MIT Technology Review August 2, 2019
According to one estimate, China led the way investing over $1 billion globally last year in AI education. Tech giants, startups, and education incumbents have all jumped in. Tens of millions of students now use some form of AI to learn. Three things have fueled China’s AI education boom. The first is tax breaks and other incentives for AI ventures, academic competition in China is fierce and Chinese entrepreneurs have masses of data at their disposal to train and refine their algorithms. Squirrel, one of the largest AI education companies in China, also opened a joint research lab with Carnegie Mellon University this year to study personalized learning at scale, then export it globally. Experts worry about the direction this rush to AI in education is taking. At best, they say, AI can help teachers foster their students’ interests and strengths. At worst, it could further entrench a global trend toward standardized learning and testing, leaving the next generation ill prepared to adapt in a rapidly changing world of work…read more.