AI is set to transform education — what enterprise leaders can learn from this development

After six decades of dreams and experiments, we could be at the dawn of a technological revolution in education. The Arizona State Council for Charter Schools recently approved the application by Unbound Academy for a new online school that will replace traditional teachers with AI teaching assistants, promising to provide students with 2.4 times more academic growth than conventional schools.

This advancement is not the result of another progressive technological experiment – ​​rather, it represents the latest chapter in a 60-year quest in computer-assisted instruction (CAI) to transform education through technology. This time the evidence suggests a real breakthrough could be close. If this Academy and other similar initiatives are successful, they will mark the realization of a long-held dream.

The idea of ​​using computers to facilitate student learning dates back to the 1950s, with the first application — Logic Programming for Automatic Teaching Operations (PLATO) — appeared in 1961. PLATO offered interactive lessons and real-time feedback using terminals connected by telephone lines to a time-sharing computer system. Like other timeshare systems, PLATO ultimately failed due to the high expenses required.

Other attempts at immersive experiential learning in the early 2000s included Second Life, a virtual world accessible via the Internet in which people participated as avatars. Although not explicitly a CAI tool, Second Life has demonstrated the potential of immersive virtual learning environments. At least at one point 300 universities worldwide, including Stanford And Harvard taught courses or conducted research on the platform. Ultimately, Second Life struggled due to a poor user interface (UI), robust technical requirements, a steep learning curve, and an inability to scale.

The advent of Generative AI in 2017 marked a turning point in CAI, with tools like Writable And Photomaths improve both teaching and learning. Writable, for example, uses AI to provide feedback on student writing, helping teachers manage large workloads. As reported by Axios, Writable uses ChatGPT to produce comments and observations that are sent to the teacher, who is expected to review and refine them before providing feedback to students.

Such tools highlight the growing role of AI in solving the long-standing resource constraints of traditional education. In some school districts in the United States, primary class size exceeds 40 students. If a teacher spent 10 minutes reading and critiquing each student’s written assignment, that would add up to 400 minutes, or more than 6.6 hours outside of class time, to provide feedback on an assignment. This seems untenable, especially in combination with evaluating other students’ assignments. The rise of technology will help meet this challenge.

AI-powered tutoring at scale

In a more global approach, the Khan Academyled by founder Sal Khan, has been offering free online educational tutorials since 2008. In 2023, the company launched Khanmigoan interactive AI tutor for students that integrates ChatGPT.

In a TED Conference 2023Khan spoke about the potential of Khanmigo to improve student performance. In the presentation he spoke of a 1984 paper titled “The 2 Sigma Problem” by education professor Benjamin Bloom, then at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University.

The oft-cited article claimed that students receiving one-on-one tutoring performed two standard deviations better than those receiving only traditional classroom instruction. However, Bloom was aware that this level of tutoring was not practical due to resource constraints, including the costs of hiring human tutors. Bloom believed the solution was to design more cost-effective interventions that could approximate the benefits of tutoring.

Khan argues that through the application of AI-based technology, Khanmigo effectively overcomes resource constraints. As Noted In a Harvard Business School case study, Khan said Khanmigo could be “that holy grail that we’ve all been talking about in science fiction for years, about an AI that could imitate a human tutor.”

Some have pointed out flaws in Bloom’s article, questioning the evidence supporting its conclusion and dismissing the claims as far-fetched. In an effort to “separate science fiction from scientific fact,” Paul von Hippel, professor and associate dean for research at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs, of opinion that the assertion of two standard deviations is both “exaggerated and oversimplified”. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the application of technological tools could improve academic results.

Balancing efficiency and human connection

While AI tools While these technologies hold enormous promise for addressing resource constraints, their adoption raises broader questions about the role of human connection in learning. Which brings us back to Unbound Academy. Students will spend two hours online each school morning completing AI-powered math, reading and science lessons. Tools like Khanmigo and IXL will personalize instruction and analyze progress, adjusting difficulty and content in real time to optimize learning outcomes. The Charter’s application states that “this ensures that each student is constantly challenged to their optimal level, thereby avoiding boredom or frustration.” »

Unbound Academy’s model significantly reduces the role of human teachers. Instead, human “guides” provide emotional support and motivation while leading workshops on life skills. What will students lose by spending most of their learning time with AI rather than human instructors, and how could this model reshape the teaching profession?

The Unbound Academy model is already used in several private schools and the results obtained are used to justify the benefits it claims. Yet it’s unclear how much impact a computer model will have on a student’s ability to form human connections outside of the traditional school setting. These issues and questions highlight the complex trade-offs that schools like Unbound Academy must face as they redefine the educational landscape.

Is the revolution here?

The Academy is not the only example of the use of AI in schools. Khanmigo is being tested in 266 school districts across the United States in grades three through twelve. reported by CBS, the software is used by both teachers and students. This pilot program offers insight into how AI could fit into existing education systems, helping both teachers and students by improving lesson planning, saving time and providing insights in real time on student progress.

CAI has come a long way since PLATO, although it took over 60 years. If AI-based models succeed, they could democratize access to high-quality education. While AI has the potential to widen existing disparities, it also offers unprecedented opportunities to bring quality education to underserved communities.

As schools like Unbound Academy and those piloting Khanmigo, pioneers of AI-based teaching models, they are not just testing a new teaching approach: they are challenging our fundamental assumptions about how learning happens and the role human teachers should play in that process. The findings could reshape education for generations to come.

Gary Grossman is senior vice president of the technology practice at Edelmann and Global Head of the Edelman AI Center of Excellence.