Candidates arrived at the Hainan Overseas Chinese Middle School examination site on the morning of June 7. (Source: hinews.cn)

Today, 12.9 million students across China enter the examination halls for the annual "Gaokao", the country's national college entrance examination. For many, it marks not only an academic milestone, but also the beginning of a new chapter in life.

Every year, the Gaokao brings a familiar scene: millions of young people taking up their pens and striving toward their dreams. Yet each generation enters the examination room carrying a different story.

Almost all of today's examinees are from the post-2005 generation. Their upbringing is markedly different from those born in the 80s or 90s. This generation is not only made up of digital natives; it is also the first generation to grow up alongside artificial intelligence. Characterized by the technological revolution, with code and algorithms as their underlying logic, they are at home with silicon chips and smart devices; and have never known a life that was not supported by technology.

Just before this year's Gaokao, the Ministry of Education issued a warning to be wary of false advertising tactics such as "AI-assisted exam prediction." Over the next few days of the Gaokao, several platforms have also announced the shutdown of exam-related functions (such as AI-powered question solving). These news reports serve as a reminder that AI has already become a key part of students' lives.

With the rapid development of science and technology, AI is rapidly reshaping industries and redefining the nature of work. People worry that their hard work and hands-on skills will be replaced and diminished.

Facing a Gaokao with no digital assistance, many students and their parents find themselves asking: in an era of ever-changing technological iterations and seemingly omnipotent AI, how important is it to dedicate oneself to their studies or tirelessly working day and night?

To this, we say: value is where you look for it. Yet behind every pen is a human mind capable of imagination, judgment and creativity—qualities no algorithm can fully replicate.

While it is true that algorithms can quickly solve difficult problems and generate answers, artificial intelligence is nothing more than a new and faster way of organizing knowledge points, simulating answering strategies, and producing batches of standardized results. As with other scientific and technological revolutions over the millennia, it greatly liberates manpower, and reshapes the way we learn and produce. But, for all it may seem to be showing signs of surpassing humans.

However sophisticated AI may appear, it ultimately operates within frameworks designed by human beings. This artificial intelligence cannot replace the mind of a man, or the weight of a pen poised over a blank sheet of paper.

The past decade of compulsory education, the nights spent reading late, the persistence in correcting mistakes, the stubbornness of getting back up after falling down, the laughter, tears and sweat of childhood are precious life experiences that code and algorithms cannot replicate or "refine".

The pens wielded by examinees are full of more than just ink. They also carry the aspiration, courage, and choice unique to humankind. They carry imagination, empathy, and creativity, and a vibrant path to the future. These forces—rooted in human nature—are something which algorithms cannot replace.

Life is not a fixed process with a set start and known end. It's an experience of exploration and feeling. Technology remains a tool; human beings remain the authors of their own future.

Sure there are cynical people who say that this generation will be easily replaced by AI. But this statement is incorrect. On the contrary, this generation has a greater advantage than their predecessors in managing and utilizing AI and technology to achieve their goals.

In this sense, the moment today's examinees turn their papers in and embark on the next stage of life, they will already be participating in the narrative of the new era. Today starts a new test.

Even with new developments and changes coming everyday, with an overwhelming array of smart products, life's choices, perseverance, breakthroughs, and growth, will still be human.

Exam scores and fluctuating rankings are just temporary milestones on the journey of life. No matter how dazzling technological trends or smart products may seem, they're just a tool to make things easier for humans. The passion and courage that come as part of life's journey, the perseverance and confidence to never give up, that is the foundation that supports and accompanies one throughout their life.

That is what determines the fate of the world.

To all the high school students taking the college entrance examination, pick up your pen and write your own future. Don't allow yourself to be confined by the limitations of algorithms, or be swayed by the allure of technology. You are the future.