Zhejiang University Library: Where knowledge meets creation

Beyond traditional study, the space is a launchpad for student-led AI development, theater, and ancient book restoration, fostering an atmosphere of invention, Chen Ye reports in Hangzhou.

Zhejiang University Library is expanding its role beyond a place for reading and study, creating spaces where students can turn knowledge and ideas into AI applications, theatrical productions and exhibitions, and even step into the shoes of ancient-book restorers.

At the library's X-Lab innovation workshop, six students sit at computers, debugging AI agents they have designed themselves. Zhang Yuning, a student at Zhejiang University's School of Medicine, feeds a clinical case into a prototype. The system extracts the patient's chief complaint, clinical examinations and diagnostic evidence, generates a timeline, divides tasks among group members and estimates the time required. Within moments, the outline of a PowerPoint presentation takes shape.

"The task-allocation assistant is designed to save students from repetitive work so they can focus on deeper investigation," Zhang says. These tools can also assist with differential diagnosis, imaging examinations and literature searches.