Some recent studies suggest AI chatbots might be effective tutors.

I’m sure that is the case for users are particularly motivated to learn.  In fact, I think it’s safe to say that just about any tool or strategy will be effective in helping motivated students to learn.

One of my former colleagues used to refer to them as “teacher-proof” students.

These are the same kind of students who ed tech companies use to advertise the effectiveness of their products – the five percent who actually use them regularly in the exact ways the companies recommend (see A Look Back: Ed Tech Can Work Well – For 5 Percent Of Our Students) .

The reality, however, is that the majority of our students probably don’t fit into that category.

And that leads into the big problem I have with a lot of education research – New Study Highlights Weak Link In Most Ed Research: Knowing What Works “Best” Is Not Helpful If Students Won’t Do It.

Listen, I’m no Luddite, and believe that AI can have some effective roles in education – WHAT I THINK ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL DO – & WHAT IT WON’T DO – IN K-12 EDUCATION.

But having AI chatbots have a widespread role as effective tutors for students – it ain’t ever going to happen…..

Addendum: See AI Tutoring and the Cost of Convenience