The future of education

In this episode of The Future of Everything, host Russ Altman speaks with Susanna Loeb, a professor of education and senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, about the future of education and the transformative potential of technology, particularly AI. Loeb emphasizes that the core of effective education lies in creating meaningful, personalized learning experiences—especially for disengaged students—drawing from her research on intensive tutoring that gained urgency during the pandemic. She explains that while one-on-one tutoring three times a week for 30–45 minutes is highly effective, scaling it requires innovative workforce solutions like leveraging college work-study students and teacher candidates as tutors. The conversation then turns to AI, where Loeb highlights its current use primarily by teachers for time-saving tasks like lesson planning and communication, but notes a critical lack of rigorous research on its impact on students. She advocates for rapid, real-time learning systems using A/B testing and partnerships with tech companies like OpenAI to evaluate tools ethically and effectively. Loeb remains optimistic, stressing that AI should augment—not replace—human relationships in education, and that the future depends on flexible, equitable systems built on collaboration and evidence. Key takeaways include: 1) Personalized, relationship-based tutoring is one of the most effective educational interventions, and it can be scaled with creative workforce strategies; 2) AI’s greatest value in education lies in supporting teachers and enhancing human-tutor interactions, not replacing them; 3) The education system must adopt agile, real-time research methods to keep pace with fast-moving technology; 4) Success depends on deep partnerships between researchers, educators, and tech developers; 5) The ultimate goal should be ensuring every student, especially those in underserved communities, has access to engaging, high-quality learning experiences. The episode closes with a hopeful vision of education as a dynamic, human-centered system enhanced by technology.