In the era of human-AI symbiosis, how can college students dance with AI?
Keywords: AI+education; college students; AI literacy; human-AI collaboration; higher education reform
In April 2026, the Ministry of Education and five other departments issued the "AI+Education" Action Plan, for the first time incorporating artificial intelligence into teacher qualification examinations and certification content, and proposing to form a deep integration pattern of AI and education by 2030. This plan marks the "AI+Education" stage from encouraging exploration to systematic advancement. To understand the use of AI among college students, Guangming Daily journalists, in collaboration with the research team from the School of Journalism and Communication at Minzu University of China, conducted a survey of 1,953 undergraduates from more than 400 universities nationwide through a combination of questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews, systematically sorting out the current status of AI application among college students and the challenges they face, and proposing relevant suggestions on this basis.
The Rising Tide: AI Becomes College Students' "All-Round Partner"
Survey data shows that the usage rate of AI tools among college students has reached 99.18%, with only 0.82% of respondents saying they have never used AI tools. From organizing knowledge frameworks to understanding difficult concepts, from planning trips and making budgets to assisting in resume preparation and interview training... AI has deeply entered all aspects of contemporary college students' learning, practice, and even life planning.
From "Passive Q&A" to "Personalized Assistance". The survey shows that 68.46% of students choose to use AI "when needed" and 18.17% say they use it "at any time". In terms of usage scenarios, text generation and image generation are the most popular choices. More notably, AI to some extent compensates for the gaps in standardized teaching, with over 85% of students agreeing with the learning method of "obtaining explanations from shallow to deep through continuous questioning," with an average score of 4.06 out of 5. Immediate response, personalization, and zero-pressure interaction make deep learning outside the classroom possible.
From "Handling Daily Tasks" to "Intelligent Management". Beyond academics, 46.72% of students use AI to plan trips and make budgets, and 42.69% use it to assist in resume preparation and interview preparation. When encountering problems, 24.42% of students would first turn to AI for help, a percentage close to the 24.94% who would turn to friends. 72.95% of students view AI as a "tool," while 9.14%, 8.21%, and 6.56% see it as an "assistant," "advisor," and "friend" respectively. The breadth and depth of AI participation in student decision-making are increasing.
From "One-Way Consumption" to "Interactive Generation". 38.41% of students use AI to create content or chat to relieve stress, and 19.93% turn to AI for relief when under academic pressure or having interpersonal confusion. Although AI cannot replace the warmth of real human relationships, it becomes a non-judgmental, always-available "friend" at certain moments. The survey shows that the average score for college students' willingness to use AI tools is 4.06, with the highest agreement being viewing AI as a "future essential skill," with an average score of 4.21, and nearly 90% of students expressing approval.
The Surging Tide: Challenges Facing Higher Education in the AI Era
Course content needs to better match industrial iteration. An accounting major student bluntly said: "The class is still teaching advanced Excel usage, but now many accounting firms' junior audit work has long been replaced by AI. What we really need to learn is how to design and supervise these AI audit systems." Although 99.18% of students are using AI, less than 30% say their schools provide systematic AI-related courses. Over 60% of students are confused about the "reasonable boundaries of AI use" and hope schools provide clear, actionable guidance. This contrast of "high demand, low supply" forces students to figure it out on their own.
Teaching methods need to be more synchronized with technological development. When the function of knowledge transmission is efficiently replaced by AI, where is the irreplaceable value of classroom teaching? The survey shows that over 60% of respondents believe that current teaching methods fail to cultivate students' abilities suitable for the AI era. The classrooms students expect are no longer one-way indoctrination, but arenas for critical thinking.
The teacher role needs to better match student expectations. The teachers students long for are "guides" who can provide experience, insight, and academic taste, and "mentors" who can offer emotional connection and value guidance. As one student put it: "I can ask AI for knowledge anytime. But the teacher I need is his experience, his insight, his academic taste. This 'guidance' is something AI cannot provide." This kind of judgment based on experience and empathy is precisely what artificial intelligence finds hard to achieve.
Riding the Waves: Optimizing Talent Cultivation in the Era of Human-AI Symbiosis
Solving the "fragmentation" problem with top-level design. The National Smart Education Platform has launched the "AI Testing Ground," bringing together 14 AI intelligent tools, and AI literacy training conducted by the Ministry of Education has covered 500,000 teachers and students in over 2,000 universities nationwide. Universities should seize this window period: first, establish a university-level "AI Education Development Committee" to coordinate AI curriculum construction, teacher training, and ethical standards formulation; second, explore incorporating AI literacy into teacher title evaluation and teaching assessment indicators; third, establish "AI+X" interdisciplinary projects to encourage cross-college joint course offerings.
Responding to "value anxiety" with classroom reform. When AI can answer knowledge questions in seconds, the value of classroom teaching should shift to "training thinking." Specifically, it is necessary to build a "general education + major" AI curriculum system, shifting the focus from one-way teacher output to problem-oriented inquiry-based learning. Universities like Fudan have already achieved AI course coverage for all students, Zhejiang University launched the "STEP Teacher AI Literacy Enhancement Plan" in 2025, Xi'an Jiaotong University created the "AI Pioneer Program," and Beijing Institute of Technology is piloting the full integration of AI agents into teaching in graduate courses. These practices show that the deep integration of AI and education is moving from concept to action.
Cultivating "AI masters" through capability enhancement. The survey shows that nearly 70% of students worry that over-reliance on AI will lead to "losing the ability to conduct in-depth research, critical thinking, and independently propose original ideas." To alleviate this anxiety, education must take critical AI literacy as an important educational goal. What students need to learn is not just "how to use AI," but more importantly "how to use AI critically"—how to ask high-quality questions, how to recognize the limitations of AI-generated content, and how to integrate, reconstruct, and form original insights from AI information. Reform of the evaluation system is equally crucial, with more use of open-ended questions, research reports, oral defenses, and other forms, shifting the assessment focus from "results" to "process and quality of thinking."
Guarding "human value" with ethical norms. The survey shows that over 60% of students expressed concerns about the social and ethical risks of artificial intelligence, most notably the perception of the "information cocoon" effect (average score 3.82), followed by concerns about "large-scale collection and use of personal data" (average score 3.73). Many students call on schools to establish clear AI usage guidelines rather than simply prohibiting them. This "AI-Assisted Learning and Research Ethics Guide" needs to be jointly developed by teachers and students, clarifying the permitted scope of AI use in different types of learning tasks. The purpose of education is not only to teach students how to "use" technology, but more importantly to guide them on how to "use well" technology, maintaining human subjectivity and value dignity in the intelligent era.
The tide of human-AI symbiosis has arrived, and how higher education responds will determine the position of the younger generation in the future intelligent society. When AI becomes an "all-round partner," the mission of education becomes clearer: to cultivate a new generation that can master AI, think critically, and uphold values. This is not only an educational proposition, but a fundamental issue concerning the inheritance and innovation of human civilization.
