Could AI Transform Life in Developing Countries?

Could AI transform life in developing countries? | (News and Research 373)

Could AI transform life in developing countries?

A typical sub-Saharan pupil spends six years in school but retains only three years’ worth of learning… big gains are possible even with basic tech. One analysed an approach under which schools hire modestly qualified teachers and give them detailed “scripts” for lessons, delivered via tablet computers. Michael Kremer, a Nobel-prize-winning economist, and others studied 10,000 pupils taught this way in Kenya, at schools run by Bridge International Academies, a chain of cheap private schools. They found that after two years on average Bridge students had mastered nearly an extra year’s worth of the curriculum, compared with pupils enrolled in normal schools. Another study in India found that personalised computerised instruction was especially helpful for pupils who were far behind.