In 2026, the inaugural Fangtang AI4H Global Essay Contest officially launched, becoming China’s first human–AI collaborative academic writing competition centered on the theme of “AI for Humanities” and open to scholars worldwide. Submissions opened on March 1 and closed on April 15. Guided by the core mission of “treating AI as an academic partner to explore fundamental questions in the humanities,” the contest broke with the traditional tendency of academic competitions to sidestep AI tools. Instead, it invited AI openly “onto the stage,” encouraging participants to act as “curators of knowledge.” With a standardized collaboration process and rigorous evaluation criteria, the contest introduced a new competitive model for the co-development of humanities scholarship and AI.
The launch of the inaugural contest not only filled a gap—globally—in calls for submissions that foreground deep human–AI collaboration in humanities research; it also prompted sustained reflection across the field on how scholarly writing itself may need to change. By specifying clear requirements for an AI-collaboration appendix, the contest guided participants to present their human–AI dialogue process, collaborative methods, and critical reflections. This approach helped reduce originality disputes associated with AI misuse while also advancing methodological innovation in humanities research. As a key Fangtang Institute initiative in the emerging AI-and-humanities space, the contest offered a platform for exchange and visibility among scholars worldwide, laid the groundwork for future iterations, and supported the continued renewal and upgrading of humanities scholarship in the AI era.