THIS Chinese city, home of DeepSeek, has made Artificial Intelligence mandatory in schools

A city in China has made it mandatory to teach an artificial intelligence course at the primary and secondary school level, Global Times reported. This will ensure that basic knowledge about the growing technology taking over the world reaches the youngest at an early age. Hangzhou, where the AI company DeepSeek is located, will require the schools to introduce general AI education in schools starting from the new semester. The students will need to complete 10 class hours in an academic year. The education bureau of the city wants to prepare AI talent, keeping in mind future needs. For this, it has released a pair of documents which detail the curriculum plans and AI competency standards for teachers, along with the guidelines that need to be followed.

Also Read: ChatGPT crowned best AI chess player after final win — Check where Gemini, Grok ranked

There are different ways in which the schools can impart basic knowledge about AI to students. The mix bag includes the option to have an AI course that can be intensively taught in a week. The schools can also opt to add the AI course to subjects like information technology and science. This will offer flexibility to the schools, who will be free to incorporate the course whichever way suits them the best. Meanwhile, basic AI learning activities can be arranged during after-school programmes.

Also Read: AI has human rights? These advocacy groups think so, as sentient Artificial Intelligence can have ‘feelings’, 'suffer and grieve'

How AI curriculum will be spread through the grades in China

The education bureau guidelines on AI state that in the first and second grades, the curriculum would introduce students to AI applications and teach them to recognise them. They will also engage with AI devices and learn to use them to do basic things in their everyday life. In the third and fourth grades, students will learn to use AI for their school work, which would involve using the AI tools to gather text, images and audio resources. To show that they have grasped the concept of AI applications, students will prepare simple projects with the help of teachers. At each level, they will be taught about the responsible and ethical use of AI while keeping in mind the importance of protecting privacy.

In middle school, focus will be on data preparation, model training and learning the core principles behind algorithms. In high school, students will be encouraged to develop AI design skills through projects. Hangzhou is home to eight million people and a fast-growing innovation hub. DeepSeek put the city in the limelight earlier this year when it came out as a competitor to ChatGPT.