When the college entrance examination meets AI: The governance wisdom behind technology empowering education
2026-06-17
By 2026, the number of applicants for the national college entrance examination will reach 12.9 million, maintaining a scale of tens of millions for several consecutive years. As the largest and most socially concerned national level selection examination in China, the fairness and service temperature of the college entrance examination directly affect the vital interests of billions of families.
This year's college entrance examination has established a full cycle technology guarantee system that includes pre exam AI precision defense, comprehensive intelligent control during the exam, and post exam intelligent tools to empower the public. With technological rigidity, it has built a fair bottom line, and with digital flexibility, it has improved service temperature. This not only responds to the new challenges of exam affairs in the new technological era, but also creates a practical path for technology to empower educational governance.
Implementing phased and differentiated control over AI platforms before exams, blocking intelligent fraud channels from the source, can be regarded as an important upgrade of risk management concepts. In response to the new cheating risks arising from AI technology, relevant departments have jointly launched multiple special actions such as cracking down on mobile phone cheating and purifying the online environment related to exams. Major mainstream AI platforms actively implement control requirements, temporarily restricting the use of exam related functions such as question taking and answering, test paper analysis, and essay generation during exam periods, effectively blocking cheating links in the transmission of test questions and remote transmission of answers outside the venue, implementing precise control based on time periods and differentiation, and retaining basic functions such as non exam related daily consultation and life Q&A. This kind of refined governance that is "blocked but not rigid" not only prevents risks but also takes into account the public service attributes of technology, reflecting the flexible and standardized governance wisdom in high-risk scenarios.
The intelligent deployment throughout the examination area has strengthened the physical defense line of fairness in the examination room and promoted the supervision of examination affairs into a new era of "human technology collaboration". The intelligent security checkpoint has been upgraded again, achieving millisecond level accurate recognition of wireless communication devices such as mobile phones, smartwatches, invisible headphones, and modified smart glasses; The mobile signal detection vehicles set up around the exam center can locate and quickly block cheating signal sources outside the venue in real time, preventing collusion between internal and external transmission of answers; The AI intelligent inspection system is equipped with high-definition cameras and sound source localization algorithms, which can automatically identify violations such as excessive turning angles and whispering by candidates; The snake like robot inspects high-voltage circuits, accurately identifies various safety hazards, and ensures that the college entrance examination is not troubled by power problems. A series of hardcore technologies have not only blocked various cheating loopholes, but also formed an examination room monitoring mechanism with human-machine collaboration, global perception, real-time warning, and closed-loop disposal, making the examination room fair, stable, and perceptible.
The free and inclusive opening of intelligent services for post exam voluntary application extends the fairness of the college entrance examination from the examination room to the level of further education, which helps bridge the information gap in application. After the college entrance examination, the Ministry of Education launched the "Sunshine Volunteer" information service system, which is open to all 2026 candidates for free. It integrates functions such as subject selection guidance, college inquiry, major inquiry, volunteer reference, psychological assessment, career prospects, and application guide. Major AI platforms have also launched intelligent agents for filling out college entrance examination preferences, meeting the common needs of candidates such as precise matching of rankings, risk assessment of admission, and interpretation of past admission data. Candidates can obtain information through their mobile phones. The information gap caused by regional and information channel differences in the past has been continuously bridged under the universal coverage of digital technology, which is not only an extension of educational equity, but also the value of the public attributes of digital technology.
The full cycle technology escort practice of the 2026 college entrance examination is not only an upgrade of examination technology, but also a complete practical test of the digital transformation of education and recruitment governance in China. From risk prevention and control before the exam, to comprehensive protection during the exam, and to information accessibility after the exam, the entire set of practices has confirmed the dual value of digital technology in both risk management and service optimization, providing a governance framework for the implementation of technology for the good in the public domain.
One is the time limited regulatory mechanism, which provides flexible solutions for technical governance in high-risk scenarios. The collective shutdown of the AI platform's exam related functions before the exam is essentially a social consensus and governance agreement reached by education authorities, technology platforms, and various sectors of society in response to the critical event of the college entrance examination. It does not negate the value of technology itself, but sets boundaries for the application of technology in specific times and scenarios, achieving risk prevention and control goals with minimal cost. This flexible governance approach can be extended to more high-risk application scenarios related to social equity and public interests in the future.
The second is the human-machine collaboration mechanism, which clarifies the boundary between technological empowerment and humanistic support. The "intelligent initial screening+manual final review" mode in the AI inspection system provides actionable solutions for boundary problems in technology applications. The core of this mechanism lies in clarifying the tool positioning of technology: technology is responsible for efficiently screening anomalies, while humans are responsible for final judgment and decision-making. The results output by technology must be manually reviewed before they can be converted into decision-making basis. This not only leverages the efficiency advantage of technology, but also maintains the humanistic bottom line and avoids the deviation of technology supremacy.
The third is the inclusive and open mechanism, which interprets the livelihood background of technology application in the public domain. The voluntary application intelligent agent is open to all candidates for free, reflecting the social responsibility of the technology platform. The choice between commercial interests and social benefits itself is a powerful interpretation of the concept of 'technology for good'. In the future, in public service areas such as education, healthcare, and employment, more inclusive and open technology applications should be encouraged to be implemented, so that the technological dividends can benefit the entire public in a more balanced manner.
The fourth is the process transparency mechanism, which has built a trust foundation for AI assisted decision-making. The volunteer application intelligent agent fully displays the decision-making process to users, following the principle of "interpretability" in technological applications. In an era where AI is increasingly involved in important decision-making, "black box" algorithms are difficult to gain public trust, especially when it comes to major life events such as college entrance examination application. Users have the right to know the decision-making basis, compare different options, and retain the final choice. Adhering to algorithm transparency and process traceability should become the standard for AI assisted decision-making services.
From a more macro perspective, the technology escort practice of the 2026 college entrance examination is a positive attempt by China to explore the benign interaction between technology and society. As more and more public service sectors introduce similar technology for good mechanisms, technology will no longer be a cold tool, but will become a warm guardian, guarding fairness, dreams, and every life worth taking seriously. (Outlook New Era)
(The author is Xing Wei, Director and Researcher of the Social Affairs Research Office at the Institute of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission)
Edit:Luoyu Responsible editor:Wang Xiaojing
Source:china.com.cn
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