Summary of Key Points
CCTV has exposed the shady practices of college entrance examination (Gaokao) application agencies: These agencies package free AI-generated application plans (such as those from Qianwen) as “exclusive customizations” and sell them for several thousand to tens of thousands of yuan. The so-called “senior Gaokao advisors” may actually be salespeople who have only been working for two months; their certificates are often photoshopped, and their qualifications are fabricated. They take advantage of parents’ anxiety about the Gaokao process and their lack of information, especially in rural and county areas. The article also points out that while AI should lower the informational barriers for application processes, it has been misused as a tool for profit-making. In the future, AI could serve as a helpful tool to assist ordinary families in filtering information, but the final decisions should still be based on the individual circumstances of the students.
1. The Deception Behind High-Price Application Plans: Free AI as “Exclusive Secrets”
Do you think the “one-on-one customized plan” that costs ten thousand yuan was created after days of research by a teacher? In reality, it might just involve an agency employee entering your scores and rankings into a free AI tool (like Qianwen), then presenting the results with a fancy cover before selling them to you. Even more extreme cases exist where these “advisors” cannot answer basic questions about majors and have to secretly consult AI during live broadcasts. Agency owners openly admit that no professional knowledge is required; their claimed “ten years of experience” are lies, their “professional certificates” are fake, and the “exclusive spots” are just tactics to persuade you to pay. Essentially, they are using a free public tool as a means to exploit parents’ wallets.
2. Why Are Parents Willing to Be Exploited? Anxiety and Information Gap Are Key Factors
The Gaokao is seen by many families as a watershed event that can change their lives, especially for those in rural and county areas. These families place great importance on education but have limited access to AI and fewer information channels, creating a significant information gap compared to urban families. Additionally, the new Gaokao reforms have made the application process more complex (such as subject selection and ranking matching), and majors and industries change rapidly. It is difficult for ordinary parents to understand all the relevant information in a short time. Agencies capitalize on this anxiety by creating fear that choosing the wrong major can ruin a student’s future, then use the guise of “professionals” to make parents pay willingly.
3. AI Is Not the “Original Sin”: It Should Be a Tool, Not a Weapon
AI itself is not the problem; it can be a valuable aid for ordinary families. Free AI tools like Qianwen can quickly match scores, rankings, and available universities, helping you narrow down options and verify information, which should reduce the information gap. The issue lies with the agencies that package these free resources as scarce assets to profit from the information disparity. The proper approach would be for parents to use AI for a preliminary screening (e.g., to see which schools they might be eligible for) and then decide whether to consult a professional based on their own needs (such as the city they want to attend or the majors they are interested in). Professional advisors can also use AI to improve efficiency, focusing on understanding the students’ interests and coordinating family opinions.
4. The Difficulty of Applying for Colleges Has Increased: What Can AI Help With, and What Cannot?
Thirty or forty years ago, there were fewer Gaokao applicants, and the economy was growing rapidly, so making a mistake in major selection had less impact. However, with 13 million applicants each year and the widespread availability of higher education, choosing the right major is as important as achieving the desired scores. “Good universities” may not necessarily lead to good job prospects, and popular majors may become obsolete soon. In this context, AI’s value lies in helping you filter through a large amount of information to find comparable and verifiable options (e.g., comparing schools with similar scores or analyzing career trends for different majors). However, AI cannot make the final decisions for you. Personal factors such as family disagreements (the child wants to study humanities, while parents prefer computer science) and balancing personal interests with career goals cannot be replaced by AI.
Conclusion
The chaos in the Gaokao application process is essentially a business that exploits “information asymmetry” and anxiety. The emergence of AI was intended to reduce this disparity, but it has been misused by unscrupulous agencies. For parents, instead of spending a lot of money for reassurance, it’s better to first use free AI tools to do some preliminary research and then consult professionals with genuine qualifications (e.g., those with officially recognized certificates and real case studies). After all, the college application represents their child’s future, and it shouldn’t be ruined by unscrupulous agencies.