Shanghai Girl, 13, Earns 18,000 Yuan in 3 Days With AI Study App

A 13-year-old Shanghai student has drawn online attention after earning more than 18,000 yuan (US$2,700) in three days with an AI app she developed, Shanghai Television Station has reported.

Zhu Shuhan, who has just entered the eighth grade, took third place at Markethon, a marketing hackathon held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, from August 21 to 23.

The event was billed as China's first marketing hackathon with no judges or score sheets. More than 50 teams had 48 hours to sell their AI products, and the only standard was whether real users were willing to pay.

Zhu's product, called Zaichang, is a virtual study companion app. After users upload a photo of a parent, the app creates a "virtual parent" to supervise a child doing homework.

When the camera detects that the child is using a phone or leaving the seat, the virtual parent gives a voice reminder. After the study session, the app generates a focus report.

"I don't like tattling, so I hoped it could be gentler and leave children a little space," Zhu said.

She said the idea came from her own experience. Her parents could not always sit with her while she did homework, and she sometimes lost focus or secretly played with her phone.

Zhu had little programming knowledge and first came into contact with AI only a year ago, according to the report. She described her ideas to large language models in natural language, asking AI to help organize the logic and generate code.

She said it took her three or four days, on and off, to build the core functions.

"AI made me realize that as long as you have a good idea, you can make it happen," Zhu said.

Zhu had set herself a goal of selling 500 copies during the competition. She did not reach that target, but received nearly 90 orders and earned 18,000 yuan, a substantial first income for a junior high school student.