OpenAI co·-founder Andrej Karpathy envisions a world where AI bots can become subject matter experts who are "passionate, good at teaching, infinitely patient, and fluent in every language in the world." With this vision, robots will be able to "provide on-demand personal coaching to our 8 billion people."

The idea was laid off at his company, Eureka Labs, the latest striking example of tech entrepreneurs trying to use artificial intelligence to revolutionize education.

Karpathy believes that AI can solve a long-standing challenge: the current shortage of teachers in schools who are both subject experts and teachers.

In addition to Karpathy, Silicon Valley is also home to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Khan Academy CEO Sal Khan, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and UC Berkeley computer scientist Stuart Russell also dream of making robots on-demand mentors, mentors, and possibly even replacement for human teachers.

But according to a researcher who focuses on artificial intelligence and other new writing techniques, he has seen many failed high-tech "solutions" to teaching problems. AI can certainly enhance all aspects of education, but history shows that robots may not be an effective replacement for humans. This is because students have long shown resistance to machines, not only because of their relative complexity, but also because people naturally tend to connect with and be inspired by their fellow human beings.

The cost challenge of teaching writing to the masses

A director of the English Composition Program at the University of Pittsburgh said he oversees the teaching of about 7,000 students each year. Projects like the one he leads have long been grappling with how to effectively teach writing to multiple people at the same time.

The best answer so far is: keep class sizes to no more than 15 students. Studies have shown that students learn to write better in small class sizes because they are more engaged.

However, small class sizes require more faculty, which can become expensive for school districts and universities. 

Resurrect departed scholars

Enter the artificial intelligence platform. Karpathy proposes to imagine that Richard Feynman, a great theoretical physic·ist who has been dead for more than 35 years, could be resurrected as a robot to tutor students.

For Karpathy, the ideal learning experience is to "learn the physical material with Feynman, who will guide you every step of the way." Feynman is known for his approachable way of presenting theoretical physics, and he can work with an unlimited number of students at the same time.

In this vision, human teachers still design course materials, but they are supported by AI teaching assistants. Karpathy writes that this team of AI teachers "can run the entire curriculum on a common platform." "If we succeed, anyone can easily learn anything", whether it is a lot of people learning one subject, or one person learning many subjects.

Other efforts to personalize learning are not as good as they could be

However, individual-oriented learning techniques are not new. Exactly 100 years ago, at the 1924 meeting of the United States Psychological Society, inventor Sidney ·Pressey introduced an "automatic teacher" made of typewriter parts that could ask multiple-choice questions.

In the 50s of the 20th century, the psychologist B.F. Skinner designed the "teaching machine". If the student answers the question correctly, the machine proceeds to ask for the next step in that question. If not, the student continues with this step of problem solving until it is resolved.

In both cases, students received positive feedback on the correct answers. This gives them confidence and skills in the subject. The problem is that students don't learn much — and they also find these non-human methods boring, education writer Audrey · Waters writes in Teaching Machines.

Recently, the education world has witnessed the rise and fall of "massive open online courses" (MOOCs). The courses, which offer videos and quizzes, have been praised by The New York Times and other media outlets for their commitment to democratizing education. However, the students again lost interest and withdrew from these platforms.

Students need to connect with others and be inspired

Other web-based efforts have sprung up, including course platforms like Coursera and Outlier. But the same problem remains: there is no real interaction to keep students engaged. One of the latest "victims" in the online learning space is 2U, which acquired leading MOOC company edX in 2021 and filed for bankruptcy restructuring in July 2024 to reduce its $945 million debt burden. The main culprit: declining demand for services.

There is now a proliferation of AI-powered platforms. Khan Academy, founded by Sal Khan, launched Khanmigo AI Tutor to "personalize and customize tutoring, and adapt to individual needs, while being there for learners as they learn." ”

Pearson, an educational publisher, is also incorporating AI into its educational materials. More than 1,000 colleges will adopt these materials in the fall of 2024.

It can be said that artificial intelligence in education is not only coming, but it is already here. The question is how effective it is.

Disadvantages of AI in the field of learning

Some tech pioneers believe that robots can tailor teaching and replace human teachers and mentors, but they may face the same problem as early attempts: students may not like it.

There are important reasons for this. Students are less likely to be as inspired and excited as live instructors. Students in crisis often turn to trusted adults such as teachers and coaches for help. Will they do the same with robots? If they did, what would the bot do? We don't know yet.

Lack of data privacy and security can also be a hindrance. These platforms collect a lot of information about students and their academic performance, which can be misused or sold. Legislation may try to prevent this, but some popular platforms may not be fully regulated.

Finally, even as AI tutors and teachers become popular, there will still be other concerns. For example, if robots teach millions of students at the same time, we could lose the diversity of thought. Where does originality come from when everyone is taught the same, especially if "academic success" relies on repeating what an AI instructor says?

The idea of having an AI mentor in everyone's pocket sounds exciting. We'd also love to learn physics from Richard · Feynman, writing from Maya · Maya Angelou, or astronomy from ·Carl Sagan. But history reminds us to be cautious and pay close attention to whether students are actually learning. The promise of personalized learning has not yet guaranteed positive outcomes.

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