In the wave of artificial intelligence, what is education?
At the National Two Sessions in 2025, General Secretary Xi Jinping saw a dialectical and far-reaching view: "Now, on the one hand, with the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence, the tools and methods of education will change, and the training of students' abilities will change. These reforms need to keep pace with the times. On the other hand, we cannot relax the cultivation of students' intellectual enlightenment, spiritual cultivation, and basic cognitive abilities and problem-solving abilities. Basic skills must be acquired."
The words are full of the wisdom of "making new things according to the situation" and the determination of "not throwing away the most basic things".
Every time technology knocks on the door, it expands the boundaries of education. Once upon a time, under the apricot altar, teachers held books, disciples were taught, and truths were passed on orally; now, the Internet has broken the boundaries of time and space, and the vision of "allowing hundreds of millions of children to share high-quality education under the blue sky" has gradually become a reality.
Observe the situation and take advantage of it.
"Reform and innovation are the spirit of the times, and young people are the most active group. The construction of ideological and political courses must be dynamic from reform and innovation." General Secretary Xi Jinping spoke thoroughly at the school's ideological and political theory course teachers' symposium, and pointed out that "the use of modern information technology and other means to build smart classrooms" "deserves recognition and encouragement."
At the 2024 National Education Conference, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "exploring digital empowerment to teach students in accordance with their aptitude on a large scale" and "focusing on the use of artificial intelligence to help education reform."
At Beijing Institute of Technology, ideological and political education has a strong sense of science and technology. With the help of the smart ideological and political language model independently developed by the school, students can talk to digital people of historical figures and "travel" to the Yan'an Academy of Natural Sciences, the predecessor of Beijing Institute of Technology, to learn about the school's struggle story.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University digs deep into the spiritual resources of scientists, uses technologies such as generative artificial intelligence to generate digital human images of ancestors such as Qian Xuesen and Zou Taofen, and produces digital documentaries and special videos. At the same time, it creates exclusive digital human anchors and launches a series of ideological and political live broadcasts, transforming stories of patriotism and serving the country into digital ideological and political products that can be viewed and disseminated, so that the spirit of scientists can be felt and touched in the digital age.
Today, our country has built the world's largest and high-quality education resource center and introduced a series of education digital standards and specifications... The overall level of my country's education digitalization ranks sixth in the world.
"Insisting on cultivating people with moral integrity as the fundamental task", the educational conditions of ideological and political education have undergone tremendous changes, but its fundamental goal is still the all-round development of people.
The "Guidelines for the Application of Generative Artificial Intelligence for Teachers (First Edition)" clearly delineates the behavioral boundaries of artificial intelligence-empowered education and teaching, and clarifies the dominant position of teachers in key education links such as value guidance, moral education, emotional cultivation, and psychological support.
Education that touches the soul is the most successful education. At the school's ideological and political theory teachers' symposium, General Secretary Xi Jinping fondly recalled that when he was in junior high school, a political teacher choked up several times while explaining Jiao Yulu's deeds, which shocked the students. "This lesson left a deep mark on my life and had a very important influence on me establishing firm ideals and beliefs."
Making good use of technology is to make the truth more clear, to send resources farther, and to have closer conversations. However, the essential requirement of "teaching the truth deeply, thoroughly, and vividly" cannot be forgotten, and the original intention of building souls and educating people, enlightening wisdom and nourishing hearts cannot be lost. Only by adhering to the essence of educating people can we truly improve the pertinence and effectiveness of ideological and political courses, enhance the ability of online education, and allow the innovative and creative vitality of "digital natives" to eventually merge into the development of the times.
Source: China Internet Information Magazine
