Summary of Key Points
This article highlights the differences in mindset during the AI era by comparing two scenarios: Harvard graduates expressing anxiety through anti-AI slogans, and Fudan University students proactively using AI in their exams. The core message is that resisting AI only leads to anxiety, while actively understanding and utilizing it is the key to survival in the future. AI is revolutionizing the fundamental logic of education and the rules of competition. In the future, the most valuable individuals will not be those who can simply answer questions, but rather those who can ask the right questions, establish rules, and determine the accuracy of AI’s outputs. The competition will involve combinations of humans and AI against traditional workers.
1. AI Is Not Here to Take Jobs; It’s Driving Education to Change Its Course
Education in the industrial era was like an assembly line: teachers created questions, and students memorized answers, resulting in workers who could follow standard procedures. However, AI has become a “super-assembly line worker” that can solve problems faster, remember more information, and write papers more efficiently than humans. Testing people on these skills is pointless since it compares their weaknesses to AI’s strengths.
Fudan University’s approach to exams is the opposite: students create questions for AI to answer, and the one who makes AI make the most mistakes scores higher. The logic behind this is that to challenge AI, you must understand the subject better than it does—knowing where misunderstandings are likely, which conditions cannot be ignored, and the boundaries of logical reasoning. For example, if you want to test AI’s math skills, you need to understand its potential errors in complex reasoning processes to design challenging questions. This shifts education from rote memorization to genuine understanding, effectively changing the competitive landscape.
2. The Future “Top Students” Won’t Be Those Who Can Answer Questions Well, but Those Who Can Outsmart AI
Fudan’s data is intriguing: out of 51 students, 50 made at least one AI answer wrong, but only 4 were able to make an AI fail the entire exam. This shows that while AI is very advanced, outsmarting it requires genuine expertise. High-achieving students used various strategies, such as collaborating with multiple AI systems to generate questions, testing them, and designing complex reasoning problems. These skills demonstrate their ability to understand AI and create rules for its use—future top students will be those who can command AI, not be commanded by it.
3. The Competition Is Not “Human vs. AI,” but “Human + AI” vs. “Human”
Many fear that AI will take jobs, but they are misidentifying the real competitors. For instance, doctors won’t be replaced by AI, but those who use it to analyze medical images will be more valuable; lawyers won’t lose their jobs, but those who can use AI to quickly search for cases and draft legal documents will be more efficient. Entrepreneurs won’t be eliminated by AI, but those who can use it for strategic analysis and resource optimization will thrive.
The highest-scoring student at Fudan used a team of multiple AI systems to generate questions and evaluate their effectiveness. This “human + AI” model shows that humans set goals and make judgments, while AI handles the tedious tasks. The competition will favor those who can work with AI.
4. Education Should Train “AI Judges,” Not Just “Executors”
Professor Xiao Yanghua from Fudan University emphasizes: “Don’t be an executor of AI; be a judge of it.” This outlines the direction of future education:
- In the past, students focused on finding standard answers and memorizing information.
- In the future, students will need to evaluate the accuracy of AI’s conclusions and make informed decisions.
Questions like “Who creates stock indices?” or “Who establishes accounting standards?” cannot be answered by AI. The most valuable individuals will be those who can define problems, establish rules, and assess the reliability of AI’s outputs. Education should no longer focus on producing test-ready machines but on cultivating people who can collaborate with and lead AI.
Conclusion: Anxiety Is Useless; Mastering AI Is the Key
The anxiety of Harvard students is real, but the approach of Fudan students is more instructive. AI is neither a threat nor an omnipotent solution. The most valuable individuals in the future will not be those with the most knowledge or the best memory, but those with strong judgment and the ability to use AI effectively—those who can create questions and establish rules.
Instead of shouting “Fuck AI,” we should learn from Fudan students: understand AI’s limitations and use it to our advantage. This is the true survival strategy in the AI era.