The Incredible Results of AI Learning | A New Philosophy of Education
AI > Human Teachers
Nothing has made me more optimistic about our AI future than visiting Alpha School.
The dominant doomer narrative is that, even if we solve alignment, AI will automate so much that humans will be left with nothing but meaningless hedonism. As AI does more and more humans are reduced to less and less.
Alpha School shows us that there exists an alternate path where human potential is realized, not truncated, by AI and where work becomes more meaningful.
I shadowed Alpha’s co-founder MacKenzie Price for a week and was blown away by what I saw. They’ve replaced all of their human teachers with AI tutors that are able to offer bespoke, custom instruction to each student — the same kind of tutorship previously reserved for the aristocracy now scalable through technology. Her students spend only 2 hours a day on academics and yet consistently score 99th percentile in standardized testing and go on to study in the best colleges in the world.
But what about teachers who now have all lost their jobs? They are hired as “guides” who dedicate all of their time to understanding and motivating their students instead of grading papers on the same basic material over and over again. For many, AI has freed them to spend more time on what attracted them to teaching in the first place — building human connection and inspiring the next generation.
In this interview, we dive deep into Alpha’s philosophy and gain insight into the perennial questions in the philosophy of education:
Can virtue be taught?
Does nature overpower nurture?
What is the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?
This interview is part of our Cosmos series on philosophy, AI, and entrepreneurship. At Cosmos, we deliver educational programs, fund research, invest in AI startups, and believe that philosophy is critical to building better technology. If you want to join our ecosystem of philosopher-builders, you can find roles we are hiring for, events we are hosting, and other ways to get involved on Johnathanbi.com/cosmos
Topics We Cover:
1:54 Our Education System is Obsolete
9:10 AI Tutors, 10x Learning
23:38 Confidence Can Be Taught
36:33 Universities In The Age of AI
40:14 How to Get Kids to Love School
42:22 External vs. Intrinsic Motivation
54:20 We Pay Kids Cold Hard Cash
1:02:13 Kids Want More School