ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationships between artificial intelligence (AI) and education in China, in order to suggest the significance of a political economy analysis to the study of digitalisation in educational research. The first section introduces the Chinese context by outlining recent government policy aimed at promoting and incentivising AI, as well as providing examples of prominent private companies involved in the development of such technologies for education. The second section draws on Vincent Mosco’s framework for political economy analysis – commodification, spatialisation and structuration – in order to examine the relationships between private education companies and the state.
