“You have to read” this new book on AI and education

The Microsoft co-founder recently took to social media to tout “Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (And Why It’s a Good Thing),” released last week. The book was written by Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy, a nonprofit educational organization, which is developing an experimental AI chatbot tutor called Khanmigo.

“If you are passionate about education, you need to read this book,” Gates wrote on the social media platform X. “Sal offers a compelling vision for harnessing AI to expand opportunity for all.”

In the book, Khan writes about the potential for AI-based systems – like ChatGPT, which powers Khanmigo – to “revolutionize the way we learn and teach” by helping overworked teachers and tailoring lessons to every student in the world entire.

AI tutoring could help “close the education gap” with direct help for low-income students, even in developing countries, Gates noted last year on his “Unconfused Me” podcast, in a episode featuring Khan.

“I think AI will be like a big high school teacher who actually grades your essay, and you go back and think, ‘OK, I have to go,'” said Gates, who funds Khan Academy in part through to a subsidy of $1.50. million dollars from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010.

Khan Academy has reportedly deployed Khanmigo to over 65,000 students. Nonetheless, the AI ​​tutoring program remains in an experimental phase and evaluators noted that the chatbot still regularly makes mathematical errors.

These kinds of mistakes are one reason why parents remain cautious about adopting AI for their children’s education, Barnard College child psychologist Tovah Klein told CNBC Make It last year. If you use AI tools alongside your children, you can teach them to check facts in real time, experts advise.

Looking ahead, Gates remains excited about AI’s potential to be a game-changer in global education – as the technology improves over the next decade and beyond.

“If we think about the next 10 years, (in terms of) both the absolute level of learning and the gap with low-income minority students… these new tools can both narrow the gap and raise the overall level of achievement,” Gates said on the podcast.

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