What Future Awaits Our Children in This AI Age?
I was commuting to work one morning last week as usual when I opened my phone and found short-video platforms flooded with posts about an AI product called Manus. From ChatGPT to DeepSeek and now Manus, AI has evolved in just one year from a “consultant” that answers questions to an “intelligent colleague” capable of replacing humans in executing complex tasks. As a mother of two 6-year-olds, I felt, for the first time, that the world my children will face may lie entirely beyond my comprehension.
Last year, my programmer husband and I debated whether “learning to code” would still be useful for our child. Back then, AI was limited to “answering questions.” But today, Manus can decompress resume files, analyze stock data, plan travel itineraries, and even generate comprehensive analytical reports – tasks once reserved for entry-level white-collar workers, data analysts, and administrative assistants. Now, AI accomplishes in minutes what humans once took hours or days to complete.
On Xianyu, China’s secondhand retail platform that’s owned by Taobao, Manus invitation codes are being resold for up to RMB 90,000. Behind this frenzy lies a widespread panic over “AI replacing human labor.” A tech blogger remarked: “Manus is like an all-purpose intern. It not only understands instructions but also independently uses tools to complete tasks.” This made me realize that if my child starts learning “standardized skills” like data entry or basic document processing now, those jobs may vanish by the time they enter the workforce.
My anxiety stems from the redefinition of educational goals. I flipped through my child’s kindergarten curriculum: phonics, math, literacy, classical poetry… These were once considered “fundamentals” during my school days, but their relevance is being upended in the AI era. What stunned me most about Manus was its capacity for “autonomous learning” and “cross-domain collaboration.” For example, it can scrape real estate data, analyze neighborhood safety metrics, and even build interactive websites to present results – tasks that no longer require isolated skills but rather the ability to deconstruct problems, leverage tools, and execute creatively.
Even I, a coding novice, began wondering: Could I someday use Manus to build a CRM system perfectly tailored to my company’s needs? When DeepSeek first emerged, my husband dismissed this idea, but now he says, “Maybe it’s actually possible!”
There's more to this story! This article was originally posted on our sister account, jingkids International.
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Images: Siyu He, Manus
