While 6-year-old Chinese children are learning to train AI models to recognize insects in their gardens, French kids the same age are discovering… how to open a word processor.
This gap isn’t just a detail. It’s the symptom of a strategic chasm opening before our very eyes.
On one side, China deploys a plan of breathtaking ambition: 12 years of progressive AI learning to transform every citizen into a “digital native.” The result? It already produces 50% of the world’s top AI researchers compared to 18% for the United States.
On the other, France has just decided “once and for all” after… 4 months of consultation that mobilized 500 contributions. Out of 1.2 million people in the national education system. That’s 0.04% of the educational community.
The French verdict? AI will be authorized starting from 8th grade only, with mandatory training of 30 minutes to 1.5 hours maximum to master the “basics of prompting.” Between reminders about server water consumption.
While Beijing trains entire cohorts of children who will grow up with AI as their natural companion, Paris organizes consultations and offers hour-and-a-half micro-modules.
In 10 years, guess who will truly master this technology that’s already redefining global power balances?
History may judge us on our ability to transform a technological revolution… into administrative reform.