China’s New AI Education Guidelines: Balancing Innovation and Ethical Use in Schools

Guideline to Regulate Use of Artificial Intelligence in Schools

China’s Ministry of Education has introduced new guidelines regulating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in primary and secondary schools. The 2025 edition emphasizes that primary school students are prohibited from independently using AI tools that generate open-ended content. Educators are required to ensure AI supports but does not replace human-led instruction.

Age-Appropriate Use of AI

The guidelines set clear boundaries based on students’ age groups:

• Primary school students: Not allowed to use AI content generators independently to prevent overreliance or misuse, such as letting AI complete assignments.
• Middle school students: Can explore the logical structure of AI-generated content to build critical thinking.
• High school students: Permitted to engage in inquiry-based learning that involves understanding AI’s technical principles and applying them.

Students must not submit AI-generated content as their original work or use AI to cheat. Critical thinking and creativity should remain central to their learning process.

Guidelines for Educators and School Administrators

Schools and educational authorities must develop localized AI management policies, including:

• Data protection rules to safeguard student information.
• Ethical review mechanisms for AI use.
• Dynamic “whitelists” of approved AI tools.

Teachers should ensure AI plays only a supplementary role in education. The direct use of AI for tasks such as student evaluations, exam answering, or handling sensitive data is strictly prohibited. Schools are encouraged to adopt differentiated AI strategies rather than a one-size-fits-all approach and to strengthen data security measures.

Role of Parents

The guideline also calls on parents to supervise their children’s AI use, protect their privacy, and prioritize emotional engagement over dependence on technology. This partnership between schools and families aims to maintain a balanced approach to AI in education.

Structured AI Education Across School Levels

The guideline proposes a tiered AI education system:

• Primary school: Foster interest and provide hands-on AI experiences.
• Middle school: Develop understanding of AI logic and problem-solving through theory and practice.
• High school: Apply AI knowledge in designing and optimizing models, encouraging interdisciplinary thinking.

This approach aligns AI learning with students’ cognitive development and prepares them for future innovation.

Examples of AI Enhancing Education

• Students: Personalized learning, interactive inquiry, improved reading comprehension, mental health support, and assistance for students with special needs.
• Teachers: Support in lesson planning, instruction, tutoring, and research through data analysis and content generation.
• Administrators: Use AI for document drafting, data processing, and decision-making to improve school management.

Investment and Support Plans

The Ministry plans to increase investment in AI education infrastructure, establish AI education bases, and offer teacher training programs to improve AI literacy. Special attention will be given to rural schools by promoting teacher exchanges and resource sharing to reduce the gap in AI education quality.

Parent Perspective

Yu Dongdong, a mother from Beijing, shared her experience restricting her sixth-grade son’s use of ByteDance’s AI language model, Doubao. She noticed his AI-assisted essays had advanced language and structure, which felt beyond his natural writing ability. To maintain his personal voice, she encourages him to write essays independently first, then compare them with AI versions to learn without losing his originality.

The new guidelines reflect a balanced, cautious approach to integrating AI in education—one that values human creativity and ethical use while embracing technological assistance.