Education is a project that needs long-term and systematic maintenance. In recent years, governments and international organizations have increased their efforts to promote educational equality. As a result, the education industry has received increasing attention. The Education 2030 Agenda formulated by UNESCO with the goal of achieving global educational equity and inclusive education is a vivid example.
The AI public welfare education platform AI Button came into being. AI-Button is a tool platform created by middle school students. It uses technological means to support public welfare education on the basis of AI big model with integrated functions of learning, public welfare, and socializing.
On the AI Button platform, students only need to input materials that need to be reviewed, and the AI personal learning assistant will provide customized learning advice and guidance based on students’ needs, helping them learn and review efficiently. Whether it’s consolidating previously learned knowledge or reviewing before exams, AI-Button can provide students with accurate materials and suggestions. It is an online intelligent mentor that is available at any time. Currently, the platform supports both Chinese and English.
In addition, AI Button encourages students to participate in public welfare activities. It integrates functions of education, socializing, and public welfare to achieve multiple goals for students to initiate, participate in projects and receive benefit.
Students can record various public welfare projects on the platform, including activities that are related with environmental protection, teaching support, poverty alleviation, etc. By participating in these public welfare activities, students can earn platform points. Their interest in participating in public welfare can be further stimulated. Students can develop qualities including teamwork spirit and the sense of responsibility during their participation of public welfare activities. They will also experience the charm of AI technology, as a result, increase their interest in learning and academic performance.
Since the launch of AI-Button, many students have participated in the online projects and experienced the convenience of AI learning assistance. Students believe that AI-Button has made them feel more enthusiastic to learn and participate in public welfare projects. They also have a further understanding of how technology can make learning more convenient and the world a better place. Through AI-Button, they gained not only knowledge, but also friends with similar thoughts. Together, they participated in public welfare activities, and contributed their efforts to society.
According to reporters, the founder of AI Button, Qiu Yumo, is only a 13-year-old high school student who has just entered the 8th grade. She started learning programming at the age of 6 and wrote a game at the age of 7, attracting many paid-users; at the end of 2022, Qiu Yumo tried to use the generative big model for the first time, and experienced the positive opportunities brought by the new generation of AI that can change the world; in early 2023, she began programming with the assistance of AI. As a pet person, she quickly developed a pet pedometer using Flutter/Part programming language which she had never learned before. She also won an award for this in the school science exhibition.
Her connection with public welfare was even earlier. When Qiu Yumo was 4 years old, the kindergarten organized a charity sale on the International Children’s Day. As a child, she donated her income to the orphanage by setting up a street vending to sell freshly squeezed juice. For the first time, she realized the true meaning of “No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.” (a famous public welfare saying).
On her 13th birthday, Qiu Yumo cut off her long hair that she had kept for 3 years and donated it to children with cancer. She never stopped participating in and advocating various public welfare activities. At the age of 10, she heard from her family that Tencent will increase individual contributions through match donations on the 99 Public Welfare Day. Therefore, she began to sell her handmade crystal mud through online micro stores a few days before the 99 Public Welfare Day every year, and then use the income of the charity sale to support public welfare projects in need on the 99 Public Welfare Day through the Tencent Public Welfare Platform. Such sale activity has lasted for 4 years until September 2023.
The popularity of AI Button she casually wrote inspired her to plan the 99 public welfare project in this year. She decided to use AI-Button to influence more students and increase her support to public welfare projects.
But the efforts need to put in “making a small tool for myself” and “platformizing the tool for more users” varies by hundreds of times. Qiu Yumo started to build a team with students from both her school and other schools to participate in the AI-Button project. Some students were in charge of testing, optimization, and defects recognizing, some were in charge of promotion, and some helped with liaison and cooperation. Everyone actively collaborated with each other and participated in the weekly meetings to make sure progresses made every week were on the same page. After several months of iterative development and product optimization, AI-Button finally became today’s relatively mature project and opened registration to users.
Qiu Yumo stated that AI-Button aims at closely integrating technology, public welfare, and education, creating a mutually beneficial learning environment for students. With the assistance of AI-Button, students can better utilize technological resources to improve their learning efficiency, actively participate in public welfare activities, and nurture their sense of social responsibility and teamwork spirit. At the same time, she also hopes that through the connection of the platform, more students can perceive the power of technology, improve their volunteer spirit, and gain more efficient learning methods.
Education experts comment that AI-Button plans to provide a high-quality learning and growth environment for more students, especially those in areas with scarce educational resources, to help them obtain portable online intelligent teachers. As a beneficial attempt and innovation to promote the development of educational equity, AI-Button allows us to witness the creative sparks generated by the collision between technology and education.