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Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

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Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#161

Post by m4rtink »

usrusr wrote: post #149
imp0cat wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's like Diamond age, except it also destroys your kid's vision. But then again, that's a potential upsell just waiting to happen - do you want eyeglasses with that? Your kid is gonna need them.

In ca 1995 fiction, the upsell was human ractors occasionally coming in, temporarily substituting AI on heiress class instances. Sounds pretty much spot on for one of those coveted post AI jobs...

Well, that was the catch in the book - you accidentally end up with a plebeian girl getting a smart book meant to educate aristocratic children which includes a connection to a human tutor. The girl grows up into a smart independent person & sets on a quest to reconnect with the tutor, which effectively became her mother.

Then there is a big bunch of local children that might have not otherwise survived an ongoing civil war & famine - instead they are saved and educated by a mass produced purely AI driven version of the same smart book. End result - very effective and quite ruthless child army the main character ends up leading.

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#162

Post by dofm »

NegativeLatency wrote: post #87
jatins wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> insane, unproven, unpredictable autocomplete math equation It won IMO, solved Erdos problems. At what point will you stop saying that?

Also encouraged a guy to kill himself.

And let’s not forget it provided helpful, timely tips on weapon use for a school shooter.

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#163

Post by dofm »

Planktonne wrote: post #153
eba7keb wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Elizabeth here, co-founder (and clinical child psychologist). Fair question. Catalin's post was about the engineering (he is my co-founder and our CTO), so the learning side got short shrift :). Here's what it actually looks like for a child. Say a 6-year-old is reading a story out loud (I will use a reading example here). The tutor is listening to every word. When she stumbles on "chick," it doesn't just tell her th…

> I'd push back a little on the framing that engagement and learning are separate things (anyone on our team will tell you this is a drum I have beaten for years). A disengaged child learns nothing, no matter how good the pedagogy is. Engagement and learning are definitely separate things; you're right that engagement is required, but that's only part of it. This is a classic case of 'necessary but not sufficient'. A…

Attention is not all you need? ;-)

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#164

Post by havercosine »

dcx wrote: post #35

Full disclosure: I worked on a small project with Ello / Catalin a few years ago. At the time of writing, the sentiment in this post is that this is a terrible idea, and that kids need human tutors. The latter is 100% true. But also, you might want to know some facts about the state of children's literacy in the US (Ello is a math and reading tutor): 1. We're in crisis. As of 2025, 40% of fourth graders are reading b…

Thanks for taking time to write this. HN is showing (expected) dismissing attitude towards this idea. That tells me it might work :) ! Folks here are wildly overestimating (or ignoring!) how many adults are qualified to be good teachers and how many of them further have enough incentives (money, time, resources) to do it well. Its a _very_ small number.

In my part of the world, "become a teacher" is often a job advised to people who are not able to find other jobs or are looking for a safe way back after career break. None of them are looking forward to engaging 5 year old with life's curiosities. To add the famous quip from WorryDream/Bret Victor : most of the teachers teaching calculus etc. have never ever used it in real life.

Working parents with STEM backgrounds likely know that schools are glorified day-cares and probability of your child having access to a life changing tutor is very low.

I tried building an edtech venture frustrated precisely with these problems. Failed, but would def do it again with AI in the mix. I'm for one rooting for this to succeed!

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#165

Post by gentooflux »

willmarch wrote: post #119
gentooflux wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was making a dessert recipe last week where everything including utensils needed to stay cold, and Gemini suggested I freeze my hands in an ice bath before getting started.

It's fairly common to briefly cool your hands with cold water or in an ice bath before working on certain recipes.

It used the words "freeze your hands"

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#166

Post by IG_Semmelweiss »

I'm torn about this.

I primarily think that a a kid who won't pick books is a failure of the family of not noticing their interests.

When i noticed my oldest 3 yr old was obsessed about cars, i bought him a car encyclopedia. He probably could not read most words or did not understand them. But pretty soon he was telling me about car models that i did not even recognize myself.

And as i saw interests, i kept feeding them.

My biggest struggle now is to actually keep books away from them at key times (morning routine, etc) , or keeping bad books (think cynical like My Weird School Daze, etc; or books that openly demean adults or parents) away from them

Start small. Graphical novels, mostly drawings, and continue to buil on that. It can be done. Rome wasn't built on a day.

At some point when they hit 5 yrs old, Grok / OpenAI are great tools to find good series appropriate to their reading level. Before that it can be vibed. Feed the addiction, buy whatever they like.

At some point, you need to watch out for cynical/nasty series. In fact, all of the books we purchase are ranked against peers they have read in the past, or those we know to actively avoid buying due to cynicism, sarcasm, or open disdain towards adults (Wimpy Kid).

At some point around age 9,you will need to decide if violence and some adult themes, are tolerable (Dragon Wing series).

This iterative rocess also works really well for foreign language learning (reinforcing via reading mostly), by leveraging localized RPG video games.

With all that said, notice that I've focused on reading skills.

I don't know how i'd go about replicating this iterative path on other skills like math, mechanical, or electrical engineering learning. That's where I think a busy parent will need to find AI as the solution.

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#167

Post by TurdF3rguson »

byzantinegene wrote: post #141
frantang3 wrote: post #40

I'm a mom who actually has kids and this thread is insane. 'Just get a tutor'...okay?? Are you paying for it? Because that's not an option for a lot of families. I get that it's more ideal, but the alternative is...nothing? Do you not agree that all kids deserves a chance to read? Are we not seeing the lack of reading proficiency in the majority of American adults nowadays?? Or yall too stuck in your tech bubbles?? T…

why would a 5-year old need a tutor?

because of bad grades?

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#168

Post by TurdF3rguson »

Paria_Stark wrote: post #144
bschwindHN wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This comment looks like pure astroturfing.

This whole thread is fucking scary. How are people even remotely positive about any of this shit is beyond me. Educate your kids, stop delegating the important stuff.

> How are people even remotely positive about any of this shit is beyond me.

Well, some of us didn't grow up in perfect households, for one thing. I actively avoided both my parents at that age.

Re: Building a real-time AI tutor for 5-year-olds

#169

Post by r_lee »

IG_Semmelweiss wrote: post #166

I'm torn about this. I primarily think that a a kid who won't pick books is a failure of the family of not noticing their interests. When i noticed my oldest 3 yr old was obsessed about cars, i bought him a car encyclopedia. He probably could not read most words or did not understand them. But pretty soon he was telling me about car models that i did not even recognize myself. And as i saw interests, i kept feeding t…

> At some point around age 9,you will need to decide if violence and some adult themes, are tolerable (Dragon Wing series).

I remember playing GTA 4 when I was like 7 or 8. good times... not much books though.

but like... avoid buying due to sarcasm...? what?

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