How AI and Humans Will Transform the Current Education System

We need a new type of classroom.

Few things are more important than education. Unfortunately, the U.S. education system has been under siege for years, with understaffed schools, overcrowded classrooms, and overworked, underpaid teachers. The government’s own NAEP issued a Nation’s Report Card revealing less than a third of U.S. eighth graders can do grade-level math. I believe we can no longer accept a system that’s failing so many of our students.

The greatest problem stems from the fact we’re still applying a rigid, century-old education model to the challenges of our modern world. Today’s teachers hold the impossible job of educating 20, 30, or even 40 students in a classroom, kids from vastly different backgrounds and aptitudes — with no time to focus on personalized learning.

In this environment, a teacher doesn't have time to give each student the attention they require to excel. As a result, gifted students quickly get bored with the standard curriculum, while struggling students fall further behind, which is often where they’ll remain. Research shows that an underperforming student in third grade is likely to remain an underperforming student when they reach eighth grade because the system isn’t designed to identify exact knowledge gaps and catch kids up.

Years of learning science show one-on-one instruction is highly effective at achieving individual student mastery in academic subjects. Yet that solution is out of reach for most schools.

A New Type Of Classroom

Over the years, school systems and specialized learning institutions have employed different methods aimed at fixing problems with student comprehension, but few have addressed the core issue: the lack of qualified teachers. According to a survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, close to 90% of public school districts struggle to hire qualified teachers and 45% of public schools report feeling understaffed going into the 2023-2024 school year.

Ten years ago, I examined the systemic problems with traditional education and decided we needed a fundamental paradigm shift. We needed to re-imagine education. I opened a private school where students can learn at their own pace through tech-based, personalized systems as an alternative to the lecture-based, crowded classroom approach. My program wouldn’t be possible without the incredible advances in AI that allow learning apps to adapt to each student’s needs and aptitude level.

But technology alone isn’t enough to transform education. I believe that the future of education lies in the synthesis of human expertise and AI tools; combining these two powerful forces will allow us to create accessible, scalable and affordable educational models for all students. Here are some of the key ways educators can use AI to upend the status quo and address students’ individual needs.

Customized Curriculum And Support

At the 2023 Stanford University AI+Education Summit, researchers, students, and industry leaders discussed the opportunities and challenges around AI in education. One of the big takeaways from the event was that "great teachers remain the cornerstone of effective learning," but "AI presents an opportunity to support teachers as they refine their craft at scale."

Participants were excited about the potential for AI to help educators quickly update curriculum, assess student aptitudes and adapt lessons to individual students with real-time feedback, plus recommend strategies for bridging knowledge gaps.

Traditional school systems don’t historically succeed at identifying these gaps because their approach isn’t personalized. If a student misses a concept, the class moves on. That student may never achieve full comprehension, which can lead to poor grades, frustration and disengagement or worse — absenteeism and later, the decision to drop out of school.

AI excels at identifying what students know and don’t know. Adaptive, AI-powered apps can pinpoint a student’s academic abilities and knowledge gaps so educators can create a curriculum tailored to their specific needs and intervene before a student sinks into that spiral of frustration.

Cooperative Co-Teaching

AI has infinite time and patience. It doesn't care how long a lesson takes or how many times students ask a question. It will continue to work with students until they've mastered a concept.

These qualities are especially helpful for educators who are managing busy classrooms with learners of different levels and needs. In the traditional model, educators often get bogged down in grading papers and figuring out how to provide customized curriculum, when they really want to work directly with their students. AI is a smart, reliable aide that frees them up to focus on the part of teaching they love.

Creative Solutions

AI excels at delivering creative lessons and learning aids that engage students through their unique interests. For example, when my daughter was studying for her AP art exam, she used AI to create her own study tool — Taylor Swift-style songs with the lyrics adjusted to help her memorize concepts for her exam.

Think about how long it would have taken for a human teacher to do the same thing for a single student, let alone an entire classroom. In contrast, AI can deliver incredibly creative, customized solutions that engage students in ways that were impossible before.

Looking To The Future

While AI can be an excellent teacher’s aide, the human element is crucial in education. For all the good it can do, AI doesn't understand human motivation, empathy, or connection.

For example, we had a student come to us as a fourth-grader who was falling behind academically. One of our guides (we often refer to our teachers as “guides”) got to know the student and his interests, figuring out he loved football and, specifically, the Denver Broncos. The guide showed him the class leaderboard and asked where he would be if this were an NFL draft. The student concluded that he wouldn't be drafted at all, based on his performance, and that relatable reference to football motivated this disengaged student to take his studies seriously. AI doesn't understand this kind of interaction, so human teachers or guides need to work hand in hand with AI to connect with students on a personal level.

I believe AI will continue to be a game-changer in education. School districts that ban it stand to put their students at a distinct disadvantage. It would be like a school banning student internet use 20 years ago. One of the biggest benefits of using AI in the classroom is that it prepares students for the future, helping them become comfortable with new technologies and develop valuable skills.

If educators can harness AI’s best applications to complement their own methods, knowledge and experience, they can make critical improvements to an ineffective system while providing students with some of the most important tools they’ll need for future success — both in academics and in life.

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Are you ready for AI in the classroom? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments. (And thanks for reading!)