As China’s all-important Gaokao kicks off, artificial intelligence is being put on mute—at least in Mandarin.
From June 7 to June 10, AI platforms like Tencent Yuanbao, Doubao, and DeepSeek have suspended their homework and test-answering features during exam hours, citing the need to ensure fairness for the more than 13 million students sitting the National College Entrance Examination this year.
These restrictions are part of a broader, high-tech campaign to protect the integrity of the Gaokao, often dubbed the world’s most intense standardized test.
READ MORE: Explainer: Everything You Need to Know About the Gaokao
In Guangdong Province, authorities have officially deployed AI-powered invigilation systems that use surveillance cameras and machine learning to monitor both candidates and exam supervisors in real-time.
The system can detect and flag over 40 types of suspicious behaviors—from copying and passing notes to more subtle body language cues—triggering immediate alerts to proctors.
China’s Ministry of Education has encouraged more regions with sufficient resources to implement similar smart surveillance measures, aiming to enhance transparency and minimize human error during exams.
These are accompanied by traditional anti-cheating safeguards, now with an AI twist.
5G signal blockers are installed around examination halls to prevent the use of wireless devices, including smartwatches and hidden earpieces that could connect to external AI services.
Advanced metal detectors and AI-enabled security gates scan for hidden electronics, including smart glasses and miniature transmitters.
In addition, authorities use big data analytics to track unusual scoring patterns, comparing them with historical records to flag anomalies in real time.
Despite all these efforts to limit AI’s influence, here at That’s, we found a loophole.
DeepSeek responds to Gaokao-related questions in English, but not in Chinese. Screenshot by That's
When asked Gaokao-style questions in Chinese, platforms like DeepSeek return a 'feature unavailable' message.
But when similar questions are posed in English or other languages, DeepSeek responds freely—even solving math problems that would otherwise be blocked.
This linguistic blind spot raises concerns over whether existing content filters are robust enough to handle multilingual prompts.
It also raises deeper questions about the enforcement of AI restrictions and whether such limitations can truly be airtight in an era of multilingual, multimodal tools.
As AI becomes more integrated into education, exams like Gaokao may face new challenges in balancing innovation and integrity.
For now, though, the system is watching—and not just the students.
READ MORE: What is DeepSeek? Here's All You Need to Know...
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[Cover image by Billy Jiang/That's]
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