After gaokao, experts warn against overreliance on AI for university applications
Chinese education experts have warned that overreliance on AI bots and tools could lead students to make ill-informed university choices and contribute to a surge in similar applications.
Students leaving a Gaokao venue in Shenzhen, China on Jun 9, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Lan Yu)
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BEIJING: As millions of students, and parents, across China anxiously await the results of this year’s gaokao, or national college entrance examination, experts are cautioning against the widespread use of AI tools for university applications, warning that they may not provide the most accurate or up-to-date information on courses and programmes.
“Blindly believing in AI tools” can often result in errors, said Xu Qicheng, a senior high school teacher in Anhui Province, speaking on a China National Radio programme this week.
“Even majors that were popular in the past two years have seen changes, and there are also newly added majors,” said Xu, who has assisted students with their university applications for years.
Data may also be outdated, he added – as many universities have expanded or reduced enrolment quotas for certain majors in 2026.
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He also said that the widespread use of AI tools could result in students with similar scores receiving largely identical recommendations.
“This could lead to a clustering of applications,” Xu said. “If too many students follow the same recommendations and apply for the same programmes, it may become easier for their applications to be rejected.”
Other education experts and teachers encouraged parents to use “official and legitimate channels” instead – as well as free advisory platforms launched by various provincial education authorities.
The gaokao is China’s highly-competitive annual university admission test.
Held every June, the high-stakes exam is widely considered one of the toughest and most consequential academic exams in the world.
Nearly 13 million students registered for this year’s exams, according to the official education ministry figures. Results will be released from Wednesday (Jun 24) and will determine candidates’ chances at universities.
After receiving their results, students will need to submit their university application, indicating their preferred institutions and courses. Competition for university places has fuelled a boom in AI advisory services.
Li Qing, admissions director of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, said AI would not be able to “accurately assess the weight” of a student’s university application.
“If you were to dump everything into AI, it may not be able to accurately assess the weight of (the student’s) interest, but rather only provide a general reference,” he told Chengdu Business Daily.
“The real decision-making ultimately rests on humans, and AI simply cannot make that judgement for us,” Li said.
Chen Zhiwen, an expert advisory committee member from the Ministry of Education, said many parents and children are “unwilling to think critically” – overly relying on AI bots and tools when making important decisions about choosing courses and universities.
“We should be telling our children that no one else would understand them better than themselves,” Chen told Chengdu Business Daily newspaper. “We should first discuss (choices) with our children, and let them make the decisions themselves.”
Popular Chinese bots and models like DeepSeek and ByteDance-owned Doubao are being increasingly used to generate personalised admission plans.
Users simply have to indicate which cities and provinces they are from, along with their gaokao scores and subject combination taken during the examinations. The AI assistant will then generate a breakdown of different colleges and universities, as well as majors, they could apply for.
AI TOOLS STILL POPULAR IN CHINESE UNI APPLICATIONS
Many students still rely on AI tools and often turn to their peers online for suggestions and recommendations about the best prompts to use when planning their university applications.
On popular social media platforms like Xiaohongshu, AI bloggers and influencers also actively share tips and suggested prompts that students can use when applying to universities.
“I feel that using AI is more than sufficient,” said a Xiaohongshu user with the handle Wish Mama, adding that she would be using AI in her university application forms.
But others have heeded warnings and cautioned against relying too much on AI when applying for university.
“AI tools are prone to spouting nonsense,” said one Xiaohongshu user Qingtian – who acknowledged that while AI has made things more convenient, the university application process is still tedious and requires a human to fill out and verify information.
Another user, Guo Zili, expressed disbelief about those relying on AI tools for their university applications.
“AI is simply a search tool – you enter your scores and it spits out a list of universities for you,” he said.
“But if you were to simply copy and paste your choices mindlessly, you will fail to get into any of the schools on your list.”
Source: CNA/lk(ht)
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