Summary of Key Points
In 2026, Chinese parents' attitudes towards education and training have undergone a dramatic shift: from the past fear of their children falling behind, which led to them enrolling them in numerous classes, to a current concern about wasting money. Traditional interest classes (piano, art, programming, English) have become less popular as AI rapidly replaces the value of these skills. AI training classes, on the other hand, have been criticized for being a form of "intelligence tax" due to misleading practices. Coupled with economic pressures, the devaluation of academic qualifications, and concerns about children's mental health, parents are opting to abandon anxiety-driven spending in favor of free public resources or low-cost experiences. As a result, education expenses have shifted from a necessity to one of the easiest areas to cut in household budgets.
1. AI Has Arrived, and Traditional Interest Classes Suddenly Become Less Valuable
Parents used to spend a lot of money on piano, art, programming, and English classes with the hope that their children would acquire "scarce skills." However, AI has completely shattered this notion:
- Piano: It takes a child ten years to reach level 10, but AI can generate a Bach-style piece in three seconds, playing it more accurately than a human.
- Art: After years of training, a child might learn to draw illustrations; AI can create cyberpunk or ink paintings in one second and even pass art competition judges.
- Programming: After two to three years of learning C++, a child can write basic code, but AI can generate programs that meet over 70% of initial coding needs in ten seconds.
- English: After years of memorizing words and practicing speaking, AI can provide real-time translations in 32 languages with nearly professional accuracy, replacing over 90% of basic translation jobs.
Parents suddenly realize, "Is it worth spending ten years on what AI can do in one second?" This shift has led to a sharp decline in enrollments in traditional interest classes. In one of Guangzhou's major educational areas, the renewal rate for classes dropped from 60% to 25%, with only 240 out of 700 students renewing their subscriptions.
2. Are AI Training Classes a "Intelelligence Tax?" Parents Discover the Catch After Paying
With the rise of AI, many training classes emerged, using buzzwords like "big model logic" and "AI natives" to attract parents. But once they paid, they realized:
- Half of the class time was spent on building with Lego (under the guise of "logical thinking"), which can be done for a few dollars at a toy store.
- Some classes taught children to distinguish between AI-generated images and real ones or used AI tools to create drawings/stories—skills adults could master in ten minutes, yet these were packaged as semester-long courses costing thousands of yuan.
- Even more absurdly, children's programming classes claimed to train "programming thinking" with plastic building blocks for 3-year-olds or touchscreen games for 4-year-olds, charging hundreds of yuan per session, with annual costs reaching tens of thousands. Salespeople promised that these skills would give students an advantage in college admissions, but the Ministry of Education had already banned such links in 2022.
Go player Ke Jie pointed out, "These AI classes are just deceiving parents who don't understand the technology." The difference between children who have taken these classes and those who haven’t might be merely a few keywords, as AI tools are designed with no entry barriers.
3. Household Budgets Can't Afford It: Education Expenses Become a Reducing Item
Parents' change in attitude is not sudden; their finances simply can't support it anymore:
- Economic Pressure: Household consumption growth slowed in 2025, with the savings rate reaching 66.3% (the highest in recent years). In a county in Henan, the number of students enrolled in tutoring classes dropped from 380 to 102, with parents citing "ensuring basic living needs before considering education."
- High Costs: Raising a child to university costs 680,000 yuan, with education expenses accounting for one-sixth of household income—half for low-income families. A Beijing mother reduced her education spending from 360,000 yuan in 2024 to 215,000 yuan (a 40% decrease), saying, "I don't want to be a cash cow anymore."
- Low Cost-Effectiveness: In 2025, 11.79 million college graduates were employed, with 58% earning less than 5,000 yuan per month, and 32% in flexible jobs. Only 31% of delivery workers had a bachelor's degree, and just 5.7% had a master's degree. Spending 680,000 yuan on a "brain worker" with a lower-than-average salary is unattractive.
As a result, one-on-one English classes costing 800 yuan saw a 70% decrease in enrollments, while small-group classes (200 yuan) increased from 30% to 85%. Many parents stopped enrolling their children in tutoring and saved the money or focused on parent-child activities.
4. Children and Academic Qualifications Can't Afford It: Anxiety Shifts to Mental Health and Practical Outcomes
Parents are also concerned about their children's well-being:
- Mental Health: In 2023, 28.76 million people under 18 suffered from depression, and many children developed myopia, insomnia, and disinterest in learning due to excessive tutoring. Parents realize it’s better to save money to maintain their children's happiness.
- Devaluation of Academic Qualifications: The employment rate for liberal arts graduates is only 67.8%, compared to 89.3% for science and engineering graduates. However, AI is replacing jobs that require basic cognitive skills. Parents find that forcing children to develop standardized cognitive abilities makes them targets for automation.
- Changing Career Paths: Traditional trades (electricians, plumbers) are less affected by AI because they require practical judgment. A parent from Hengshui High School said, "Instead of spending a lot on tutoring, it’s better to save money for a more secure future."
5. Parents' New Choices: From Paid Classes to Free Resources and Experiences
Parents are voting with their wallets, opting out of commercial training:
- Free Public Resources: Over half of Guangzhou parents take their children to libraries and museums, where free Chinese painting and calligraphy classes are in high demand.
- Experiential Consumption: Research trips (e.g., "Traveling through Lingnan with textbooks") have seen a 130% increase in bookings, and weekend outdoor activities and online interest classes are replacing traditional training classes.
- Rational Spending: Parents now discuss whether a class is worth the money, rather than which teacher is good. 91% of respondents reported no increase in education expenses.
Parents are not less anxious; their concerns have shifted from what classes will give them an advantage to which ones will prevent them from being replaced by AI. When they realize that skills like critical thinking and emotional connection are not taught by AI, they choose to save money—after all, money is more tangible than certificates that may become obsolete.
Conclusion
The issue is no longer whether interest classes are useful or not; the definition of "usefulness" has changed. In the AI era, standardized skills (certificates) are no longer scarce. What’s in demand are abilities like critical thinking, judgment, adaptability in non-standard situations, and genuine human connections. These are precisely what traditional interest classes and exams do not focus on.
The old ways no longer lead to new opportunities, and the new path is still unclear. For now, the best choice for parents is to hold onto their money—it’s the most certain option available.