While artificial intelligence is fundamentally reshaping language education, transforming teaching methods, redefining teachers' roles and challenging the purpose of learning, experts emphasized that technology cannot replace the humanistic core of education and that cultivating cross-cultural empathy, critical thinking and aesthetic sensibility remains the essential mission in the age of AI.
They made the remarks at the Belt and Road Forum for Language and Culture Collaboration and the Global English Education China Assembly, which opened on Friday at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
The three-day event, co-organized by China Daily, BFSU and Shanghai International Studies University, aims to explore pathways for implementing the Global Civilization Initiative and cultivating culturally grounded ambassadors who can help bridge the divide.
Xiong Sihao, vice-minister of education, emphasized that language is the key to deepening exchanges and improving global governance. The ministry has consistently treated language connectivity as a foundational project, connecting the world through communication and uniting people through education, he said.
China currently offers 101 university-level language programs, covering all United Nations member states and the official languages of countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, he said, adding that 92 nations have incorporated the Chinese language into their education systems, cultivating around 210 million learners.
Xiong put forward three proposals. One, promoting the deep integration of AI with foreign-language teaching and Chinese-language education to build a digitally driven educational ecosystem.
Two, enhancing digital literacy and cultivating a teaching workforce that is "tech-savvy, good at teaching and warm-hearted". Three, deepening people-to-people exchanges through language to advance mutual learning among civilizations.
Qu Yingpu, publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily, called for seizing the opportunities of the AI era to promote mutual understanding among civilizations through language education. "No language is superior or inferior. English, Chinese and all other languages each have their own beauty and complement one another," he said.
Qu urged countries to pursue equal and inclusive cooperation by aligning language policies, sharing educational resources and building a new ecosystem for language exchange, contributing to the high-quality development of the BRI.
Language educators should embrace AI and make better use of it while prioritizing value guidance, critical thinking and aesthetic education for young people, he said.
Qu emphasized upholding the humanistic essence of foreign-language education amid intelligent transformation and cultivating a new generation of ambassadors who possess both strong language skills and sound humanistic values.
As civilizational frictions and cognitive divides intensify, he highlighted the importance of building regular, multilevel exchange channels rooted in language education and facilitated by people-to-people dialogue.
BFSU has been advancing interdisciplinary programs, combining language with big data, law, international communication and area studies to cultivate talent with patriotism, a global vision, and the ability to participate in global governance and exchanges among civilizations, said Li Hai, Party secretary of BFSU.
Li noted that the more technology advances, the more important it becomes to ask where language education is heading.
The answer should be two-dimensional, Li said. It is important to anchor education in the humanistic spirit while using AI to improve efficiency, and it is necessary to take mutual learning as the foundation and global competence as the benchmark to cultivate a new generation capable of genuinely connecting countries around the world, he added.
Yin Dongmei, Party secretary of SISU, said that in a world undergoing profound changes and rapid technological transformation, the need for dialogue among civilizations is more diverse and urgent than ever, and the role of language as a bridge connecting people and breaking down barriers is becoming increasingly important.
The university is exploring a "pi-shaped talent" cultivation model, with AI serving as the horizontal backbone and language proficiency and interdisciplinary competence serving as the two vertical pillars of the mathematical symbol, she said.
Catarina Pontes, vice-president of BRAZ-TESOL, the largest association of English-language teachers in Brazil, expressed hope that partnerships formed at the forum would accelerate access to language learning.
BRAZ-TESOL welcomes greater engagement with the Chinese community on continuing professional development, especially in 2026, which marks the 52nd anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil, she said.