Why There Are No AI Shortcuts to a Good Education

Will AI be the technology that finally revolutionizes education?

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

With the rise of ChatGPT and other powerful generative AI systems, it’s worth re-asking the question, Will this new generation of digital technology improve education? I place my bets on “no” – not much, and not in a way that really matters.

I first need to explain what I mean by improving education “in a way that really matters.” Put simply, it means getting closer to the goal of high-quality education for everyone. And, that in turn means a higher-quality education for the children of lower-income and/or less-educated families of the world. The children of richer, well-educated families are not who we’re worried about – with or without technology, they’re getting a good education already and will continue to do so.[i]

Next, so as to be able to discuss concretely what current AI might do for learning, I refer to Khanmigo, an AI-powered tutor that Khan Academy has built on ChatGPT, an overview of which appears in a TED talk that founder Salman Khan gave in …