Chinese parents turn to AI tutors to ease homework stress

Millions of parents in China are using AI chatbots to tutor their children, citing convenience, cost savings, and reduced conflict during homework. Among the most popular tools is Dola, developed by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.

According to QuestMobile, about 172 million people in China use Dola to monitor or support their children’s studies.

From Lu Qijun’s mother’s perspective, she leaves her cell phone on her child’s desk and switches on Dola, which observes her child’s posture, concentration, and attention level. As for her child, it helps since it enables her mother to do different tasks at once while making sure that her child stays on track.

With China’s slowing economic growth, private tutoring can no longer be afforded by some families in the middle class. University teacher Wu Ling uses an AI learning tablet provided by iFlytek for learning Chinese, English, and math problems for her son. Even though the tablet costs more than $1,500, she says it saves her more compared to hiring tutors.

Likewise, parents such as Tong Mingbo utilise ByteDance’s Doubao robot to tell stories or calm children, thus providing parents with a moment to rest. 

In a setting where parents are supposed to always be involved in their children’s academic life even after school hours, AI teachers come as a respite from the tension of supervising homework and extra-class activities.

Meanwhile, the child development experts say its over-reliance may deprive the children of essential challenges for cognitive growth and social skills. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University's Dr Qi Jing expressed that kids need to struggle or face conflicts for the development of problem-solving abilities, whereas Jeannie Paterson of the University of Melbourne said AI can never replace parents in child upbringing and offering emotional guidance to them.

In cases like that of Qijun, AI is still a supporting tool and not a replacement for the parents. She confines the use of the app to busy periods, reserving her guiding role for her child's learning.