AI labs roll out free and discounted tools for schools and colleges

In short: Big AI companies are offering free and discounted chatbots and tools for teachers and students, as they try to gain a foothold in education.

What's going on

Schools and universities have been trying to figure out how to handle AI chatbots since ChatGPT appeared in 2022. Many first tried banning these tools, but have since accepted that students will use them.

Now the companies building these systems are creating products designed specifically for classrooms. Anthropic has launched Claude for Teachers, a free tool for K-12 teachers in the US that helps with lesson plans, assignments, and student reports. OpenAI offers ChatGPT for Teachers, also free for verified US K-12 teachers and staff, plus ChatGPT Edu, a discounted plan for universities.

Google is also targeting education with tools based on Gemini, its AI model (a model is the “brain” that generates text). Morgan Stanley estimated the global education market at $6 trillion in 2022, which helps explain the business interest.

OpenAI says it is working with governments through an “Education for Countries” program. It has partnered with Estonia, and it says more than 30,000 university and secondary students, teachers, and researchers there are already using tools such as ChatGPT Edu. OpenAI also lists work with Greece, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Italy.

What to watch

Teachers worry that instant answers could reduce the “productive struggle” that helps students learn. In response, OpenAI and Anthropic are promoting a “Socratic” tutoring style, where the bot asks questions instead of just handing over answers (like a tutor who guides you, not one who does the homework).

Another open question is money. Some experts say schools may hesitate to pay for top-tier chatbots if good enough AI models can run on a school’s own devices for free.

Source: Financial Times