【明報專訊】THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) REVOLUTION is permeating every facet of daily life at astonishing speed, rendering it an urgent educational imperative to prepare the next generation for the AI era. China's Ministry of Education has set an ambitious target: to make AI education a staple across primary and secondary schools within six years. The Hong Kong SAR government would do well to partner with universities and leading figures in the AI sector, establishing an expert panel alongside key education stakeholders. Such a body could steer the gradual integration of AI into everyday classroom learning, while giving due emphasis to the ethical dimensions of its application, ensuring that the next generation acquires the necessary "AI literacy".
Professor Zhang Xiang, President of the University of Hong Kong, has often likened the development of artificial intelligence to an "AI tsunami". In a recent interview with this newspaper, he remarked that the wave is advancing even faster than anticipated, already reshaping the way universities teach, conduct research, and manage operations. He rightly observes that just as universities must adapt to this new reality, so too must schools, especially given that early exposure tends to facilitate more intuitive learning.
The Ministry of Education's push for educational reform, with its goal of embedding AI education across the school system by 2030, reflects a broader societal demand: not for rote-learning "answer machines", but for innovative, AI-literate individuals. Hong Kong, for its part, needs to review its existing curriculum and chart a course for integrating AI across its primary and secondary education systems.
The aim of popularising AI education is not to produce a generation of AI experts, but to equip students with the foundational literacy needed to understand and engage with the technology. Students must also learn to critically assess AI, including recognising algorithmic bias, understanding the risks posed by deepfakes, verifying the accuracy of AI-generated content, and addressing the ethical and legal challenges brought by AI. Realising this vision will require a substantial overhaul of the curriculum, backed by massive investment in both infrastructure and teacher training, and underpinned by a comprehensive, system-wide strategy.
Many passionate people are promoting AI education. Professor Zhang has expressed the University of Hong Kong's willingness to support AI education in schools. Meanwhile, mainland technology giant Tencent has earlier launched its WeTech Academy in Hong Kong, offering students access to online resources as well as AI coding and large model tools. These initiatives help familiarise young learners with AI and programming.
The Financial Secretary noted that the government has invited both major tech firms and emerging start-ups to introduce their technologies into the classroom, through product demonstrations and other outreach efforts, to assist AI learning. While bureaucratic leadership has its place in promoting AI education, a multi-stakeholder approach—drawing on the combined strengths of industry, academia and research—is likely to yield more effective results.
The Ministry of Education has outlined a comprehensive six-year blueprint to popularise AI education, which includes the development of a general curriculum, the publication of accessible reading materials, and the creation of dedicated leadership groups within local education authorities to plan, coordinate, implement, and assess progress. Beijing Municipality, for its part, has announced that all primary and secondary schools will introduce general AI education this year. There is much for Hong Kong's policymakers to emulate and consider.
明報社評2025.05.20：普及中小學AI教育 官產學研攜手合作
人工智能（AI）革命正以驚人速度滲透日常生活各方各面，如何裝備下一代適應AI時代，是迫切的教育課題。國家教育部提出6年內基本普及中小學AI教育，特區政府可以伙拍大學及AI業界翹楚，與教育界持份者成立專家小組，推動中小學將人工智能逐漸融入到日常課堂之中，同時注重AI教育應用倫理，讓下一代具備應有的「AI素養」。
港大校長張翔不時以「AI海嘯」形容人工智能發展，日前他接受本報專訪，提到這場「海嘯」來得比想像中更快，AI已改變大學的教學、研究以至行政模式。張翔指出，大學需要逐步適應AI時代，中小學教育亦然，愈年幼接觸愈易學習。
國家教育部推動教育改革，提出要2030年前「基本普及中小學人工智能教育」，正是由於未來社會需要的是擁抱人工智能、具有創新能力的人才，而非「答題機器」。香港顯然也需要檢討現行中小學教育，制訂普及AI教育的藍圖。
普及AI教育，目的不是令到人人成為專家，而是確保下一代具備應有「AI素養」；與此同時，學生也必須懂得批判地看待AI，例如明白演算法可能帶來的歧視與偏見、認識深度偽造（Deep Fake）風險，覆核AI生成資料準確與否的重要性，以至了解AI所帶來的倫理及法律問題。這將是一個相當浩大的教育課程改革，由教學硬件到師資培訓都要下大量工夫，須有通盤策略。
普及AI教育不乏有心人。張翔表示大學願意支援中小學推動AI教育，內地互聯網巨企騰訊早前也在港成立「WeTech Academy」，開放線上科技資源，以及編程、AI大模型工具等內容供中小學生使用，推動本地學生接觸AI及編程。
財政司長表示，政府有邀請在港大型科企及小規模前沿公司，將最前線資源匯聚到中小學，包括到校展示產品等，亦可幫助AI學習。普及AI教育，由官僚推動恐有局限，搭建多方合作平台，結合產學研力量攜手推動，無疑是較為可取的做法。
國家教育部訂下6年內普及AI教育宏圖，包括制訂AI通識教育指南和普及讀本，以及由各地教育部門成立AI教育領導小組，負責規劃、協調、推進和評估工作。北京市早前已宣布，今年全市中小學將開設AI通識課程。凡此種種，皆值得特區政府借鑑和考慮。
■ Glossary 生字 /
permeate : (of an idea, an influence, a feeling, etc) to affect every part of sth
underpin : to support or form the basis of an argument, a claim, etc
emulate : to try to do sth as well as sb else because you admire them