The Evolution of Education and Tutoring

For the majority of human history, public schooling was virtually nonexistent for most children.

An article by Superprof delves into this historical context, stating:

From antiquity to the Middle Ages, almost no schools, as we would recognize them, existed… Education was largely the privilege of a small elite. In the Western world, personal tutors were primarily philosophers, sophists, and rhetoric instructors.

This one-on-one tutoring approach is often referred to as the aristocratic tutoring model.

This was the method through which the elite—kings, emperors, and a select few—received their education. A notable historical figure is Alexander the Great, who was tutored by Aristotle.

Marcus Aurelius, one of the most renowned Roman emperors, also had personal tutors, including Fronto the rhetorician and Diognetus the Stoic philosopher.

From the Middle Ages onward, there has been a gradual increase in access to universal education through various class-based teaching methods.

But how do we know that personal tutoring is superior to traditional classroom learning?

In the 1980s, educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom conducted extensive studies comparing different educational models, including personal tutoring versus classroom instruction.

His findings regarding students who received tutoring may surprise you. He discovered that:

… individually tutored students performed two standard deviations (2 sigma) better than those who learned through conventional methods—the average tutored student outperformed 98% of the students in the control group.

In simpler terms, a two standard deviations difference indicates that personal tutoring significantly enhances educational outcomes compared to traditional teaching.

Bloom himself described the findings this way:

The tutoring process shows that most students can reach high levels of learning. An essential task for research and teaching is to find ways to achieve this under more practical conditions than one-on-one tutoring, which is often too costly for most societies. This is known as the ‘2 sigma’ problem.

But do you think Bloom might have been mistaken about his proposed solution?

Is it possible to provide personalized tutoring on a large scale at minimal cost?

A Brief Overview of AI Fundamentals

To provide a quick overview of AI, large language models (LLMs) that drive AI have been trained on vast amounts of textual data, including much of the internet, millions of books, documents, and more.

These AI systems have absorbed and learned this information, allowing you to interact with them by asking questions about what they know—services like ChatGPT being a prime example.

Here are a few key points to remember:

1. Modern AIs possess more knowledge than any single human has ever had.
2. These AIs are available at low or no cost for individual and large-scale use.

It's also crucial to understand that 'hallucinations' remain a persistent issue with these AIs, which means they may occasionally produce inaccurate information. Therefore, it's wise to verify any critical information they provide.

Can AI Address the 2 Sigma Challenge?

Khan Academy, an online learning platform, recently launched an AI tutoring bot named Khanmigo. In essence, it's a tailored version of ChatGPT designed to serve as your personal tutor.

Sal Khan, the founder of Khan Academy, stated:

We’re on the verge of harnessing AI for what could be the most significant positive transformation in education.

In this brief video, Sal Khan introduces Khanmigo.

So, what can Khanmigo offer you?

• It delivers one-on-one AI-based tutoring in a conversational format.
• It can create, plan, and implement lessons and learning objectives tailored to specific subjects and levels.
• It acts like a coach, providing suggestions and feedback as you write, collaborate, and debate.
• It can embody the personas of historical figures, such as Einstein or Plato, answering questions in character.
• It assists with coding, offering suggestions and feedback on your programming.
• It provides teachers with insights about student progress through reports and recommendations.
• It operates at scale, delivering customized support for millions of students.
• It can be used independently or as a supplement to traditional teaching methods.

A review from The Business Standard highlighted:

What distinguishes Khanmigo is its emphasis on understanding students' reasoning and thought processes, prioritizing conceptual comprehension over mere rote memorization.

I would categorize Khanmigo as a Customized AI, whereas I would consider ChatGPT a General AI, which you may have encountered or used.

I anticipate seeing an increasing number of these customized AIs, such as Khanmigo, across education and other sectors, simplifying the use of AI for specific tasks compared to more general platforms like ChatGPT.

No matter your current level or the subject you wish to explore, I believe AI-assisted personalized tutoring will soon be available to help you learn anything more effectively and efficiently.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and creator of ChatGPT, concurs:

Education must evolve, as it has throughout history with technology… one of the most exciting advancements is the capacity to deliver individualized learning—exceptional individual learning for every student.

While Khanmigo is a paid service, ChatGPT remains free of charge.

Though ChatGPT isn’t specifically tailored for educational purposes, it can still perform many of the functions mentioned earlier, such as providing feedback on your work and answering questions across a wide range of topics—serving as a personalized tutor.

I personally utilize ChatGPT for my tutoring needs, whether to explore certain subjects or to review and receive feedback on my writing.

I have also leveraged ChatGPT to discuss and analyze books I’m familiar with or to gain insights into unfamiliar texts.

Derek Slater penned a compelling article detailing how you can utilize free AI services like ChatGPT as a personal tutor for your educational journey.

Conclusion

Throughout history, personalized one-on-one tutoring has been regarded as the ultimate teaching method—the most effective way to facilitate learning.

This is knowledge that ancient kings and emperors understood for centuries, now validated by contemporary science.

In his article ‘Why We Stopped Making Einsteins,’ Erik Hoel observed:

By transforming education into a mass production system, we established a remarkably democratic framework that benefited the majority of people and improved society as a whole. However, this shift also meant losing the most exceptional and innovative minds, those intellectual Stradivari, who were nurtured through a more artisanal process… Consequently, our intellectual culture is filled with individuals who resemble mass-produced replicas of their aristocratic predecessors. While they serve their purpose and are of decent quality, they lack the same depth and uniqueness.

I believe that AI is key to reintroducing the personalized one-on-one tutoring approach that can help unlock everyone's potential, including yours.

This time, however, with AI-assisted personal tutoring available to millions worldwide, helping you and others learn nearly anything at little to no cost.

I believe this will empower you and all of us to confront the world's most pressing challenges together, armed with the best knowledge, skills, and education we can access.

Do you want to stay updated? Subscribe to my free weekly newsletter, ‘The FuturAI,’ for the latest news and developments on how AI is impacting society and humanity today and in the future.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe AI can positively influence education, or do you hold a more skeptical view?

I’d love to hear your opinions. Share your thoughts in the comments, and let’s keep this crucial conversation about AI and education going.