A 13-year-old Shanghai student built an AI virtual study companion using natural language prompts and earned 18,000 yuan in 3 days at a no-judge hackathon. No coding skills required. For parents and teens interested in AI creation.
Tags:Shanghai Girl, 13, Made 18,000 Yuan in 3 Days with AI – Without Knowing How to Code
A 13‑year‑old girl from Shanghai just proved that you don’t need to know how to code to build a profitable AI product.
Zhu Shuhan , an eighth‑grader, earned over 18,000 yuan in three days – with an AI‑powered “virtual study companion” she built using nothing but natural language prompts. She took third place in a nationwide “no‑judge” AI hackathon in Hangzhou.
The twist? She only started using AI a year ago – and she barely knows how to program.
Her App: A Virtual Parent for Homework
Zhu's app is called “Zai Chang” – which means “being present” in Chinese. Upload a photo of a parent, and the app turns it into a virtual study supervisor. When the camera detects the child playing on their phone or leaving their seat, the on-screen “parent” speaks up. After the session, it generates a focus report for parents.
The idea came from her own struggle: “My parents don’t have time to watch me study, and I sometimes get distracted and secretly play on my phone.”
She described her idea to an AI in plain language – and the AI helped her structure the logic and generate the code. From idea to working product took her only about three or four days, on and off.
“AI showed me that as long as you have a good idea, you can make it happen,” she said.
The Competition: No Judges, Just Real Sales
Markethon was China’s first “no‑judge” marketing hackathon. There was no panel, no scorecard, no subjective grading. The only judge was the market – paying users.
Over 48 hours, more than 50 teams competed. Zhu set herself a goal: 500 sales. She didn't make it – but nearly 90 orders and 18,000 yuan in revenue is a solid achievement for an eighth‑grader.
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She’s Not Alone
Zhu's story is part of a larger trend.
Around the same time, another 13‑year‑old girl, Lyu Sitong, had already developed over 100 AI applications and landed commercial deals worth over 1 million yuan. Her first project was “Frog Tutor” – a 24/7 AI English speaking partner she built because she felt her school's foreign teacher classes weren't enough.
What they share: they built their apps to solve real problems they personally faced – starting with their own frustrations, not technical skills.
Not long ago, building a product meant learning to code. Now, you can just describe your idea to AI in plain language – and it helps you build it.
AI is making creation accessible to anyone who has a good idea and the willingness to act.
Source: 新闻坊
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