Michael HornThought leader creating a world where all individuals can build passions & fulfill their human potential. Author of the national bestseller Job Moves: 9 Steps for Making Progress in Your Career

So What If Khanmigo Isn't Perfect. Is It Better Than the Alternative?

Name: So What If Khanmigo Isn't Perfect. Is It Better Than the Alternative?
Uploaded: 2024-02-29T15:24:29+00:00
Duration: 55 s
Channel: Michael Horn
Description: In this brief commentary, Michael Horn reflects on a recent Wall Street Journal article that evaluated Khan Academy's AI tutoring system, Khanmigo, and…

29 Feb 2024 · 1 min

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In this brief commentary, Michael Horn reflects on a recent Wall Street Journal article that evaluated Khan Academy's AI tutoring system, Khanmigo, and found it frequently made basic math calculation errors. Horn frames these shortcomings as typical of early disruptive innovations, noting that while Khanmigo may not yet match top human tutors, most learners lack any tutoring support at all. He poses the central question: is Khanmigo an improvement over the alternative of having no tutor? Horn suggests that if Khanmigo can at least surpass the no‑tutor baseline, it has the potential to improve over time; if it cannot, its value is limited.

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So a recent story in the Wall Street Journal headlined, we tested an AI tutor for kids. It struggled with basic math. And the story is a profile over the highly touted Khanmigo, which is Khan Academy's tutor. And it basically says that it made frequent calculation errors on math problems during a journalist's test. Now, what's interesting is we kind of wouldn't expect otherwise for a new innovation, because when disruptive innovations come on the market, they are not as good as the gold standard out there. So in this case, Khanmigo wouldn't be as good as a top tutor. But the reality is that most individuals don't have access to a tutor. So the question is, is Khanmigo better than the alternative when the alternative is nothing at all? And if it passes that test, then you can imagine it getting better and better over time. If it doesn't, that's a different story.