How AI and Big Data Are Transforming Education: Insights from Zuoyebang’s Chief Scientist

From October 17‑19, 2023, the GET2023 Education Technology Conference was held in Beijing, where Zuoyebang’s chief scientist Song Yang delivered a keynote titled “The Power of Technology in Educational Scenarios”.

The information technology revolution is reshaping society, and education is no exception; the rise of large‑scale models has created a new inflection point for educational technology.

Song Yang shared Zuoyebang’s recent initiatives, including the self‑developed “Zuoyebang Galaxy Large Model”, intelligent learning hardware, smart textbooks, public‑school products, and AI‑enhanced competency courses.

He emphasized the mission “Technology for people, achieving the extraordinary”, aiming to provide students, parents, and teachers with superior, convenient, and accessible education.

Founded in 2015, Zuoyebang has pursued the goal of simplifying education through technology. He traced the historical evolution of education from the invention of writing, printing, to the industrial era, and highlighted the recent wave of information‑technology‑driven transformation.

In the past two‑three decades, AI, big data, and virtual reality have introduced personalization and diversity into learning. Large language models, exemplified by ChatGPT, have surged in popularity and are now being applied to education.

Zuoyebang launched its “Galaxy Large Model” in September, leveraging eight years of data to power various educational scenarios.

The model is used to improve question‑bank generation, achieving accuracy comparable to human teachers while dramatically reducing production costs and increasing capacity.

In humanities, the model enhances essay grading and polishing, providing detailed feedback on content, structure, and language.

For programming education, the model acts as an AI tutor, evaluating code, diagnosing errors, and offering step‑by‑step guidance through multi‑turn interactions.

Beyond large models, Zuoyebang has expanded its hardware lineup—printing devices, learning tablets, pens, eye‑care tools, AI desks, smart watches, and electronic word cards—to address diverse learning contexts.

These devices solve specific scene‑based problems, such as full‑time systematic study with AI learning machines, fragmented study with handheld word cards, and error‑paper printing to integrate digital and paper learning.

Smart textbooks represent a new direction, enabling interactive feedback by photographing textbook pages to receive automatic grading and targeted practice.

In public schools, Zuoyebang’s “Homework AI” streamlines the entire homework workflow—from creation to collection, grading, and feedback—under teacher supervision, ensuring high‑quality data and personalized error books.

Sports AI introduces sensor‑based training equipment that automatically records performance and offers AI‑driven improvement suggestions.

AI‑generated teaching materials accelerate design processes, allowing designers to produce multiple creative options within an hour, reducing the typical three‑day cycle to one day.

Overall, Zuoyebang’s education‑technology efforts are underpinned by cloud‑native, big‑data, and AI infrastructures, focusing on five key scenarios: AI‑powered education apps, comprehensive smart hardware, interactive smart books, AI‑enhanced programming courses, and AI solutions for public schools.

The mission “Technology for people, achieving the extraordinary” continues to guide Zuoyebang’s pursuit of more excellent, convenient, and accessible education.