"Science popularization is not about watering science down, but bringing knowledge to life — winning broader public support and pooling innovative strength," said Liu He, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), at a symposium on science popularization, creation and publishing.

The symposium was held in Taiyuan, Shanxi province in north China, on November 3, during an event to promote the books nationally recognized as  excellent in popularizing science in 2026, as well as launch the Jinwen AI, a large model dedicated to Shanxi culture.

Understanding is the first step. "Putting the complex science into the most everyday words means to turn jargon into metaphors, principles into animation, and achievements into stories," Liu said.

He cited examples from the oil industry. When the technical term "kerogen hydrocarbon generation" is likened to obtaining lard from pork belly or fracturing stimulation is likened to building underground "highways," these professional concepts become easier to understand.

New technologies such as AI are reshaping the way people engage with popular science.

"People are getting used to digital and electronic reading, gravitating toward fragmented, multimedia science popularization formats," said Xu Xing, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Liu echoed Xu, noting that AI large models are moving traditional science popularization toward intelligent science popularization. "When traditional science books are combined with large models, readers can ask questions anytime, view dynamic geological diagrams, and understand the oil-gas fracturing process."

The publishing industry is also exploring AI-powered knowledge services. Through encyclopedia knowledge resource databases and integrated publishing laboratories, publishers are deepening innovation in AI, extended reality, and audio and short-video formats, transforming static books into interactive digital science products.

"Creating high-quality science popularization works calls for persistence," Chen Yonggang, vice president of China Publishing Group (CPG), said. He said the CPG will continue to uphold a content-oriented principle, connecting with science associations, research institutes, universities and science venues. It will also promote homegrown original science popularization intellectual properties going global, telling about China's sci-tech achievements and its ancient scientific civilization through international narratives.

Xu Minggang, a CAE academician, said Shanxi boasts rich historical and cultural resources. The event was a good platform to guide experts to focus on Shanxi and create more high-quality science popularization, thereby forming a regional science popularization brand with influence and practicality.