How EdTech startups are leveraging AI for education

This is the fourth webinar in the MIT Jameel World Education Lab’s AI Innovator Series. This panel explores how entrepreneurial companies are bringing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to education and developing new AI models to improve learning. Commercial firms are often the first to grapple with new technology advances - AI is no exception, and there is much to learn from their early experiments. The panel includes Jean Hammond, founder of leading edtech venture capital firm LearnLaunch. She works with early stage companies in developing education technology platforms and models and helps nurture them into working companies. Hammond is the founder and general partner and is fluent with the new kinds of firms bringing AI into education - what areas they are pursuing and what AI approaches look the most promising. She also discusses several case studies of AI education firms LearnLaunch is backing. Next we turn to the CEOs of two ed tech companies that are applying AI for their two very different missions. Deepak Verna is CEO of English Helper, an established firm that brings English-language literacy skills to millions of learners, both for classrooms and individual learners in six countries. It is now implementing a major AI-based digital tutoring project to help both teachers and students learn English. Joy Desgupta is CEO of GyanAI, a service firm designed to bring AI to higher education, teachers, and individual learners. It aids teachers in developing AI-based courses and teaching materials, from course content to video lectures. It also assists individual learners in designing their own AI based learning projects and schools in developing AI-based instructional systems. These companies aim to bring their expertise in AI to create new teaching and learning opportunities. The panel explores both what AI will mean to education and where they are seeing early successes.