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Cited by 593Artificial Intelligence in EducationGlobal Educational Policies and ReformsDigital Education and Society

Artificial intelligence and education in China

Open access
Knox, Jeremy·2020·Learning, Media and Technology
DOI 10.1080/17439884.2020.1754236
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Abstract

This paper examines the political economy of artificial intelligence (AI) and education in China, through an analysis of government policy and private sector enterprise. While media and policy discourse often portray China’s AI development in terms of a unified national strategy, and a burgeoning geopolitical contestation for future global dominance, this analysis will suggest a more nuanced internal complexity, involving differing regional networks and international corporate activity. The first section considers two key policy documents published by the central Chinese government, which are shown to implicate educational institutions as influential actors in national and regional strategies for AI development, with a significant role in plans to train domestic expertise. The second section outlines three prominent private education companies: New Oriental Group, Tomorrow Advancing Life (TAL), and Squirrel AI. These companies are selected to represent important aspects of China’s development of educational AI applications, including the influence of a well-established private education sector, and a growing interest in international corporate activity. The paper concludes with the suggestion that while central government policy reserves a significant role for education in the national AI strategy, the private sector is utilising favourable political conditions to rapidly develop educational applications and markets.

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  • When it comes to higher education, Chinese reports often emphasize the government's leading role in AI governance, highlighting the deep cooperation between universities and industry, and the teaching reform and scientific research innovation brought about by the application of technology.

    “When it comes to higher education, reports often emphasize the government's leading role in AI governance, highlighting the deep cooperation between universities and industry, and the teaching reform and scientific research innovation brought about by the application of technology (Knox, 2020).”

    From A Comparative Analysis of AI Privacy Concerns in Higher Education: News Coverage in China and Western Countries (2025) · cites this paper as Knox, 2020

    The AI Policy in China section describes government-led plans for university AI research, teaching reform, and industry engagement. It presents teaching reform and research innovation largely as policy aims, however, and does not establish that reports often emphasize deep university–industry cooperation or that the reforms have already resulted from applying AI. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • China's secondary schools are starting to experiment with the teaching of AI in response to government policy.

    “In other words, China's secondary schools are starting to experiment with the teaching of AI in response to government policy [3].”

    From An Extended Theory of Planned Behavior for the Modelling of Chinese Secondary School Students’ Intention to Learn Artificial Intelligence (2020) · cites this paper as [3]

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. [41]41. Squirrel AI Learning. 2019. Squirrel AI Learning Attended IEEE ICDM 2018 to Show the Charm of AI + Education. Cision PR Newswire. Accessed July 11 2019. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/squirrel-ai-learning-attended-ieee-icdm-2018-to- show-the-charm-of-ai-education-300776050.html
  2. [46]46. Wang, J. 2018. The Early History of Artificial Intelligence in China (1950s -1980s). Paper presented in the Graduate Student Workshop at 2018 Annual Meeting of the Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), St. Louis, MO. Accessed September 15 2019. http://wangjieshu.com/2018/10/17/history_of_ai_in_china/
  3. [53]53. Zhang, X., J. Li, X. Zhang, J. Fu, and D. Wang. 2018. "Construction of a geopolitical environment simulation and prediction platform coupling multi-source geopolitical environment factors" Science & Technology Review 36 (3): 55-61.

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Authors
Knox, J.
Affiliations
University of Edinburgh (GB)
Corresponding author
Knox, Jeremy
ORCID
Knox, Jeremy
Venue
Learning, Media and Technology
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2020-04-16
Volume
45
Issue
3
Pages
298-311
ISSN
  • 1743-9884 (ISSN-L)
  • 1743-9892
DOI
10.1080/17439884.2020.1754236
OpenAlex
W3017157646
Cited by
489
References
16
Citations by year
2026: 140 · 2025: 126 · 2024: 96 · 2023: 59 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 9
FWCI
29.88
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Learning Media and Technology (publishedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Artificial Intelligence in Education
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Global Educational Policies and Reforms
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Digital Education and Society
Keywords
artificial intelligence in education, China, political economy of AI, AI policy, educational technology, state-private sector relations

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