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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

#391

Post by ndriscoll »

turtlebits wrote: post #85
yonaguska wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One on one "tutoring" is the most effective way to make early education productive and it's not even close. Even the outcomes of parents spending 20 minutes a day reading to their infants and toddlers correlates with better educational outcomes. and I'm sure there are many here that share my own story. The only reason I was somewhat academically successful was because my mother took the time to teach me how to read w…

Why does early education need to be productive? At that age, I'd much rather my kids learn life skills, socialize, play, etc than any kind of "curriculum" learning. There are a lot of studies showing that emotional intelligence is a better predictor of happiness than early academics. They'll have plenty of time to be addicated to screens later on in life /s

It's not a dichotomy. My kids play with each other ~10-12 hours a day and I still taught my 4 year old to read. In fact, the more productive intentional learning is, the more time they have for play.

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

#392

Post by UltraSane »

jostylr wrote: post #219
UltraSane wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds a bit like unschooling which is a terrible idea because kids don't know what they need to know.

Think about what every adult absolutely needs to know: how to be an effective member of society, how to interact with people, how to self-regulate, and generally being a person other people want to be around and work with. That is what a Sudbury school supports learning while conventional school hinders it, offering an authoritarian-based lifestyle instead. Most people going through conventional school don't get the…

More like Free to Learn or Not Learn

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

#393

Post by mahogany »

jjav wrote: post #390
mahogany wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am skeptical of using AI for a tutor and would not give it to my kid, but I find the staunch no-screens sentiment equally ridiculous and similar to saying no-books. Do you have kids? Are you telling me that you and the other parent spend (or spent) 100% of your time with your 5 year old? We spend a ton of time with our kid but also he watches educational TV. Unless you are privileged enough to have a nanny, having…

> Do you have kids? Are you telling me that you and the other parent spend (or spent) 100% of your time with your 5 year old? Yes and yes. Always personal interaction (one of us parents, or babysitter or teachers, or friends). This is probably easier to accomplish here in Silicon Valley because most parents are in tech and thus aware of the evils involved. So none of the kids en elementary school ever had phones or t…

I was primarily pushing back on anti-screens in its absolute sense, and being somewhat pedantic. However, I largely agree with you, especially considering how screens are most often used today.

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

#394

Post by forgetfreeman »

Marha01 wrote: post #375
forgetfreeman wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Educational outcomes tank when computers are introduced to classrooms. It absolutely follows that AI as a tutoring application is bad for society. https://fortune.com/2026/03/14/america-math-and-reading-scor...

> Educational outcomes tank when computers are introduced to classrooms. Correlation does not necessarily mean causation.

Fair, but when presented with a situation where one side of an argument has evidence and the other has baseless assertions the choice is rather plain.

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

#395

Post by forgetfreeman »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #341
forgetfreeman wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Educational outcomes tank when computers are introduced to classrooms. It absolutely follows that AI as a tutoring application is bad for society. https://fortune.com/2026/03/14/america-math-and-reading-scor...

It does not follow that anything produced by an electronic computational device is bad for children or society. I've personally seen computers teach children barely two years old to read.

Anecdote < Data. Studies consistently show declines in every trackable metric associated with education when computational devices are introduced to the process. Until actual data is presented that contradicts these findings there's no grounds for rational debate.

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

#396

Post by senordevnyc »

TonyAlicea10 wrote: post #369
senordevnyc wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With stuff that a 4-9 year old is going to be learning? Color me skeptical.

You’re applying human cognition expectations to an LLM. Just because the topic is simple to a human doesn’t mean it improves the likelihood the LLM will behave better. It’s all inference to the machine.

I’m applying my experience with these models, as well as common sense.

What are you applying? Would you even admit LLMs are useful for this if they’re perfect at topics that kids would be learning? Or are your objections actually ideological rather than pragmatic?

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

#397

Post by senordevnyc »

windexh8er wrote: post #373
TonyAlicea10 wrote: post #201

I think teaching a child to trust an LLM from a formative age is horrifically irresponsible. If anything, an app should be made where a child learns to correct an LLM's mistakes and learn that it isn't trustworthy. Actually, better, don't put an LLM in front of children. At all. EDIT: If a use case is for children who can't afford good education, then use an LLM to make educational materials for children, review them…

This. I would never allow my kids onto a platform like Ello. My kids are starting to appreciate being shielded from social media and technology in their lives as they watch their friends go down dark paths and stuck in feeling like they have to participate there. I don't think kids, of any age, should be in front of LLMs unless by complete agreement of their parents and only after their parents are made very aware of…

This probably isn’t for kids like yours or mine, who have engaged parents who read to them every day and foster learning in more resource-intensive ways. Like it or not, many kids have nothing like this. I’m sympathetic to the idea that they’re better off with Ello than nothing, which is their realistic alternative.

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

#398

Post by senordevnyc »

atmavatar wrote: post #93
jph00 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heaven forbid we let poor people use software that helps their kids read. If they can't afford a tutor, they deserve nothing. (Am I doing this right?)

Your reaction is based on 3 unproven assertions: * An AI tutor is a net positive in learning for the subject matter it covers. * An AI tutor does not cause other harms. * An AI tutor is going to be cheap enough that someone who cannot afford a human tutor will still be able to afford an AI tutor. I'm mostly willing to give the benefit of the doubt on the first point, but the third point seems unlikely, and history ha…

The second one feels like a subset of the first. If it’s net positive, the other harms are worth it.

And I don’t think you’re really engaging with what they said, which is that it might be better than nothing, which is what is realistically available to many kids. Do you really think something like this is worse than nothing?

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

#399

Post by senordevnyc »

Marha01 wrote: post #235
byzantinegene wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

there's a big universe of solutions between getting nothing versus getting an AI 'educational' software that could do more harm than good.

[flagged]

Pie in the sky ideas that ignore the huge collective action problems, like “provide more education funding”.

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

#400

Post by jplusequalt »

cognitiveinline wrote: post #349
gverrilla wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a matter of distribution, not scarcity.

ok. You've rephrased something. But do you have a specific solution? Because the OP seem to do.

They have a business venture, not a silver bullet.
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