WEBVTT - AI Comes to the Classroom

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Tim Stenavic on Bloomberg Radio. Children, Well did slowly go

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<v Speaker 1>and all right? Teach your children? Well right, yes, we hope.

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<v Speaker 1>I know my child who's not really a child anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>The music that they pick is just so on point.

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<v Speaker 1>So thank you to the team who does that. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>why yeah, Crosby Stills love it. Um. When it comes

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<v Speaker 1>to teaching kids, sometimes they need an assist. And I

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<v Speaker 1>have to say my daughter over the years has definitely

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<v Speaker 1>tapped into Cohn Academy. Yeah, business school exactly. I mean

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<v Speaker 1>it got me through business school. I'm really excited to

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<v Speaker 1>have with a s con founder and CEO of CON Academy.

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<v Speaker 1>He joins us on Zoom for you from Mountain View, California.

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<v Speaker 1>Uh So, I gotta tell you, I promised myself when

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<v Speaker 1>I finally did get to interview you this many years

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<v Speaker 1>after business school, I would thank you for the videos

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<v Speaker 1>that you did about discounted cash flows and interest rates

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<v Speaker 1>and all the things that I worked on in my

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<v Speaker 1>personal finance and accounting classes because it was your voice

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<v Speaker 1>that helped guide me through business school. Uh. And it's

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<v Speaker 1>interesting because this Carol wasn't available when I was an undergraduate.

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<v Speaker 1>We weren't even talking about YouTube back then. Very please

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<v Speaker 1>to go back with the cell con founder and CEO

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<v Speaker 1>of khn Academy joining us from Mountain View Soul. How

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<v Speaker 1>are you. I'm doing well. Thanks for having me, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>take us back to two thou eight, because it's funny

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<v Speaker 1>and thinking about this interview that we're doing right now.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we think about online education in the way

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<v Speaker 1>that it really gained so much attention in the early

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<v Speaker 1>part of during lockdowns and when kids were sent home.

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<v Speaker 1>You've been working on con Academy for a dozen years

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<v Speaker 1>by the time the pandemic hit. Take us back there

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<v Speaker 1>and where we are now in some ways earlier. It

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<v Speaker 1>all started back actually in two thousand four, when I

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<v Speaker 1>was tutoring some cousins remotely when I was in Boston,

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<v Speaker 1>they were in New Orleans. I started writing software for them.

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<v Speaker 1>Friends suggest that I make videos for them on YouTube.

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<v Speaker 1>It took on a life of our own, and it

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<v Speaker 1>was in two thousand and eight that I actually set

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<v Speaker 1>up this, this family project as a not for profit

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<v Speaker 1>mission free world class education for anyone anywhere, and called

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<v Speaker 1>it kN Academy. And if we compare that time to

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<v Speaker 1>where we are now, I think now people actually take

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<v Speaker 1>it for granted that, of course, on demand video is

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<v Speaker 1>going to be really useful, uh for for learning. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>students should be able to have self paced practice. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, it's not the best use of class time

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<v Speaker 1>for a teacher to just lecture at students and students

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<v Speaker 1>to sit passively and listen. Because students have access to

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<v Speaker 1>on demand video, perhaps it might be a good idea

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<v Speaker 1>to allow students to learn at their own time and pace.

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<v Speaker 1>But if you go back to two thousand and eight,

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<v Speaker 1>none of that was mainstream. People thought things like YouTube

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<v Speaker 1>and maybe the Internet generally for the most part, was

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<v Speaker 1>as a toy or or maybe a distraction. But now

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<v Speaker 1>we realize that it's it's central to the education. I

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<v Speaker 1>think the other really good thing that happened is, obviously

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<v Speaker 1>when when we set out as a not for profit

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<v Speaker 1>in the name of trying to level the playing field,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's predicated on the idea that everyone eventually will

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<v Speaker 1>have access to the internet. In two thousand and eight,

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<v Speaker 1>we weren't anywhere close to that. We're still aren't at perfection,

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<v Speaker 1>but in school environments we've gone a long way in

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<v Speaker 1>the US globally that there's still a lot more work

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<v Speaker 1>to be done, and I think we the pandemic. One

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<v Speaker 1>of the silver linings is it it helped accelerate a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of internet and tech adoption, not just in schools

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<v Speaker 1>but at home as well. How do you think it's

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the impact it's had on how kids learn

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<v Speaker 1>um or helped compliment, supplement you know, classroom time. Yeah, well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think you know, everything is is a double edged sword.

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<v Speaker 1>We all know about all of the things on the

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<v Speaker 1>Internet that maybe aren't the most productive things for kids,

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<v Speaker 1>but in terms of when they are productive on it,

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<v Speaker 1>whether you're talking about kids in elementary school or middle school,

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<v Speaker 1>all the way to med students, it's now become pretty

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<v Speaker 1>mainstream that students are going to vote with their feet

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<v Speaker 1>if there's someone who's just going to lecture at them

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<v Speaker 1>and the students have an option, and they won't show

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<v Speaker 1>up anymore. If you if you visit most med schools,

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<v Speaker 1>the actual electoral halls are pretty empty. The med students,

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<v Speaker 1>who are very diligent students are usually going to watch

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<v Speaker 1>the lecture later on at double speed. UM. So I

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<v Speaker 1>think there's an expectation of Some people say, oh, kids

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<v Speaker 1>these days have less of an attention span. I don't

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<v Speaker 1>think they have less of an attention span necessarily. It's

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<v Speaker 1>more that they have more options and they have higher expectations.

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<v Speaker 1>When we were kids, we're like, Okay, we gotta sit

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<v Speaker 1>in the classroom and just pretend to pay attention and

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<v Speaker 1>look at the clock, and so we're gonna play that

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<v Speaker 1>game game. But but now now you don't have to

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<v Speaker 1>do that. They have they have other things. I think

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<v Speaker 1>they know that if they don't understand something in class.

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<v Speaker 1>Back when we were kids, you'd have to either somehow

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<v Speaker 1>struggle with a textbook, or if you're lucky enough to

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<v Speaker 1>have a family member help you, or or had enough

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<v Speaker 1>resources to get a tutor. And now we're talking about

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<v Speaker 1>very few people. Now people know, yeah, I can go

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<v Speaker 1>to con academy, I can ask the questions, I can

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<v Speaker 1>find other I can do practice problems. I can make

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<v Speaker 1>sure that I understand what I'm doing. I can go

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<v Speaker 1>to YouTube and find other resources. So I think kids

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<v Speaker 1>are actually able to advocate for themselves a lot better

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<v Speaker 1>because they don't. They're not willing to just put up

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<v Speaker 1>with only one modality. Hey, given all the work that

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<v Speaker 1>you've done over the past gosh, I mean it's close

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<v Speaker 1>to twenty years at this point. So I'm I'm wondering,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, how, how how it changes the way you

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<v Speaker 1>think about education with regard to your own kids. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>even back in two thousand kind of candemy really got

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<v Speaker 1>on on folks radar. In two thousand nine, two thousand ten,

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand eleven, I gave a ted talk whereas, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>let's let's reimagine education, make things more personalized. We shouldn't

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<v Speaker 1>have kids moving forward lockstaff if you don't. If you

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<v Speaker 1>only got a seventy percent on the test, you should

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<v Speaker 1>always have that opportunity incentive to make that an eight percent,

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<v Speaker 1>make that nine. And I wrote a book, One World

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<v Speaker 1>school House, about how how education could change, how you

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<v Speaker 1>could even create a school of the future. And then

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<v Speaker 1>in my oldest I now have three kids, my oldest

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<v Speaker 1>was just entering kindergarten age, and I said, hey, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to be a hypocrite. Um, I don't want

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<v Speaker 1>to preach all of these things about mastery, learning, personalization

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<v Speaker 1>and then not have my own kids do that. And

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<v Speaker 1>not only that, but I actually did and continue to

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<v Speaker 1>believe that that is the most powerful way to learn.

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<v Speaker 1>So we started a school, conn Lab School uh where

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<v Speaker 1>now all of my kids go. It's out here in

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<v Speaker 1>northern California. And what we're seeing is when you have

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<v Speaker 1>a school that's really students centered, where you know we have.

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<v Speaker 1>The one edict we have is there's no lectures at

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<v Speaker 1>the school. Everything has to be active. Students can learn

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<v Speaker 1>their own time and pace. But once again, they're not

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<v Speaker 1>in isolation. They get support from their peers, they get

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<v Speaker 1>support from the faculty. When human beings are in the

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<v Speaker 1>room together, they either have Socratic dialogue, or they're doing projects,

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<v Speaker 1>or they're collaborating, or they're tutoring each other. We have

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<v Speaker 1>a motto everyone's a student, everyone's a teacher, and we're

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<v Speaker 1>seeing we we've had our first few graduating classes in

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<v Speaker 1>the last couple of years, and I don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>jinx it, but the kids are doing frankly better than

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<v Speaker 1>you would expect from a traditional environment. We just looked

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<v Speaker 1>at our lower school, which is you know, grades K

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<v Speaker 1>through six, K through five, and our kids are seeing

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<v Speaker 1>about two grade levels of math a year. We just

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<v Speaker 1>launched uh CON World School with Arizona State University, which

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<v Speaker 1>is an online high school, and they they're using similar

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<v Speaker 1>modalities but in an online framework. And they just saw

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<v Speaker 1>on the first semester five times the expected growth in math,

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<v Speaker 1>and I think it was three times expected growth in reading.

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<v Speaker 1>And but once again, it's just because the kids are

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<v Speaker 1>able to learn at their own, their own pace, and

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<v Speaker 1>because they're not learning to be passive and they're learning

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<v Speaker 1>to have more agency over their learning. They're more entrepreneurial,

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<v Speaker 1>they have more of a growth mindset, they're willing to

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<v Speaker 1>take risks. We think they're feeling a lot less of

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<v Speaker 1>the stress and anxiety that we know as a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of an epidemic right now amongst young people. So there's

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<v Speaker 1>not a huge history with con Lab School because you

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<v Speaker 1>only started it a few years ago. But where are

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<v Speaker 1>you in terms of college placement and how you've been

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<v Speaker 1>able to, uh see how these kids have done longitudinally. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and as I said, the school has been around for

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<v Speaker 1>about eight years. We had this current guarding graduating class

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be our our third But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>this is a school that does not have traditional letter

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<v Speaker 1>grades we measure, but at any point students can improve

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<v Speaker 1>their grade, but out of you know, I remember our

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<v Speaker 1>first graduating class of nine students they went to and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm very sensitive because so many folks index on where

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<v Speaker 1>kids go to school and all of that. But our

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<v Speaker 1>students ended up at some of the top places in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Um, you know, I don't want to get

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<v Speaker 1>to brand conscious about where they went, but they went

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<v Speaker 1>to let me just say, very very good, very good places.

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<v Speaker 1>And they're even more importantly, we we stay in touch

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<v Speaker 1>with these students and they're really thriving in these environments

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<v Speaker 1>because frankly, the college environment is all about self based learning.

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<v Speaker 1>The college doesn't pretend that way, but really that's what

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<v Speaker 1>it's all about. No, you're absolutely right. You get what

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<v Speaker 1>you put into it, essentially when you go to college. Hey, so,

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<v Speaker 1>sal we're looking at your school, um, collapse school. Can

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<v Speaker 1>you scale that? You want to scale it even further?

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<v Speaker 1>It's in Mountain View, right, but can you go further

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<v Speaker 1>with it or do you want to? Yeah? The whole

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<v Speaker 1>idea and I always tell the team there that is

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<v Speaker 1>not just to start another school in Silicon Valley for

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<v Speaker 1>my kids and other folks in this area. Obviously you

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<v Speaker 1>have to serve the kids in the community. Well, but

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<v Speaker 1>it's really to show there's another way of doing things

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<v Speaker 1>and then essentially sharing with the world how to do

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<v Speaker 1>that so it can it can scale. So one of

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<v Speaker 1>the first ways of scaling is by starting CON World

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<v Speaker 1>School with Arizona, a s U that's actually free to

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<v Speaker 1>any student in Arizona because it has a state charter there,

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<v Speaker 1>and then it's we we hope reasonable cost outside and

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<v Speaker 1>we're working on more states, so you really can get

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<v Speaker 1>a free world class education if you're if you're in

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<v Speaker 1>the states that that supports something like this. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>one skilling mechanism, and we are seeing folks form essentially

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<v Speaker 1>hybrid pods where they're getting the benefits of in person sports, etcetera.

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<v Speaker 1>But then they're able to use the World School UH

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<v Speaker 1>for their socratic dialogue and their seminars and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>being able to meet their advisors and things like that.

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<v Speaker 1>We also are starting more CON Lab schools. It's likely

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<v Speaker 1>we might start one in the Midwest UM and so

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<v Speaker 1>I think we are at the moment. I won't ever

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<v Speaker 1>say we have nailed it. It's a lab school. We're

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<v Speaker 1>constantly iterating, but I think we're starting to scale it

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<v Speaker 1>and that could take multiple forms. It could take an

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<v Speaker 1>online school. It could it could be a share the

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<v Speaker 1>curriculum with other folks. What what, however, we can get

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<v Speaker 1>it out there, Salgion. The numbers work. It's it's really

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<v Speaker 1>tough to be self sufficient as a school. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>it's a private school, so there's you know, tuition. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean I went to a school that my

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<v Speaker 1>friend's mom started for second grade and the school was

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<v Speaker 1>only around for about ten years. They just couldn't keep

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<v Speaker 1>it going. It was tough. Um, are the numbers working.

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<v Speaker 1>The numbers are working. And what I've always given the

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<v Speaker 1>charge to the school that we should be able to

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<v Speaker 1>be in terms of cost per student per year, cost

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<v Speaker 1>competitive with um some public school districts, and they're huge variation.

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<v Speaker 1>If you look at at the high end, a New

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<v Speaker 1>York City public school spends about forty dollars per student

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<v Speaker 1>per year. A lot of you know Cambridge, Boston, Massachusetts,

0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:48.120
<v Speaker 1>they are mid twenties, even approaching thirty dollars per year.

0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:49.800
<v Speaker 1>But then you have other places, including high cost of

0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:52.719
<v Speaker 1>living places like California, where depending on the district, you're

0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:54.840
<v Speaker 1>really looking at more of like ten to fifteen thousand

0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.559
<v Speaker 1>dollars per year. Right now, if if you were to

0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:00.640
<v Speaker 1>hold all things equal, we have we have to pay

0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.839
<v Speaker 1>a lot in real estate expense because we're renting out

0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:06.240
<v Speaker 1>a couple of campuses. But if our real estate expense

0:11:06.280 --> 0:11:09.600
<v Speaker 1>we're similar to what a traditional public school was spending,

0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:11.880
<v Speaker 1>where we we have our cost per student down to

0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:17.760
<v Speaker 1>about twenty dollars per year UM. And and so if

0:11:17.800 --> 0:11:19.560
<v Speaker 1>you include the real estate that it's it's approaching a

0:11:19.600 --> 0:11:22.440
<v Speaker 1>higher number. It's you know, it's probably closer to twenty

0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:27.000
<v Speaker 1>eight thousand, but UM. To answer your question, we we

0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:31.720
<v Speaker 1>intentionally are keeping it much more accessible than the surrounding

0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:34.400
<v Speaker 1>market would support. These numbers don't sound like small numbers

0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:36.880
<v Speaker 1>to anyone anywhere, but especially but if you live in

0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:38.440
<v Speaker 1>the Bay Area, if you live in New York, you'll

0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:41.280
<v Speaker 1>know that a lot of the top independent schools will

0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.240
<v Speaker 1>easily charge you fifty or sixty dollars a year UM.

0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.160
<v Speaker 1>And you know, we're we're we're pretty focused on showing

0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:50.840
<v Speaker 1>this model can scale and as an as is accessible

0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.560
<v Speaker 1>and also has evidence that isn't just another independent school.

0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:58.040
<v Speaker 1>It's the kids are growing faster and happier. You know,

0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:01.480
<v Speaker 1>in doing this, what been the easy part, what's been

0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:06.839
<v Speaker 1>the difficult parts of doing everything, including school or con

0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.920
<v Speaker 1>academy or the whole everything from the get go. Like

0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.320
<v Speaker 1>I think about when you started, and I know I remember,

0:12:12.520 --> 0:12:14.559
<v Speaker 1>you know, we talked about Bill Gates being you know,

0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.040
<v Speaker 1>a supporter of it. You had some really high profile people,

0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.720
<v Speaker 1>and I'm sure that helped um, you know, doing the

0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:21.839
<v Speaker 1>Ted talk. But I'm just wondering, as you've done this,

0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:26.160
<v Speaker 1>what's been the easy part, what's the difficult part. Well,

0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:28.199
<v Speaker 1>the easy part is this is something that I've always

0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.679
<v Speaker 1>been drawn to, even when you know my past, my

0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.600
<v Speaker 1>past careers in tech and just been an analyst at

0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:36.400
<v Speaker 1>a hedge fund, which I both careers I enjoyed, but

0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.800
<v Speaker 1>I always was drawn. That's why I started tutoring my cousins.

0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.600
<v Speaker 1>That's why I started writing software for them that was

0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.640
<v Speaker 1>focused on learning. And that's why I started making videos

0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.760
<v Speaker 1>because I enjoyed making these these education videos. So that

0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.000
<v Speaker 1>was always the easy part. And whenever I want to recharge,

0:12:48.040 --> 0:12:49.600
<v Speaker 1>even today, that's the kind of stuff that I try

0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:51.360
<v Speaker 1>to really work on. Let me make some videos today.

0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:54.240
<v Speaker 1>The hard part, I would say, the early days, the

0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:58.720
<v Speaker 1>hard part is convincing people to take you seriously, especially

0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.640
<v Speaker 1>you know now it's a somewhat mainstream thing to be

0:13:01.679 --> 0:13:04.960
<v Speaker 1>a YouTube influence or whatever else. Back in two thousand

0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:06.800
<v Speaker 1>and six, two thousand seven, two thousand and eight, it

0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.480
<v Speaker 1>was very um let's call it. No one really took

0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.559
<v Speaker 1>you seriously. And then once we started to get off

0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.200
<v Speaker 1>the ground and people took note. I think when we

0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:16.800
<v Speaker 1>said no, we just don't want to be a YouTube channel,

0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:18.880
<v Speaker 1>We don't want to be another for profit education company.

0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.800
<v Speaker 1>We actually want to create an institution for the world

0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.240
<v Speaker 1>that actually has a chance of being the safety net

0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.080
<v Speaker 1>education system for the world that can reach billions of people.

0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:29.440
<v Speaker 1>I think back then some people might not take that

0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:31.840
<v Speaker 1>so seriously. For a guy operating out of a walk

0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.640
<v Speaker 1>in closet, UM, I think you fast forward and yes,

0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:37.840
<v Speaker 1>you know folks like Bill Gates and the Doers, and

0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.959
<v Speaker 1>you know there's so many people, um that you know

0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.120
<v Speaker 1>I grew up reading about who who have now become

0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.400
<v Speaker 1>some of our supporters. But whenever I say those names

0:13:45.400 --> 0:13:47.120
<v Speaker 1>are mind folks that we still need their help, so

0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.880
<v Speaker 1>please fo to kind of academy. But um, I think

0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:54.199
<v Speaker 1>now what's gotten easier is when when I take on

0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:58.000
<v Speaker 1>a project. Let's say we started school. We're starting this

0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:01.120
<v Speaker 1>online high school, or we started another not for profit

0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.120
<v Speaker 1>called Schoolhouse dot World, which gives free tutoring. They way

0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.720
<v Speaker 1>it's able to do is to leverage volunteership. These types

0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:08.360
<v Speaker 1>of things would have been very hard when I was

0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.240
<v Speaker 1>just a guy in a closet back in two thousand

0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.440
<v Speaker 1>eight or two thousand nine. But now people are willing

0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.880
<v Speaker 1>to take it seriously, They're willing to partner. Uh. You know,

0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.000
<v Speaker 1>the fact that even volunteers show up to Schoolhouse dot

0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:20.360
<v Speaker 1>World and to tutor other people is because there's some

0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.000
<v Speaker 1>trust and belief in what we're trying to pull off.

0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:27.640
<v Speaker 1>But even today, I think I think it's a lot

0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:29.160
<v Speaker 1>of a lot of what I do is trying to

0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:31.640
<v Speaker 1>get people to believe I really I realized that that's

0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.320
<v Speaker 1>like the believe both in our own organization. Like hey,

0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.920
<v Speaker 1>hey hey, folks, we're literally trying to move the dial

0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:39.760
<v Speaker 1>for the world. And I know you can get cynical

0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.160
<v Speaker 1>about that, but it's doable. So how do I want

0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.880
<v Speaker 1>to talk AI? Because you know, we talked a little

0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:50.480
<v Speaker 1>bit about BuzzFeed and rising today as a result of

0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.760
<v Speaker 1>excuse me, as a result of a partnership that announced

0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:57.120
<v Speaker 1>yesterday with open Ai C three dot Ai share surging

0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.760
<v Speaker 1>more than seventeen today. Um, how do you use AI

0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:04.520
<v Speaker 1>and a vacation? Well, there there's you know, there's a

0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:06.280
<v Speaker 1>lot of what we already know is going on, and

0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.880
<v Speaker 1>then there's a lot of potential. Even before these large

0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:12.480
<v Speaker 1>language models like chat, GPT and all of that, we've

0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:14.800
<v Speaker 1>always thought, hey, AI could be used to this is

0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.080
<v Speaker 1>it's being used in for profit companies to recommend the

0:15:17.200 --> 0:15:19.840
<v Speaker 1>right add to you. In an education setting, maybe it

0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.080
<v Speaker 1>can be used to recommend the right content to you.

0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:24.440
<v Speaker 1>And we've used variations of that in the past at

0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:28.160
<v Speaker 1>Kon Academy. I think what's exciting about these large language

0:15:28.160 --> 0:15:32.560
<v Speaker 1>models is the potential for them to start to act

0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.680
<v Speaker 1>like a Socratic tutor, for them to intro to introduce

0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.000
<v Speaker 1>modalities that might not have existed before. I know people

0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:41.840
<v Speaker 1>are really worried about this doing essays for students, but

0:15:41.880 --> 0:15:44.040
<v Speaker 1>maybe we can embrace that and say, well, maybe it

0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:47.320
<v Speaker 1>can help the student do something more ambitious. Maybe it

0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.920
<v Speaker 1>can help give feedback that Traditionally, when you write an essay,

0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:52.720
<v Speaker 1>at best, it might take you a week or two

0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:54.240
<v Speaker 1>to get the feedback, and then if even if you

0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:56.080
<v Speaker 1>make it better, you may or might not get a

0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:58.080
<v Speaker 1>chance to to get feedback on that. Now you could

0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.560
<v Speaker 1>get instant feedback. Uh. I did a little experiment with

0:16:01.600 --> 0:16:05.640
<v Speaker 1>my daughter where we used a large language model to

0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.600
<v Speaker 1>co write a story, but then she had a chance

0:16:07.640 --> 0:16:09.760
<v Speaker 1>to talk to one of the characters. That's something that

0:16:09.960 --> 0:16:13.080
<v Speaker 1>just seems like science fiction, but it's now doable. Or

0:16:13.080 --> 0:16:15.080
<v Speaker 1>we're at the cusp of of making these things doable.

0:16:15.120 --> 0:16:19.920
<v Speaker 1>So if you imagine, I think we're in the next year,

0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.680
<v Speaker 1>we're going to see layers on top of tools like

0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:27.280
<v Speaker 1>con academy where you might have a tutor and AI tutor. Now,

0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.120
<v Speaker 1>once again, I don't think this replaces the human, but

0:16:30.200 --> 0:16:32.360
<v Speaker 1>it just gives more leverage to the human teacher, to

0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.040
<v Speaker 1>the human parent, uh, to be able to be able

0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:37.120
<v Speaker 1>to do more. It's like moving beyond when you know

0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:39.280
<v Speaker 1>math right. It used to be what's what's the answer?

0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:40.960
<v Speaker 1>Did you get the answer right? And then it moved

0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:43.680
<v Speaker 1>to wait, what was your thinking and show us the work?

0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:46.720
<v Speaker 1>And okay, you know that was more important than really

0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:49.720
<v Speaker 1>kind of the final to some extent or as important

0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.560
<v Speaker 1>to getting the answer right. Hey, just quickly, one last thing.

0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:54.680
<v Speaker 1>Um just got about forty seconds left her What do

0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.600
<v Speaker 1>you think about the a C T S and S

0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.440
<v Speaker 1>A T S. A lot of it went away during

0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.720
<v Speaker 1>the pandemic. Good move of like do we have to

0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:04.359
<v Speaker 1>move away from that stuff? Well, those tests is perfect.

0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:06.320
<v Speaker 1>But I always tell people if you don't like standardized tests,

0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.600
<v Speaker 1>what part do not like the standardized or the test?

0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:10.880
<v Speaker 1>And if you need to have some way of of

0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:14.199
<v Speaker 1>of understanding, and especially now that you have chat GPT

0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:17.040
<v Speaker 1>that can write your college essays, this is actually the

0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.639
<v Speaker 1>fairest mechanism by which to be able to see who's

0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:24.800
<v Speaker 1>college ready brilliant we have not. That is just an

0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.040
<v Speaker 1>interesting way of thinking about this and I don't like

0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:31.240
<v Speaker 1>test part. To answer your sal thank you so much,

0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:35.719
<v Speaker 1>good luck. Such an incredible organization that you've created. Um

0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:37.919
<v Speaker 1>and as we said, what almost twenty years in, it's

0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.520
<v Speaker 1>pretty remarkable. Sal Con He is founder and chief executive

0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.760
<v Speaker 1>officer of con Academy, joining us via zoom from Mountain View, California.

0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.760
<v Speaker 1>Just google them you can find out all the incredible

0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:49.840
<v Speaker 1>work that they are. Yeah, it's incredible. For a long time.

0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:52.680
<v Speaker 1>More than fifty languages used in more than a hundred

0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.720
<v Speaker 1>and ninety countries, a hundred and forty five million registered users,