Are AI tutors safe for your kids?

AI is disrupting sectors as diverse as healthcare and marketing. Now it is the turn of education. Governments sense an opportunity to save costs and improve outcomes for students. Schools are exploring tools that can adapt exercises to individual students while parents spot a chance to improve their children’s education without the expense of sending them to private tutors. But as with anything AI-shaped, there are rewards as well as risks.

Over-dependence and cognitive laziness are often touted as parental concerns. But there may also be security and privacy issues, especially if you’re using a glorified chatbot. Parents should understand the limits of machine intelligence.

The market for AI tutoring tools is booming. According to one estimate, it’s set to grow from around $2bn to over $17.7bn between 2025 and 2033. The British government has already invited edtech and AI companies to design tools for the classroom. It claims that as many as 450,000 disadvantage pupils could benefit, saying AI could help families that are unable to afford private tutors. In the US, the picture varies from district to district but the direction of travel is broadly similar, with AI and tech firms introducing specialized tools for students and teachers.

The market is maturing fast. Today, you can find various types of AI tutor tools to buy and use. Indeed, the term “AI tutor” is applied to a remarkably broad range of products. Some are little more than general-purpose chatbots with an educational label while others are structured learning systems built around a curriculum.