Chinese students choosing universities and majors immediately after the release of their gaokao (China's college entrance exam) scores are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots from Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent as admissions counseling tools.
Analysts say the information gap is narrowing, particularly among families that cannot afford expensive consulting. At the same time, critics note that results vary depending on the quality of prompts and answer verification, making it difficult to fully resolve existing inequalities.
According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 13th, AI chatbot-based admissions counseling surged across China immediately after this year's gaokao. Last month, 12.9 million students took the exam, and when scores were released late that month, students and parents had to decide on their schools within days. With hundreds of universities operating thousands of majors, and reputation and employment prospects varying by major, the burden of choice is heavy.
Chinese big tech services have moved into this gap. Alibaba said that as of late June, more than 14 million people had used the admissions support function of its AI assistant Tongyi Qianwen. Baidu said that around 15 million people used its support helper during the same period, while Tencent's Yuanbao received about 80 million admissions-related questions.
Information that middle-class families once secured by mobilizing expensive consultants and personal connections—such as admission chances at universities nationwide, employment prospects by major, and living costs in university cities—is now provided all at once and for free by AI. In China's admissions structure, where exam scores almost entirely determine acceptance, AI usage is considered particularly high.
Zhang Qi, who works as a ride-hailing driver in Guangzhou, used several chatbots as free counselors this year. His son, from Shanxi province, wanted to study in Shenzhen, but the family had information only about universities near their hometown. "In the past, we only knew about universities near home, but now AI shows where across the country my son can apply based on his scores," he told SCMP.
The market is being shaken as well. China's admissions consulting market, which exceeded 1 billion yuan (about 222.25 billion won) last year, is expected to grow to 1.22 billion yuan next year. But as AI replaces basic information for free, the competitiveness of simple information-based counseling is weakening.
One consultant in Guangzhou lowered the price of standard counseling from around 5,000 yuan (about 1.11 million won) to 2,999 yuan. However, experts believe that in-person demand remains. Rather, families seeking to interpret AI recommendation results into application strategies are turning to in-person counseling, they say.
AI's effect is also uneven. Entering only scores and hometown yields general conclusions, but adding detailed conditions such as budget, desired career, and preferred region makes results more specific. SCMP forecast that roles could be reorganized, with AI providing basic information and human consultants handling customized judgments that incorporate financial circumstances, career goals, and personal tendencies.
