Chinese app frees parents from checking math homework

HANGZHOU — A tech company in East China's Zhejiang province has developed the software which can free parents from checking math assignments.

The app, "Love Homework," was developed by Hangzhou Dana. By simply taking a photo, it can check arithmetic problems in one second, with over 95 percent accuracy.

The free app has gained widespread high praise from parents and teachers alike since its launch in early September, with more than 400,000 downloads in three weeks.

"I have never seen an app receiving such a warm, enthusiastic reception in my 20 years of career," said Luo Huan, co-founder of Dana.

The idea of the app came from Mao Lihui, who works at Dana. Father of a primary school student, Mao spent a lot of time and energy checking his kid's assignments every day.

"There are about 60 math questions a page, sometimes 100. I hate checking homework after a long day at work," Mao said.

"Some parents said they spent at least an hour checking these questions," said Chen Mingquan, another co-founder.

The Dana team analyzed the handwriting of Chinese children and trained the computers to recognize the figures even when the handwriting was careless, with overlapping corrections or on thin paper.

A mother surnamed Xu downloaded the app on the recommendation of other parents. "It saved me a lot of time and the accuracy was better than my own. Plus, my kid and I don't quarrel about the questions when we come up with different answers," she said. "I hope they come up with more, similar homework-checking apps."

Feng Dingying, a math teacher, said artificial intelligence can replace humans in repetitive work. "It allows educators and parents to put more effort in motivating the students," said Feng.