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Two weeks ago, I joined a study trip to Beijing, organised by Nanyang Technological University, to explore China’s rapidly evolving business landscape. My last visit to China had been nearly two decades ago where I spent three-months on a project in Hangzhou.
The five-day program combined morning lectures at Tsinghua University on Industry 4.0 themes with afternoon company visits. Each site tied into the topics we were studying. We toured innovation galleries, listened to presentations, and saw how abstract trends were playing out on the ground.
One classroom moment, on the very first day, left the deepest impression.
When AI Can Do Everything
Our first lecture was titled “Industrial Innovation and Corporate Strategy in the Digital Economy Era”. Professor Wu Jinxi (吴金希教授) shared data illustrating China’s digital transformation: in 2024, the Chinese consumer received an average of 1,500 parcels a year; mobile users logged 8 billion hours of screen time daily; and AI is rapidly reshaping entire industries. He outlined which companies were leading the charge, which were catching the wave, and which had been left behind.
He was warm and articulate, but beneath the buzzwords and optimism, a quiet discomfort lingered in the room: What do we do if AI can do everything?
So I asked him in Mandarin:
“人工智能对所需的人力资源有很大的影响。您作为一个教育工作者，您认为应该培养什么样的人材才适合这个时代”Translated to English - “Given that AI will significantly impact the types of human resources needed, what kind of talent should we be preparing our students to become?”
He paused, then replied with the gravity of someone who had thought deeply about it:
- There will be less need to work, and more time available.
- The education system must change. Rote learning must go.
- 人要做人应该做的事情，不要做机器做的事 — Loosely translated, it mean Humans should do what humans should do; not what machines do.
What Should Humans Be Doing?
That last line resonated with me and with many of my classmates.
Although it sounds vague, it offered powerful clarity. It doesn’t ask what can humans do, but what should we do. That one word—should—reshapes the entire question.
This quote pushed us to lean into what makes us human; not just in capability, but in purpose. In a world where machines may outperform us in logic, speed, and even some forms of creativity, this line becomes a clear guidepost on where we should focus on and where we should direct machines to do their thing.
A Compass
The professor listed things like creativity, critical thinking, play, and empathy. I might have mentally added a few myself, or mistranslated slightly, but the spirit of his words was clear. It was a call to reimagine what education and life should be preparing us for.
At the personal level, if I substitute “人” with my own name in that sentence, it becomes:
What should I be doing? What only I should do?
I’ve been carrying this question around in my head since returning from Beijing.