As we're seeing across all kinds of industries, artificial intelligence (AI) is the next frontier in education. Now one charter school network is experimenting with using AI to teach students — and it's expanding its reach across the US.
Just before the holidays, the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools became the latest to approve an all-virtual, AI-driven school pitched by Unbound Academic Institute. Unbound Academy, set to open in August, will use personalized AI to teach fourth- to eighth-grade students via online platforms like Khan Academy and IXL.
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For two hours each morning, students will take science, literature, and math lessons while AI tracks their progress, adapting elements such as difficulty level and style based on each student's needs.
"The AI system will analyze their responses, time spent on tasks, and even emotional cues [via webcam] to optimize the difficulty and presentation of content," Unbound's charter application states. "This ensures that each student is consistently challenged at their optimal level, preventing boredom or frustration."
Unbound claims this approach "leads to mastery up to 2.4 times faster than in traditional educational settings," among other success metrics listed in its application. The model's goal is to empower what Unbound says is a disengaged generation of students, preparing them to succeed in a "rapidly changing modern world."
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The charter school will pilot the same "2hr Learning model" already operating in Alpha, a network of private schools run by Unbound Academic Institute. Alpha has several locations in Texas and Florida, with forthcoming locations in Santa Barbara, CA, and Phoenix (Unbound Academy will virtually serve the Tucson area).
ZDNET has contacted Unbound representatives for clarification on how its models are trained, and will update this story once we have that information.
Like Alpha schools, Unbound Academy won't have teachers. Instead, AI lessons are monitored by what the school calls "Guides" who intervene when needed using a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) approach. In a section of the application titled "No teachers, just guidance," Unbound says that "this human-in-the-loop approach, aligning with US Department of Education best practices, ensures that AI enhances, rather than replaces, human judgment" — a common method of framing AI implementation.
Unbound notes that large class sizes in traditional schools can hamper individual student attention, stating its guides will provide more hands-on, personalized encouragement — though its proposal budgets only eight guides for 250 students.
Alpha's website explains that guides are selected based on "their ability to motivate and know students," as well as plan effective workshops. "We select guides from top universities across the country with competitive backgrounds in fields like tech and start-ups," the site adds.
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After AI lessons in the morning, students will attend several hours of virtual "life skills workshops" on topics like financial literacy, public speaking, resilience, and critical thinking led by what Unbound calls "community mentors," who range "from local entrepreneurs to civic leaders."
The company notes in its charter application that Alpha schools are relatively expensive. Unbound Academy aims to make the program more accessible to lower-income and underserved demographics, providing enrolled families with laptops.
Many academic institutions have embraced AI as a teaching enhancement and educator tool. Many parents see knowledge of AI as essential to children's education. But classes taught entirely by AI models are a new step.
AI is especially good at personalization — applying that to education could yield results for students at different learning stages who aren't served by current one-size-fits-all structures or don't get the attention they need in a busy classroom. "Students can advance based on competency rather than age or time spent, beneficial for both struggling and gifted students," Unbound says.
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But the efficacy of online learning, which exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, is inconclusive at best, and that's when taught by credited teachers. A majority of educators themselves are skeptical of online learning. AI tutors, like the rest of the field, are proliferating, but nascent — their full impact may remain unclear until we have longer-term data from student use.