Will Chatbots Teach Your Children? Khan Academy and Bill Gates Are Working on It

theodp writes: Sal Khan, the founder and CEO of Khan Academy, predicted last year that AI tutoring bots would soon revolutionize education. His vision of tutoring bots tapped into a decades-old Silicon Valley dream: automated teaching platforms that instantly customize lessons for each student (NYT, alt. source). Proponents argue that developing such systems would help close achievement gaps in schools by delivering relevant, individualized instruction to children faster and more efficiently than human teachers ever could. But some education researchers say schools should be wary of the hype around AI-assisted instruction, warning that generative AI tools may turn out to have harmful or "degenerative" effects on student learning.

Khan is one of the most visible proponents of tutoring bots. His Khan Academy introduced a ChatGPT-powered AI chatbot named Khanmigo last year specifically for school use that's been touted by Bill Gates. Gates, who has predicted AI will be 'as good a tutor as any human', explained that his AI 'Aha!' moment came as GPT-4 was first unveiled at a dinner party at his house for 30 invitees, including CEO-led contingents from Gates-advised OpenAI and Microsoft. Trained by OpenAI on Khan Academy course materials in response to an earlier challenge from Gates, OpenAI was able to ace the AP Biology exam in what Gates called a 'mind blowing' demo (Khan recalled in August how OpenAI reached out to him to help them dazzle Gates, as well as efforts to improve ChatGPT's math proficiency, another Gates concern). Microsoft subsequently upped its bet on AI, including an additional $10B for OpenAI, which has been credited for helping boost Microsoft's market cap over Apple.

Gates is also one of Khan Academy's biggest backers — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided the nonprofit with nearly $40 million in grants since 2010. And in November, the Gates Foundation committed $4.5 million to Khan Academy Districts "to become the leading Math supplemental curriculum solution in the US to improve engagement, and persistence leading to enhanced Math outcomes for priority students." That grant — and another $1.1 million grant made in November to [Khan Academy TeachAI partner] Code.org "to establish a coalition that develops updated curriculum standards, courses, tools, and assessments to prepare students safely and equitably for an age of Artificial Intelligence" — jibes nicely with dozens of $100K grants the Gates Foundation made in the preceding months to K-12 organizations, including the New York City and Chicago public schools, "to leverage artificial intelligence in conducting research and development in support of math outcomes for students who are Black, Latino, and/or from low-income backgrounds."

Explaining his AI vision in November, Gates wrote, "If a tutoring agent knows that a kid likes [Microsoft] Minecraft and Taylor Swift, it will use Minecraft to teach them about calculating the volume and area of shapes, and Taylor’s lyrics to teach them about storytelling and rhyme schemes. The experience will be far richer—with graphics and sound, for example—and more personalized than today’s text-based tutors." The NY Times article notes that similar enthusiasm greeted automated teaching tools in the 1960s, but predictions that that the mechanical and electronic "teaching machines' — which were programmed to ask students questions on topics like spelling or math — would revolutionize education didn't pan out. So, is this time different?