China is aggressively integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) education from a young age and investing heavily in AI development and robotics, viewing it as crucial for national rejuvenation, global technological leadership, and addressing demographic challenges, while also recognizing its potential in warfare and the strategic importance of AI chip development.
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[Music]
Al Jazer podcasts.
>> Today, as China's school year begins,
students as young as six will be
studying artificial intelligence.
>> It's a starting point for them to be
able to
be comfortable with the idea of
artificial intelligence from a really
young age.
>> What lessons does this experiment hold
for students? And what will it mean for
China's future as the global tech race
rages on? I'm Malikica Vilal and this is
The Take. [Music]
[Music]
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>> I'm Katrina U. I am the correspondent
for Alazer English in China, based in Beijing.
Beijing.
>> And you are talking to me very late in
Beijing right now. Indeed,
it is 11 p.m.
>> Well, Katrina, it is great to have you
on the take. This September, China is
doing something it hasn't done before.
Children as young as 6 years old will be
trained in artificial intelligence
literacy. So, it begs the question, what
does that look like in the classroom?
>> Right. Well, China is strongly
encouraging AI education for not just
six-year-olds, but as soon as you start
school to the end, a program of AI
literacy. Obviously, you just start, you
can't, you know, you're at school, you
can't read. And so, it's not really
about getting these kids to have a deep
knowledge of AI, but it's about sparking
their interest in AI. What does that
look like? I guess most likely bringing
them maybe to a robot convention,
showing them videos of robots, talking
to them about how they might be helpful
in their lives, in their families, in
their households, and in the country.
And the aim is that these six-year-olds
will one day grow up and be very good
users of AI.
>> That's the hope. Yeah.
>> Mhm. So six-year-olds will grow up and
totally know how artificial intelligence
works. But for the secondary schoolers,
middle schoolers, high schoolers, this
is about what ethics, right and wrong.
What do you think is happening there?
So we don't know what AI education is
going and AI is going to look like in
the next 10 years but
when you get into middle school now
you'll be able to use different
applications you know chat bots uh
different visual applications on the
phone you'll also be learning about the
ethics of AI you'll be learning about
privacy social responsibility issues
you'll be learning the basics about what
goes in the back end of AI and the
higher levels of high school that you
get, you'll learn about what goes into
actually making that. And I'm sure the
hope from the Chinese government's point
of view will be that some of these kids
will grow up and be AI engineers or
contribute to AI in some form or fashion.
fashion.
>> Okay. So, you talked about the potential
hope there. In April, China's President
Xiinping spoke about AI as a strategic technology.
technology.
General Secretary Xin Ping noted that
the party central committee attaches
great importance to the development of
AI. The CPC has improved the top level
design and strengthened implementation
efforts in recent years. Why do you
think there is such an emphasis on AI in China?
China?
Xiinping has made it his mission to
achieve this great rejuvenation of China
by the year 2049 which basically means
he wants China to be really advanced,
prosperous, he calls it modern socialist
society and Xiinping believes artificial
intelligence is crucial to getting to
that goal. Somehow whoever is able to
really use AI will be one of the most
powerful, most advanced, most
influential countries in the world. And
he believes that so strongly that he
doesn't want to leave it to market
forces. He genuinely believes that the
state is responsible for doing what it
can to get its country there. So that's
why we're seeing all this investment.
That's why we're seeing these education
mandates. Um, so that's one part of it.
I think the other part is that Xiinping
as a leader since he's come to power,
it's been really evident that he's kind
of obsessed with narratives. And
artificial intelligence, as we know, is
not just this objective entity that will
speak the truth or whatever that is. It
is imbued with the ideas, the
philosophies, the histories, the
ideologies of whoever creates it. And
we're seeing people go to chat dpt or
these chat bots for not just not using
it as Google as you for direction in
their life. They're having an influence
on people. So Xiinping
also is conscious of China as not just a
rival with Western countries when it
comes to the economic sphere,
geopolitical sphere, the military
sphere. It's also an old rivalry with
countries like the US when it comes to
ideas. And one of the things that
artificial intelligence does is it it
powers these large language models. So I
think China also wants to make sure that
it is in the AI game writing its own
LLMs and playing a part in contributing
to that world narrative. And that is
also part of the mission I think. Well,
you mentioned the rivalry there. In the
US, 250 CEOs, including the heads of
LinkedIn, Uber, Salesforce, signed an
open letter to lawmakers criticizing the
US for not doing something similar to
what we're seeing roll out in China. So,
you've talked about why this is so
important to China being the narrative.
But when I think of narrative, I'm
imagining a bunch of squirmy
six-year-olds. Instead of using crayons
to color, they are using AI to generate
things from their imagination, pictures
of their home and what they did that
day. There's no more coloring outside
the lines because AI has got it. Is
there conversation online in China about
what this will look like? Will it look
like that?
I think when we look at the guidelines
that the government released about this
strongly urging the AI uh a AI to be in
Chinese curriculum, they specifically
say that they don't want AI to be
thinking for the kids. They want them to
be able to use AI without those things.
But it's kind of difficult, right?
because you're teaching kids about how
useful this is, how great this is. But
no, no, don't don't you don't use it.
Just I'm just, you know, telling you an
app. This is a thing the rest of the
world will have to kind of figure out
like how are we going to teach our
children how to use AI without it
harming their ability to think for
themselves. And what I'm seeing from the
Chinese government especially is this
very conscious move to make sure that
that population kind of embrace AI that
they're not scared of it that they will
see it as a positive.
>> Well, Katrina, you have reported on how
the Chinese government is pouring
billions into not just AI development
but also into the creation of robotics
that can run that AI. And you got to see
this up close and personal at the World
Robotics Conference in Beijing. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah.
>> I've seen a video of you exploring this
conference and it's really quite
something to see. So tell us about what
you saw or should I say who you met.
>> Um 200 companies were presenting their
robots at this conference and the theme
was embodied intelligence. So, you know,
a lot of us, many of us may have
chatbots on our phone, but it's about
giving those chatbots a body, human or
animal or otherwise. And so, first of
what impressed me was the scale of this. [Music]
[Music]
>> They had fighting robots in a boxing
ring. They had robots that were playing
the drums, playing the piano, making
coffee, serving popcorn. They had
freakily human looking robots, you know,
with like the silicon skin that that is,
you know, with the hair, with the eye
movements. You know, in China, there are
hundreds of companies creating humanoid
robots to do all sorts of things. One of
the robots that impressed me was a robot
that has been designed by UB Tech and
their robots are being used in some
electric vehicle factories in China. And
they have now come up with a robot that
can change its own battery. Like it
literally takes a battery out of its
back while still having another battery.
It knows when its battery is low. It
replaces it and then it goes on working. So
So
>> incredible. There is now a worker, a
factory worker that doesn't rest,
doesn't sleep,
>> doesn't take breaks, doesn't eat,
doesn't complain, can work 247.
So that's like something I thought was
only in movies, but that's already
happening. Another thing that surprised
me is there were so many kids at this
thing and it was geared towards kids.
You know, the first time my
three-year-old saw a robot was in person
was at the mall. this like dog looking
robot. And the first thing my
three-year-old did was freak out because like
like
>> it's animal, but it's not quite an. But
the more you see it, the more you
interact with it, the more you get used
to it, the more um
interested you are and welcoming of this
kind of technology. Potentially that
humanoid robot could be walking their
dog and cooking their food at home. It
could be
>> not teaching them at school, but it
could be like the assistant teacher at
their school one day. Who knows?
>> As the technology increases, they can
become much more lifelike. So, it won't
feel like they're an anomaly, this
robotic thing that's like a human or
that's like an animal. You actually
spoke to one who's not quite there yet.
Tell me about that that exchange.
>> So, um I just wanted to have a
conversation. I said, "I'm Katrina
>> from Alazera."
And then I waited for a response maybe
five seconds. It was thinking, you know,
it was like thinking.
>> Nice to meet you too, Katrina. It's
great to connect with a journalist from Algeria.
Algeria.
>> It's great to meet a journalist from Algeria.
Algeria. >> So,
>> So,
not quite. I mean, and then I corrected
it and then it apologized to me. So,
that was nice. But the technology, who
knows, 5 years from now, that that could
have been a much smoother conversation.
and it was a warm tone. That's obviously
not the most advanced. I'm sure some
company in the back of their warehouse
has some secret project that's even more
advanced going on. And so there is so
much investment. I've covered so many AI
stories. For me, I feel like AI is
>> it's such a huge thing. And this analyst
I was talking to, she says, you know,
there is no other government that is so
enthusiastic as China in really making a
bet on AI. They are really hoping this
is going to pay off because if you look
at other governments, especially in the
West, they're actually kind of afraid
because they are are afraid of the
impact this is going to have on their
labor force. They're afraid of people
losing their jobs. And so they're
they're kind of just tentative, maybe
wait and see. in some cases even holding
back with AI. But China is going all in.
So one of the reasons for that is that
China is in the middle of a demographic
crisis, aging population. There is a
concern that the labor force that
powered its
breakneck economic growth that that era
could quickly end. And I think they're
also hoping that the solution to that
will be AI could be humanoid robots in
factories instead of the millions of
people who now power those industries.
We'll have more with Katrina after the break.
You know, Katrina, you and I um through
so much of this conversation are being
kind of jovial because so much of this
conversation feels very sci-fi and feels
fun and and light. There's also another
sector where AI is increasingly being
used and that has people nervous and
that is in warfare. So a big part of any
country's identity is its military and
we know that President Xi has also vowed
to have a worldclass military by 2050.
How does China talk about AI when it
comes to conflict? I think Xiinping has
made it very clear that AI is going to
play a crucial role in China's military,
not just tomorrow, but but today. We
just had in Beijing, the whole city shut
down for this massive military parade on
September the 3rd, which was marking the
end of World War II. The crowd of more
than 50,000 waved Chinese flags,
cheering as thousands of soldiers
marched in perfect unison. Several
hundred ground weapon systems on
display. over 100 aircraft,
>> lots of soldiers goostepping. It was a
spectacle and a lot of military
analysts. The messages that I got
afterwards were really remarking on not
only the advanced tanks, the advanced
jets, the advanced hypersonic missiles,
but so many different types of drones,
so many different types of unmanned um
ships, unmanned um submarine vehicles.
The phrase that I heard was that the
army of the future is the army of no man
and that the future of warfare could be
fought with all of these unmanned
vehicles. And one analyst I spoke to
said, "Well, if you remove the person
from a ship, then you don't need to
worry about defending the ship or arming
it in a certain way. It really just
changes the game. You have um you can
have all these vehicles. You can have
these have a swarm attack. AI will be
used in the way that a battlefield is
scanned in surveillance and
reconnaissance in early warning. It can
be used in training
I think is also begging the question of
other governments and I mean the kind of
investments they're making in their
military are they making the right
investments or should they also be
thinking about a war that can be fought
with all these unmanned technologies?
>> Yeah. Well, Katrina, at the same time,
there's also another battle. We touched
on this earlier, but I want to dive in a
little deeper here, and that is about
the battle for dominance in AI
specifically when it comes to the
technology that powers it. So, AI chips,
can you tell us a little bit about those?
those?
Well, not being engineer an engineer. I
think in simple terms,
AI requires a lot of computing power and
the US had control over the creation of
the best semiconductors. If you think of
companies like Nvidia for example at the
forefront of this kind of technology,
I think there was a recognition from the
previous US Biden administration that
maybe they shouldn't be sending their
best semiconductors to China because one
day they could be used at China's
arrival could be used against the US
militarily. And so they started
systematically restricting the access of
semiconductors to the Chinese market.
Now at the beginning that was quite
devastating for Chinese companies who
relied on this kind of technology.
But it has also spurred the Chinese government
government
to really be on a mission for self-reliance
self-reliance
to realize hey maybe we shouldn't be
relying on the US for something that is
so important to our mission and our
future. maybe we should create a
homegrown industry. And that is exactly
what China has done. And it's been slow,
painful, and expensive. But China now is
progressing in the creation of its own semiconductors.
semiconductors.
And I think you have the creation or the
founding of companies like Deepseek that
suddenly came on the global stage
seemingly out of nowhere earlier this
year. Deepseek caused those ripples in
the US because Deepseek is a Chinese
artificial intelligence company
>> and it has emerged as a real player in
the AI arms race. It's called Deep Seek
and investors and I would imagine
officials in Washington are stunned to
learn that Deep Seek's AI model has
developed technology that can actually
be competitive with Open AI and Google
and XAI and all these more established
players. and it freaked out the stock
market and the whole tech industry in
the United States because it really
challenged this narrative. So
>> China has now
>> got an industry that many experts would
acknowledge that yes it is still behind
the US but maybe it's not as far behind
as we thought and some nationalist
commentators on in China say actually
thank you to the US thank you to the
Biden administration for doing that
because that really lit a fire under the
bottom of policy makers in China and
they're not going to need to go to
anyone else for semiconductors to power
their AI dreams of the future.
>> AI dreams of the future. So Katrina,
before we go, you and I have a couple of
things in common and that is that we are
both elder millennials and we both have
young kids who are not quite school age
yet but will be soon. and your kids are
growing up in a world where AI will be
something they learn most likely in school.
school.
When you think of their future, do you
ever wonder how different it will be from
from
the upbringing that you had
>> all the time? I think it's already so
different. Technology is such a huge
part of our lives and I wonder
what kind of part it's going to play in
their future when they grow up, what
kind of jobs they're going to have. And
I think there's like two sides of the
coin. And my husband and I talk about
this all the time. He's kind of the
pessimistic, oh no,
of kind of not panicking, but a little
worried about what their future is going
to look like. I'm choosing to be optimistic.
optimistic.
I'm hoping that whatever world they grow
up with, a in with AI, that it's going
to free up their time to be more
creative, to be more expressive, that it
will celebrate the things that make them
human, that it might take away jobs.
sure that are process oriented,
that are repetitive,
but maybe the future will be a better
one. I don't know what it's like. It's
changing so quickly, but I can only
choose to be hopeful. >> And
>> And
I think that there's no point in trying
to shield them from it. I think AI will
be an inevitable part of their life. So,
as a parent, I think it's also my
prerogative to be on top of that and to
be curious and open and um resist the
elder millennial ways of not moving on
this and and see where it takes takes um
not just my kids, but all of us.
>> Yeah. Katrina, thank you for this
conversation and for letting us in on
what it's like in Beijing right now.
>> Thank you so much, Malikica. It's been a
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