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China teen with zero programming skills earns US$2,600 in 3 days selling AI study app

A 13-year-old Chinese student, Zhu Shuhan, earned 18,000 yuan (US$2,600) in three days from an AI study app she created without any programming skills, winning third prize at a national AI product marketing competition in Hangzhou held from August 21 to August 23. Her app, Zai Chang (On Site), which lets parents upload a photo to create a virtual parent that supervises children doing homework and issues voice reminders if they get distracted, generated 90 orders. Shuhan, a Grade Two student at a Shanghai junior secondary school, said the experience showed her that AI can bring great ideas to life.

read1 min views1 publishedAug 31, 2026
China teen with zero programming skills earns US$2,600 in 3 days selling AI study app
Image: Scmp (auto-discovered)

This development experience made me realise that as long as you have a great idea, AI can bring it to life, Shuhan says

A 13-year-old girl in China has earned 18,000 yuan (US$2,600) in just three days from an artificial intelligence (AI) product she developed to assist parents in supervising their children’s study habits.

Zhu Shuhan, a Grade Two student at a junior secondary school in Shanghai, has no programming background. She began using AI only last year, as reported by the Shanghai Morning Post.

At a national AI product marketing competition held in Hangzhou from August 21 to August 23, Shuhan secured the third prize of 5,000 yuan, competing against over 50 participants.

The contest did not include technical judges; instead, winners were selected based on their AI-generated apps’ income during the three-day period.

The app Shuhan created, called Zai Chang (translated as On Site in English), garnered 90 orders, resulting in total sales of 18,000 yuan, which helped her attain third place in the competition.

Once a parent uploads a photo of themselves using the app, the system assumes the role of a virtual parent, supervising their child while they complete homework.

Should the camera detect that the child is playing on a mobile device or leaving their seat, the virtual parent displayed on the screen will issue a voice reminder.

Upon completion of the homework, the app generates a “concentration report.”

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