Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That's a Good Thing)

First, I consider myself a lifelong learner and educator, licensed to be a secondary school principal, but choosing to remain in a public high school marketing classroom for 15 years, preparing youngsters for careers in marketing. From day one in the classroom, I saw those youngsters as winners and potential winners. My vision for those youngsters came true. Fast forward fifty years, I am reading Brave New Words and about how AI will improve our educational systems and processes by leaps and bounds, with the primary goal of meeting each student's needs in achievable ways. AI sets up amazing win/wins for students and their teachers, for students and their parents, and for teachers and the students' parents! As a plus-80-year-old, I am not a techie, per se, but I would be willing to learn what I needed to learn, to make these AI opportunities available to my students. Nothing would be more fulfilling than to see graduates walk across a high-school graduation stage accepting their diplomas with the knowledge and excitement of working in a career that matched their skills, aptitudes, abilities, and interests and being happier adults. Salman Khan is most deserving of a high honor in field of educational leadership, and I would even say, cultural transformation! Mr. Khan is an exemplary role model in the field of leadership, and our country is blessed to have him and his family.

Bought this to understand how AI might impact teaching and learning in the next decade. What I like • Explains complex AI topics in a clear, engaging way • Shows how tools like ChatGPT can support both students and teachers • Balanced optimism—doesn't ignore risks, but stays hopeful What could be better • Focuses mostly on Western education systems • Would love more real classroom case studies Bottom line: A smart, hopeful look at the future of education with AI. Perfect for educators, parents, or edtech folks, but look at The Age of AI if you want a broader societal view.

Brave New Words provides an excellent introduction to AI and then dives very deeply into its positive aspects for educators. The metaphor of students having their own private tutor is a strong one. The Author, Salman Khan (yep, that one!), stays encouraging throughout but is never naive about the potential for AI abuse by students (and teachers). AI, like all other technologies, such as the telephone, fax, and computer, were all feared for some reason. Khan challenges us to use AI to bring students up to par and excel. Today's students are tomorrow's workers. AI is not a threat to their jobs. Instead, real humans using AI are a threat to their jobs.

Sal Khan is a masterful storyteller. I didn't plan to, but I read the book cover to cover. I learned a lot about how to better leverage GenAI in my teaching, and was equally inspired by the stories, history, and mindset he shares. This book is a valuable resource for educators in the AI age, helping us prepare students for college, careers, and life.

I was involved in the development of early computer learning technology including the Logo programming language and high school tutorial software called Arrakis. These were in the early days of home computers. In both these experiences I discovered that like any tools, the impact was mostly dependent on the teacher integrating these tools into the learning environment. The subsequent research confirmed this. The examples provided in the book on how teachers could use AI, underestimates the effort required to integrate AI into the teaching environment. In classes with 25-30 students, personalization of AI generated materials and exercises requires a teacher to tailor AI content to the individual students abilities. This requires significant added work for the teacher. The book implies AI emulates “one on one” tutoring. I have used AI to help create exercises and problems in math and reading and this is not an easy task. Added to this is the frequent errors in the results. This requires close editing and checking. The book identifies student motivation as a factoring in learning. AI does not address this problem. Just because it is interactive doesn’t mean the student is motivated. When i used Khanmigo, the tutoring responses contained words that would be unfamiliar to the student I identified. As a result the advice was not understood by the student. The book promotes the Kahn system a great deal. The system does help like other systems such as IXL, but the AI addition is not as effective give as the book professes. Like many books recently written about AI, it is overly optimistic and does not provide in depth insights on how AI integrates within the current education environment. AI as a teacher’s tool is fine once the teacher experiences its capabilities and limitations for themselves. AI as a tutor as the book promotes is a stretch. A good tutor senses a student’s skills and challenges through observation. AI tutoring has no senses. It’s a one dimension statistical text generator. Beware using it for math. It makes errors which could easily frustrate a student.

In 'Brave New Words,' Sal Khan explores the global transformation of pedagogy—ways of teaching—through the lens of AI. A central theme of the book is that the Socratic Method, characterized by asking numerous questions, is the most effective way to learn. Khan argues convincingly that AI can act as a powerful Socratic tool, providing not just universal access to knowledge, as the internet did, but for the first time, universal access to education. Where does this leave teachers? Khan believes that AI can provide valuable feedback to help teachers refine their methods and become more effective. He envisions AI as a low-cost army of super-tutors, easing the workload for teachers. Khan also supports the concept of 'flipped classrooms,' where AI assists with traditional homework tasks, freeing teachers to focus on more engaging, discussion-based activities. This shift, he suggests, could lead to deeper and more meaningful learning experiences. For the learner, AI has a unique ability to bridge gaps in understanding. Instead of feeling embarrassed to ask questions in front of peers, AI functions as a patient, judgment-free tutor, providing a safe space for students to address their uncertainties. This leads to improved comprehension and confidence. Khan emphasizes AI's capacity for personalized learning. Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach of traditional classrooms, AI can adapt to individual learning paces. This customization, he argues, can lead to better mastery of subjects, addressing the common problem of students feeling either lost or bored in class. A significant portion of the book is dedicated to Khanmigo, Khan's own AI platform based on GPT. While this self-promotion may introduce a degree of bias, it also serves as a concrete example of how AI can improve education. 'Brave New Words' is a ground-breaking contribution to the ongoing dialogue about technology in education. It presents a thoughtful, experience-based perspective that will interest educators, policymakers, and anyone concerned with the future of learning.

In the educational world of "teaching to the test" here is an inevitable development - using AI to teach what kids need to know, and upgrading live teachers to be life coaches, building character, determination, ethics, civics, and empathy. Oh boy! What an opportunity, and what a shake-up.

I love Sal's optimism of the possibilities of AI in education and life. I am going to jump in to learning AI for my work and life because of this book. I now have a chatgpt account.