Anxious Chinese students are trusting AI to help pick colleges and majors

Rest of World · 1 month ago · 38

Chinese students are increasingly using AI chatbots from Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu to help select universities and majors after taking the high-stakes gaokao entrance exam. Alibaba's Qwen generated 23 million college recommendation reports by July 8, while Tencent's Yuanbao answered 200 million college-related inquiries by July 10. However, experts warn the tools may contain outdated data, omit strong options, or steer similar-scoring students toward identical programs, potentially causing students to miss enrollment rounds entirely.