Slide right for English
*This is a bilingual article. Swipe left and right to switch between Chinese and English.
From designing a piece of clothing to researching an era—at the Integrated High School Project Week, every student defines their own exploration direction.
While their peers are still discussing the concept of AI, a group of high school students have already completed a full-fledged artificial intelligence research practice. Another exploration team during Project Week—the AI Research Team—has delved into how artificial intelligence is reshaping our lives, taking on the role of researchers.
From Users to Researchers
“AI is not just a technology, but a way of thinking.” At the Project Week kick-off ceremony, Mr. Bai Hongfei, an AI industry expert, told the students. This statement set the tone for the entire research week—not only to understand what AI is, but also to comprehend how it influences society and transforms lives.
Over the following five days, students formed research teams and chose two cutting-edge directions: AI glasses and smart home. No longer passive recipients of technology, they became active explorers, attempting to understand the real-world impacts and development trajectories of these emerging technologies through scientific methods.
Bai Hongfei: AI Industry Expert, Founder of AI Learning Association, Director of AI Special Committee, Zhongshan Internet Application Innovation Association.
In-Depth Scenario-Based Research Practice
AI Glasses:
The Future Worn on the Face
The team researching AI glasses moved from the laboratory to real-world usage scenarios, aiming to answer a core question: Is this technology a cutting-edge tool that empowers life, or an immature transitional product?
They sought out interviewees who are using or interested in such products in shopping malls, schools, and communities, and gained insights into the opportunities and challenges in the technology’s implementation through in-depth interviews. A student participating in the research shared: “When we stepped beyond parameter comparisons and began to focus on ordinary people’s user experience, we truly understood the relationship between technology and humans.”
Smart Home:
The Reality and Vision of Intelligent Living
The other group of researchers turned their attention to smart home systems that are transforming our living spaces. From intelligent wake-up calls in the morning to security monitoring at night, they documented the subtle changes technology has brought to daily life.
They systematically sorted out the technological development context, analyzed the technical paths of different brands, and even personally experienced various scenarios of intelligent living—trying to depict the characteristics that a truly “thinking home” should possess. In this process, students not only became calm industry observers, but also began to reflect on the in-depth connection between technology and quality of life.
Five Days of Research
A Journey of Constant Inquiry
This week, classrooms were transformed into research labs, and students into researchers, witnessing a research exploration from scratch. Under the guidance of experts, they learned to design research plans, refined research tools through team collaboration, honed logical thinking in data analysis, and improved expression skills in result presentations.
More importantly, students began to develop a valuable ability—to maintain independent thinking amidst complex information and uphold humanistic care amid technological changes. As one instructor observed: “Seeing the critical thinking and social responsibility demonstrated by students in their research is the most precious gain of Project Week.”
At the end of Project Week, students took away not only the final research report, but also the cognition established during the process: The world needs to be understood, and I have the ability to understand it.
As Professor Deng Yuhui from Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College (BNU-HKBU UIC) stated at the closing ceremony: “The essence of education is to make every student believe—I can be the one who raises questions and strives to find answers.” And the best education is to keep such dialogues ongoing. The journey of exploration is endless. We look forward to witnessing more wonderful ideological collisions and growth stories in the next Project Week.
