to complete tasks through division of labor, interactive feedback, and complementary advantages. Humans take advantage of goal setting, situation understanding, value judgment and creative thinking, while intelligent systems provide support such as information processing, content generation and automated execution. The synergistic effect depends on task allocation, process supervision and result verification.
"Brain-computer interface" establishes a direct information channel between the brain and external devices, and realizes the conversion and interaction of brain activity information and machine instructions. As a cutting-edge field of intersection between life sciences and information science, brain-computer interface brings new possibilities for functional assistance and rehabilitation. Its actual capabilities and applicable conditions still need to be continuously verified, and brain data privacy protection and application ethical boundaries also need to be further clarified.
An “intelligent agent” is an intelligent system that can perceive its environment and use tools to take action to achieve specific goals.
"Humanoid robot" is a type of robot that is as close as possible to humans in appearance, structure and movement and can imitate human behavior. It usually has a body structure such as torso and limbs similar to humans.
"Technology ethics" refers to the values and behavioral norms that should be followed when dealing with the relationships between people, people and society, and people and nature in scientific and technological activities. It is an important guarantee for promoting the healthy development of scientific and technological undertakings and promoting scientific and technological progress to benefit society. It runs through the entire process of scientific research, technology research and development, and application of results, emphasizing improving human welfare, respecting the right to life, adhering to fairness and justice, reasonably controlling risks, maintaining openness and transparency, and preventing harm caused by technology abuse.
"Health management" is guided by the modern health concept and the traditional Chinese medicine idea of "treating the disease before it becomes a disease", and is a medical service process that comprehensively detects, evaluates, intervenes and continuously tracks the health status and risk factors of individuals or groups. It emphasizes prevention first and covers the whole life cycle. It maintains and improves health through lifestyle intervention based on reasonable diet, scientific exercise, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, and management of chronic disease risk factors.
"Token" is the basic unit for large models to process and generate information. In March 2026, the National Scientific and Technical Terms Approval Committee gave priority to recommending "Ciyuan" as the Chinese name of English "token" in the field of artificial intelligence, and released it to the whole society for trial use.
"Embodied intelligence" is integrated into the physical system and is an artificial intelligence system that can autonomously perceive the physical world, dynamically adapt to environmental changes, complete physical tasks, and continuously iterate itself. Robots are important carriers of embodied intelligence, but embodied intelligence is not limited to humanoid structures.
It is reported that the top ten popular science words in 2026 are selected and released for the second time by the China Popular Science Writers Association after 2025. They aim to promote the scientific interpretation of scientific and technological hot spots, guide creators to actively respond to public concerns, and bring more accurate, popular, and valuable science content to the public.
