According to a China Youth Daily survey, nearly half of young Chinese reported poor verbal skills, while over 40% said they were less inclined to write by hand and struggled with clearly expressing ideas.
Exacerbated by the rise of AI tools and new forms of digital communication, a new survey reveals a significant decline in the ability of young Chinese to express thoughts and ideas. The findings indicate that the dip in verbal proficiency could be attributed to more individuals substituting traditional language with online expressions and memes.
Conducted by the state-owned newspaper China Youth Daily, the survey involved 1,333 participants. They mostly comprised well-educated individuals in their 20s and 30s, with over 60% holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, while more than a quarter are vocational college graduates.
Among those surveyed, 47.1% reported poor verbal skills, 43.2% said they were less inclined to write with a pen, and 41.5% admitted that they struggled to clearly express their ideas.
The survey also underscored the impact of emerging generative AI technologies on communication skills: 73.5% of participants said they were concerned that AI assistants might further degrade their ability to express themselves. In addition, more than one-fifth of the respondents admitted to being “very” worried about this issue.
Guo Xiao’an, a journalism professor at Chongqing University, highlighted a noticeable decline in communication skills among young Chinese compared to other age groups, particularly when interacting offline. Continue to read the full article here
