A sci-fi fantasy meets AI reality in online K-12 education.
“When we saw what’s possible with ChatGPT, it was pretty obvious to me that the world was about to change,” said Sal Khan, founder and CEO of Khan Academy.
Inspired by the ingenuity of emerging AI and the never-ending curiosity of his students, Khan developed a new online education technology called “Khanmigo.” Khanmigo is an intelligent tutoring system powered by AI that caters to the needs of students and educators. One of the first platforms to launch this AI technology for education was Khan World School, an online institution through Arizona State University with a focus on online education innovations.
But one curious Khan World School student in particular helped show just how impactful student engagement with AI can be.
“Her name is Saanvi,” said Khan. “She said, ‘I was reading The Great Gatsby and I kept wondering why he looked at the green light in the distance.’ Then Saanvi realized that she could actually talk to Jay Gatsby using Khanmigo.”
The AI simulated Jay Gatsby with his “old sport” catch phrase and all. And Saanvi not only got her answers, but she ended up having a very in-depth conversation with the AI version of this famous literary character. Her interaction alone put a spotlight on the positive impact that AI can have on student outcomes.
“It just shows you how immersive and how rich experiences like this are,” said Khan. “It unlocks a depth to any dimension of learning that would’ve seemed science fiction a year ago.”
