AI gives every student a personalized tutor: Sal Khan

• Khan Academy founder Sal Khan recently gave a TED talk on the potential impact of AI on education.
• He said the technology could provide individual tutoring to all students on a large scale.
• AI tools like ChatGPT divide the world of education, with some accepting and some outlawing.

Discussions about AI adoption across industries are polarizing, with the technology being particularly hotly debated in education.

Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy, an educational nonprofit that aims to provide free learning resources, isn’t necessarily afraid of the technology.

In a TED Talk published this week, Khan explained the potential benefits AI could bring across the education sector, likening the potential to a personalized tutor for every student.

“I think we’re on the cusp of using AI for probably the biggest positive change education has ever seen,” he said. “The way we do it is by providing every student on the planet with an amazing personal tutor with artificial intelligence.”

During his presentation, Khan demoed his organization’s chatbot called Khanmigo. Khanmigo is able to help students in a variety of subjects including mathematics, computer his science, and writing. The chatbot was launched in March as part of a pilot program for Khan Academy’s partners. Over 500 public school districts and schools have been invited to test and provide feedback using the chatbot.

The public can join the chatbot waitlist, but anyone under the age of 18 must be signed up by a parent. According to Khan Academy, those selected from the waiting list will be asked to donate $20 each month.

Powered by GPT-4, Khanmigo helps users solve problems instead of giving them answers.

For example, when given an algebra problem and asked for an answer, the chatbot says, “As your friendly AI tutor, Khanmigo, I am here to help you learn and understand the problem, not just give you the answer.” I’m in.”

The chatbot asked users what they thought was the first step in solving the equation. If the user made a mistake in the order of operations, Khammigo instructed the user on the correct way to proceed and asked them to try again.

Khanmigo can also act as a virtual academic coach, providing guidance on college and career plans, Khan said.

“In my school, the student-to-guidance-counselor ratio was about 200 to 300 to 1,” Khan said.

According to Khan, AI can also provide teachers with personalized assistance by helping with pre-class tasks such as lesson planning, report card filling, and common administrative tasks. This means that you can spend more time working with students.

Khan Academy did not immediately respond to an insider’s request for comment.

The world of education seems to be split on the role of generative AI in the classroom.

Some teachers, like high school math and science teacher Shannon Ahern, have praised ChatGPT for its ability to help them create lesson plans, worksheets, and quizzes.

Wharton Business School Professor Ethan Morrick requires his students to use ChatGPT. He highlights how this technology can be beneficial for non-native English speakers when composing emails and letters.

However, many schools and universities prohibit the use of ChatGPT due to concerns about possible plagiarism and misinformation.

For example, the New York City Department of Education, Seattle Public Schools, and the Los Angeles Unified School District have all blocked chatbots from their school networks.

Business leaders like Bill Gates argue that learning how to take advantage of AI technology is critical to future success, and since the technology already exists, learning how to use it is critical. I point out that there is.

“I think I am actively participating in this decision,” Khan said.

“We are fighting hard for positive use cases,” he added. “Perhaps the most powerful use case, and perhaps the most poetic use case, is when AI (artificial intelligence) can be used to augment HI (human intelligence).”