Jack Ma: Focus should shift to teaching children to use artificial intelligence

Alibaba Group (9988) founder Jack Ma Yun recently said that in the age of artificial intelligence, the focus should no longer be on whether to use AI, but rather on how to teach children to use it effectively at an event organised by the Jack Ma Foundation.

Ma also discussed whether rural education would be left behind in the AI era. He stressed that education in such an era should not be about competing with machines in calculation or memorisation, but about nurturing children's curiosity. 

"The real divide in the AI era is not a technological gap, but a gap in curiosity, imagination, creativity, judgement and collaborative ability," said Ma. He added that education should not aim to make 1,000 students produce the same correct answer, but rather to enable them to ask 10,000 different and meaningful questions.

The Jack Ma Foundation was established in December 2014 by Ma, and has since carried out philanthropic initiatives across a range of areas, including education, healthcare, environmental protection, entrepreneurship and women's leadership.

Cynthia ZHONG