Despite the growth of some AI schools like Alpha, research doesn’t show that AI tutors are better than human teachers
Publish Date: 2026-07-13 08:05:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
Over the past decade, the AI-focused, for-profit Alpha School has grown from one campus in Austin, Texas, to a growing list of more than 15 schools across the country, including in major cities like New York and San Francisco.
Alpha School joins other AI-centric K-12 private schools, like Unbound Academy and the Khan Lab School, that parents can now choose for their children, paying anywhere from US$40,000 to $75,000 in some cases each year.
Some advocates of AI-driven education use slogans like “School is broken, and we’re here to fix it.”
MacKenzie Price, one of Alpha School’s co-founders, has described her frustration with the “one-size-fits-all” model of schooling, in which all students study the same material, but often learn at different speeds.
Sal Khan, the founder of the online educational platform Khan Academy, has also argued that artificial intelligence could give every student an individual tutor that is responsive to their specific needs.
And Bill Gates is among the tech thought leaders who have speculated that AI will replace many teachers within the next decade.
The argument for more personalized education may be a good one in some cases. But it also risks creating a false dichotomy where all AI programs are seen as responsive and motivating, and all classroom teaching is rote lecturing.
As a scholar of education policy who does research on AI and teachers, I recognize that reality is far more complicated.
The promise of AI tutoring
Alpha School replaces traditional, in-person instruction for K-12 students with personalized AI tutoring that condenses reading, math and other subjects into a two-hour study period.
The two-hour AI tutoring block is supplemented with in-person workshops and what the school calls “coaches” or “guides,” who are not necessarily licensed teachers. These sessions can focus on nonacademic life skills, like public speaking and entrepreneurship, as well as art and physical…
